“Why does he always look so dirty?” Amara says making a face. I turn and look in the direction she’s facing and my heart beats faster. Leo is walking across the school parking lot to the school entrance.
Leo has his head down, he's wearing a pair of jeans that are weathered. He paired it with a long white T-shirt and hoodie. I don’t see any dirt on him but maybe Amara has extra-ray vision. Maybe she can see something we don’t.
Amara is known for being judgmental and loud about it. And unfortunately, Leo is always at the receiving end of her judgment. A day never goes by without her saying something mean about him.
I never want to add to her judgment because I don't see anything wrong with him. All I see is a normal school kid minding his own business. I don't get why she has the authority to pass judgment on anyone. But I can't say that to her now can I? We all know how that is going to end.
“He doesn’t look dirty,” Gea says and giggles. I want to say exactly but I don’t, whenever we talk about boys it always ends up in a fight. And I don’t want to fight today, we have tests to write and I need good vibes only.
The school bell rings and all the other school kids start scrambling to get to class but the three of us slowly start taking out backpacks from my car. We leisurely start to head to class. But we do it so slowly that Mr Swan our homeroom teacher has to walk out to the parking lot and basically herd us to class.
We do this every day, it’s like a ritual. We don’t start moving until a teacher comes out to tell us to start moving.
I call it our 2 minutes of fame. The whole school needs to see what we’re wearing for that day. They need to know that the “it” girls are here.
Eventually, we get to class and sit down; our homeroom class is full of the worst 11th-grade students in the school.
We’re the loudest and the most disruptive class at Mount Gordon High School and we like it. Except for Leo that is.
He is the quietest of all of us, the other students in the class pick on him and try to get a reaction out of him but they never succeed. He never reacts or responds to their taunts, it’s like he always has so many more important things to think about.
Sometimes I wonder if he sees the people around him. He is always so disconnected from the present.
“Okay class, today is a full day. We will be starting test week today. So it would be helpful if we all behave and steer away from our usual shenanigans.” Mr Swan says and points to Cole, the class clown/school jock/ my boyfriend.
The class laughs and hoots as Cole stands up and takes a bow as if Mr Swan gave him a compliment.
“Sit down please” Mr Swan says irritated.
“Your boyfriend is so cool” Gea says from behind me. I look back at her and my eyes collide with Leo he looks away quickly.
“I know right” I say not really meaning it. I am all about having a good time but I take my education seriously. When I’m in class I switch everything off but Cole doesn’t do that. It’s always play time for him.
“Okay everyone, have a great day. Make sure you take your time when writing your tests today. Don’t rush and stay calm. Good luck.” Mr Swan says and everyone gets up to go to our next class.
“What class do you have?” Cole says behind me. He moves close to me and kisses me on my neck.
“Excuse me love birds” Zion, Cole’s best friend says behind us and pushes past us roughly. He laughs when Cole pushes him.
“I have Biology” I say and head to my locker. Cole follows me and leans on the locker next to mine.
“Did you study?” I ask him when he leans in for a kiss. He stops midway from kissing me, he makes a face, and looks away.
“I tried, you know how it is” he says and I make a face too. “Math is hard” he says and pouts. That makes me smile because he looks so cute when he pouts.
“I told you to sign up with a tutor or I can help you” I say fully smiling now.
“You can help me?” he says and leans in kissing me.
“With Math” I say when I finally break the kiss.
“Okay you can help me this weekend then” he says smiling.
“Golden and Cole please go to class” Mr Swan says behind us.
“Yes sir” I say and close my locker door and lock it up. “ See you later” I say to Cole and head to Biology class.
Biology class
I get to class and find everyone else seated.
“Late as always, Golden” Miss Day says when I sit down.
“Sorry Miss D” I say and smile at her. She shakes her head disapprovingly but doesn’t say anything else.
