“I didn’t anticipate that it would lead to this,” I said as I kneeled down reflecting on my mistakes. I still remember the day I met her, I was hanging out with my friends at the corner, she had just moved in. She was so flawless.

She passed us and one of my friends called out, “Eita sister, let’s talk.” She just looked away and kept on walking. We laughed at him.

“You think you can do better huh? I give you four weeks to have her number if not you owe me.” He picked on me because I was the most shy and the youngest.

“I am not interested bra,” I replied.

“Afraid of a bet neh laittie?” he said with a smirk on his face.

“Ok bring it on, how much?” I asked.

“R1000 boy, do you have it?”

“Come on Zola that’s too much” said one of them, the peace-maker.

“No he has the guts to laugh at me, let’s see if he can get the girl,” said Zola looking at me in an intimidating manner.

“Four weeks you say huh, then see you after four weeks,” I said as I walked away. I didn’t even know how I was going to approach her. I walked slowly contemplating.

“Hi.” I looked up and saw that girl looking at me. I froze, I didn’t know if it was a dream or what. She spoke again but I did not hear anything because I was admiring how she looked.

“Are you ok,” she asked waving her hand in front of my face.

“Oh I’m ok, hi I’m Jay, you were saying?”

“Hi, I’m Lucia, I was asking where the tuckshop is.”

“I am very bad at giving directions how about I take you there?” I said with a smile. She smiled back and agreed. We walked to the shop, we talked all the way as if we had known each other for a long time.

We then became best friends and she suggested that we date. I agreed because I had started liking her. I was spending a lot of time with Lucia because I was the only person she knew and she had no siblings. It had been a while since I had hung out with my friends.

I was feeding her ice-cream at a picnic romantically and Zola came.

“Wow, I guess I lost hey, ay nawe sisi I didn’t know that you were so loose. Now my R1000 is gone,” he said laughing in an annoying manner.

“Can you please leave us Zola” I said trembling.

“No, what do you mean?” asked Lucia with tears in her eyes.

“We made a bet on you, if he could get your number within four weeks he gets R1000. If not, he pays R1000,” he answered.

“So you never loved me?” She looked at me.

“Love? No, my sister! He used you to get moola, don’t get it twisted.”

Zola looked at me laughing.

“No, Lucia it is not like that, I…”
I didn’t even finish my sentence, she threw the ice-cream down and ran away crying. My knees were trembling. I didn’t know what to do. Zola walked away leaving me there crying.

“I didn’t anticipate that it would lead to this,” I said to myself.

Tell us: What do you think about the way their ‘bet’ ended?