Chapter 6

‘Hey, guys.’ I greeted Billy and Fabian.

‘Oh hey,’ Billy responded,‘Done with your lecture already?’

‘Yes. It was either quick or time flies.’ I chatted with him like we have been friends for some time.

‘Okay...oh this is Fabian, my homeboy.’

‘Hi Fabian, nice to meet you.’

‘Hi.’ Fabian greeted me sharply and he didn’t even bother to look up at me. He looked less interested. But I was not that worried. I didn’t want to be his friend anyway. So, him being all snobbish and rude to me was just useless.

‘So can I get you something to drink? A cold drink or juice?’ Billy asked.

‘Uhm... I would like some orange juice to thank you.’

I was extra flattered. It was one thing for him to remember my name but offering to buy me a drink was just something else. It felt so unreal like I was fantasizing again.

‘Here you go.’ He said handing me the orange juice.

‘Thank you.’

‘Seeing that it is Friday, do you have any plans for tonight?’ Billy asked, looking straight in my eyes. ‘The boy sure moves faster than I thought. Winning him will be a walk in the park I suppose.’ I thought to myself.

‘Uhm... plans? Anna and I are doing some research on foreign currencies and languages. And we are going to watch a movie thereafter.’

‘Nice.’ Billy said with a smile on his face.

‘Is that your idea of a fun Friday night?’ Fabian asked in the rudest way possible.

‘What do you mean?’ I wasn’t going to let him speak to me like an idiot.

‘Are you girls nerds or are you just plane rural?’

I didn’t respond. I just looked at him, trying hard not to tell him exactly where to get off. He was so rude and mean. His face was full of disrespect and that just made me angrier. If I could, I would have kicked him in the balls.

‘Dude relax,’ Billy told him. There is no need to be mean, they have their way of doing things and so do you. You don’t have to be a prick about it.’ Billy told him to my disbelief. I was relieved he did that because I believe I was about to lose it.

‘Listen, if you guys would like to join us for a drink in Newtown later this evening, just shout okay?’ Billy said to me and he looked very serious.

‘A drink? Like in a bar?’

‘No, we are hitting the club. Ok let’s do this since I am inviting you, why don’t you pick the destination?’

‘I have never been to a club before, so I wouldn’t know which place to choose.’

‘I will help you. And I promise to take you, girls, back whenever you feel like you have had enough.’

‘That’s so sweet of you, but who else is going to be there?’

‘Just a few of my mates. Hopefully you and your friend as well.’

‘Will Sharon and her friends be there?’

‘Hahahahaha no. You don’t have to worry about her. She won’t be there.’

‘Eish, I don’t know hey... I don’t want to be in the way of your mates. I am not sure hey.’

‘Don’t worry about anyone, I am the one inviting you, nobody else.’

‘What if they don’t like us? Or we don’t like the same things and Anna and I become a bore?’

‘Come on big eyes, what’s there not like about you? But hey, no pressure.’

‘I suppose you are right. I just don’t know about Anna but I think I can take a break from all this studying.’ I told him.

‘Okay, give me your number and I can check with you later on.’

‘Okay, it is 0837167698’

‘I will call you later to find out then. Sharp.’

I couldn’t contain my excitement when I ran over to tell Anna the good news. I couldn’t believe that Billy Anderson, the popular guy in college asked ME to go clubbing with him. That was quicker and easier than I expected. And it was more than amazing. I felt like he made my mission much easier. Winning him was going to be such a breeze. I thought.

‘Chomee you won’t believe this. Billy invited us out.’

‘What do you mean he invited ‘us’?’

‘He invited me and you to go to some club in Newtown. Isn’t that exciting? -

‘It is... I guess.’

‘You guess? Chomee you guess? The most wanted guy in our campus invited us out and you guess? What’s wrong now?’

‘Nothing chomee, I am happy for you.’

‘Happy for me? But he invited both us.’

‘Come on Petunia, do you expect me to come with?’

‘Of course. I can’t go out with these people all by myself.’

‘No Petunia, I just don’t feel like going out with people I hardly know. I take that back; I don’t know them at all.’

‘But you know me. Can you for the last time just stop being negative? We both have been working hard, don’t you think it is about time we unwind? Get to know the rest of the city. We have been in Jo’burg for about three months and the only places we know are Carlton Centre and Gandhi Square. Come on Anna.’

‘Eish chomee I don’t know. I don’t feel comfortable about all of this. This is Jo’burg, it is dangerous here.’

‘Billy promised to drive us back safely. There is nothing to worry about.’

‘Chomee, you spoke to the guy for three seconds and you already trust him with our lives?’

‘Anna really now? Billy is the sweetest guy I have ever met. Just have a little faith. Please say you will come friend, please.... Pretty please.’

‘Okay okay okay, you know I hate it when you do that thing you do with your eyes. We can go with on one condition though.’

‘Anything.’

‘We come back before 21:00 and we don’t drink anything that contains alcohol.’

‘I can live with that my friend. It is going to be awesome to believe me. Billy is going to take care of us and he is going to be happy that we agreed.’

‘Friend, we are going to be late for our next class if we just sit here and yap about Anderson. Let’s go.’

‘Yes. What are we going to wear tonight anyway?’ I asked Anna when we took off to our next class.

‘You really want to impress this guy. You have nice clothes, I’m sure you can find something.’

‘In Jo’burg, I don’t think ‘nice’ is cool. I will have to pull off the look of the year. I wouldn’t even know what to wear to a club.’

‘I think smart casual. T-shirt and jeans and sneakers.’

‘Chomee, isn’t that what I wear on a daily basis? I want to look different so that Billy can have his eyes on me and nobody else.’

‘Okay, we will make a plan. We can ask Maureen from next door to do your make up. She is a cosmetology student.’

‘Wow, you are a genius. That’s why I love you.’

‘Although I don’t think you have to change the way you look for a guy. If he likes you, he will just have to accept you the way you are.’

‘I am not going to change myself, friend, I just want to look extra hot for him.’

‘Okay, if you put it that way. We will talk after class.’

‘No problem chomza.’