“Okay class this Biology test is 45 minutes long. You can only leave when you’re done and please if you do finish before the allocated time. Leave quietly and don’t disrupt other students. You can go to the library or the gymnasium.” She says as she hands out the test papers.
I stretch and get my writing supplies in order. I have to get in the zone when I write exams and tests. I need to block everything out and concentrate on what I’m doing.
“Okay good luck guys, remember this is a very important test so do your absolute best and then add 49% more.
I look down at the test and read the first question.
I look up after 35 minutes of my test. I stretch letting out all the energy I was holding onto when I was writing I smile because I know I did really well. That was a good one, dare I say it was an easy one.
I put away all my supplies and hand in my test. I head out of the class and head to the library. I need to go through my Math notes and prep for the next test.
“Are you heading to the gymnasium?” Amara whispers behind me when she finds me in the hallway.
“No, I’m going to the library” I say and I can instantly see the disapproval on her face. Even we’re the three amigas; Amara, Gina and I. We don’t really see eye to eye when it comes to school. They see school as a passing inconvenience and nothing to worry about. But I take school seriously, I want good grades, I want to be able to go to any University I want and it starts now.
“I was hoping we’ll hang out with everyone,” she says sounding so whiny. I don’t usually mind her whininess but today I don’t care for it much.
“I’ll see you later” I say and walk away from her. I don’t want to argue today, she’s going to mess up my vibe.
Leo I take a deep breath and stretch my arms over my head. My eyes feel heavy and all the sleep I have been avoiding is coming over me. I haven’t slept in three days; I had to work three nights in a row. And now I have test week. The toll of three back to back 10 hour shifts after a full day of school and then another 8 hours taking care of my siblings is all taking a toll on me. I yawn out loud and the people in the library look at me weird. I whisper sorry and go back to looking through my notes. I shake my head trying to wake myself up. I really need to get some rest. I look up and Golden is standing in front of me. She looks at me and then at the people behind us. My heart starts racing, I take a deep breath and quickly look back at my notes. I hate that she has that effect on me, but come to think of it she has that effect on every guy in this whole school. She’s beautiful and popular. So she’s way out of my league but my heart doesn’t know that does it? She places her bag o
“Are you tired?” my little sister Mina asks me when I yawn for the 5th time in less than 2 minutes. I know this because she has been counting for me, out loud. I just picked her and my little brother up from school. Their school is a 15-minute bus ride from my school, I could walk but taking the bus means I get there faster and I will have more time before I have to go to work. And then the three of us have to walk home from their school. I’ve been doing this for the last six months and I can feel my body fighting me. But what other choice do I have? If I don’t work, my siblings and I can’t eat. And if I don’t take care of them no one will. My mother went missing again, she’s been missing for three months now, leaving me to take care of the three of us. Don’t ask me where she disappeared to because I don’t know. I learned to stop looking for her a long time ago. All I think about now is making sure that these two are safe, warm and fed. This is the life I know, she’s been disappea
I get home around 1 am in the morning. I walk to the babysitter's apartment. I know she’s asleep and she probably doesn’t mind keeping Mina and Jon over night but I would rather have them wake up with me than have to go get them from the babysitter in the morning. I knock at her door and wait. I knock again after a moment and I hear her walk to the door. She opens it and looks at me sleepily. “Hi Sophia sorry for waking you up” I say when she finally looks like she has her eyes focused on me. “No, don’t apologize. Come in” she says and lets me in. I get into her apartment and head to the bedroom I know the kids are sleeping. I get Jon out of bed first and then Sophia gets Mina for me. I thank her and head to our apartment with both of them in my arms. They’re so heavy but I’m too tired to make two trips to go get them. I use the last bit of strength I have to get them to bed. I quickly get all of us in bed, in the dark. I don’t want to turn on the lights or even think about taking
19:00 Mooikloof, Pretoria “Wow” Gina exclaims next to me when we get Amara’s house. The driveway is lined with large pink balloons. The front doorway is decorated with pink roses. The grass has been spray painted pink as well. It’s like someone came and dropped a large pink paint ball in her front yard. And it stained everything. I love it! I know I will never be able to convince my parents to throw me a birthday party like this. They love me but not this much. “Wow is right” I say when I we get out of the car. They even have valet. I hand my keys to the guy and he gives me a card. “I mean, I knew Amara’s parents were loaded but this is next level loaded.” Gina says looking around uncomfortable. She fiddles with her dress, trying to fix it. I feel her anxiety creeping toward me and I don’t like it. I feel off enough, I don’t need her emotions. “Why are you surprised? We’ve been here before.” I say confused by her reaction. She’s been to Amara’s house before, why does she look
Sundays are my self-care/ self love days. That means no boyfriends, no commitments and most definitely no best friends. It is a day all about me, for me; I take the day to do what I want to do. I do what makes me happy.That can be anything from taking a long nap, to getting my nails done or going people watching in the park.Today I am going on a solo picnic date. I have my grilled chicken and ham sandwiches packed, in my basket. I also have a nice fruit bowl situation going on. And to drink I have my mother’s famous pink lemonade, all I need is a nice strawberry shake for desert. I love strawberry shakes, I’m not too picky about where I get it, as long as it’s the flavor I like.I am driving to the nearest McDonald’s in my area. The picnic spot I want to go to is 44 minutes from Pretoria. And I don’t want to waste time driving around Pretoria. I am going to Bronkhorspruit Dam for my solo date, I’m so excited. It’
LeoI walk on the school property not really ready to get into the grind of the coming week. I am tired as usual, it’s a miracle I woke up this morning.. I get to the parking lot where all the popular kids hang out. Their car doors open and music blasting from their speakers. I know if I look straight ahead I’ll see Golden. She’s with her friends leaningZach’s words filter into my head uninvited. I look straight ahead and Golden is looking in my direction. I quickly look down my heart in my throat. I look behind me maybe there’s someone there, a bunch of 8th graders are leaning on a wall. But they are not looking in her direction, they are staring at a phone.I look back up at Golden and she’s still looking at me. I look away and take deep breaths. Was she looking at me? Why would she be looking at me? Am I tripping?I need to get my head straight there’s no way in hell Gol
Golden “What was that all about?” Amara asks, me when I walk back to them. “Nothing” I say hoping she’ll let it go. “That didn’t look like nothing” She says looking at Leo and his friends. She has this disgusted look on her face. She always makes that face when she feels someone is beneath her as if she has the authority that decides who is worthy. It’s been like this since eighth grade. She would pick on the less fortunate kids because she was born rich. The older we get the older her attitude gets. Or am I getting old? I’m realizing I have less tolerance for her nasty side with each passing day. “This is about me and I say it’s nothing. Will you let it go please.” I say looking at her straight in the her eyes so she knows I’m serious. “Well, I’m just looking out for you. I don’t think Cole would like it if he saw you talking to boys like that.” She says pointing to Zach. I feel myself getting angry all over again why should Cole decide who I talk to? He’s not my keeper. “Let
I watch Mina walk toward us her interest peaked. Her eyes are focused on Golden; she walks next to me and looks at me for a long time. As if she’s asking me what the hell bro? She sits down next to me and looks at Golden for even longer. I can see her little mind working over time. I open my mouth to say something but she beats me to it. “Who are you?” she asks Golden still looking at her intently. “I’m Golden.” Golden says extending her hand to Mina. My little sister looks at her hand and then she looks at me. I smile and she looks back at Golden’s offered hand. She looks Golden in the eyes and then finally decides to accept her hand shake. “I’m Mina.” She says. “Nice to meet you.” Golden says looking unfazed. “How do you know my brother?” Mina asks still curious. “We go to the same school.” Golden says looking intently at Mina. I guess she’s not backing down. “Okay” Mina says and then turns to me. “I’m going back to play.” She declares, she waits for me to nod and then she’