I fell in love with this place the very first time I saw it, all the houses here are big and stunning. Each house had a car either parked in the yard or in the garage. I was excited when my mom told me we are moving to Sandton.

Finally when the moving van arrived in Sandton and unpacked our belongings, I was excited. I loved the big house we were moving in, although I knew it didn’t belong to us, we were just renting a four room at it back yard. The family from who we were renting, whose back yard room we were living in, were unfriendly people.

Mrs Luthuli looked at me with a bad eye when she handed me the key of the room, while my mom was holding the Shoprite shopping bags which had our clothes. The room was a bit big but not big enough for all our belongings to fit in it. The reason why my mother and I moved from Eastern Cape to Sandton was because there were no proper school in Eastern Cape, and besides Sandton was great, highly developed and there were great chances of being successful and getting recognized.

Besides, the Shoprite here in Sandton pays a lot more than the one in Eastern Cape. The very first day we moved in to that room, it became untidy because most of our belongings didn’t have space. The room was overloaded with too many things. We couldn’t even place the things we used most where we can easily see them because they were overlapped by unnecessary things, which made it seem like the room was smaller than its original size. But we enjoyed it there; it was peacefully quite, all we heard were dogs barking.

The next day I went all around the place. There were hardly kids running and playing around the road unlike the area I lived in in the Eastern Cape. After a few minutes of walking I was tired; I wasn’t used to walking a long distance.

“Hey there, are you exercising?” a beautiful girl asked, breaking my quiet time.

“Uxolo sisi andikuvanga,” I said but then realised I was not in the Eastern Cape anymore. I then cleared my throat and corrected myself. “Oh, I beg your pardon? I didn’t hear you properly,”

“I said, are you exercising?” she repeated herself.

“No, not really I was just walking around and I love this place; it looks wonderful,”

“Ow, I thought you were exercising – judging by the way you are dressed. Anyways are you new here?”

“Yes, we’ve just moved in at the house across the street around the corner,”

“Oh cool. I’m Ziyanda, and you are?” she asked smilling.

“Zizipho,” I replied.

“Ow both of our names begins with Zi,”

“Yeah, that’s cool,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“Have you found a school here?”

“Yes, I have been accepted at Bryanston High school,”

“Oh cool, we will be going to the same school. You must ask your mother to come with you so we can go together along with my parent tomorrow in town, so we can buy our new uniforms together,”

“Ow that will be awesome,” I replied.

“Come, let me show you where I live so you can visit me sometime,”

“Ow that would be great,” I said with a big smile as I glanced at this beautiful girl, with sexy eyes and dimples as she smiled.

“That’s Aunty Morris, she’s our maid,” Ziyanda said when we got to her house.

“Aunty Morris, meet my new friend Zizipho,” she said to her Aunty and we shook hands. “Aunty where’s mommy?”

“I’m here darling,” her mother replied from a distance.

“Come meet my mom Zee,” she pulled me to the living room.

“Mom this is my new friend, Zizipho, she’s new in Sandton,”

“Oh hey, nice to meet you young girl,” her mother said shaking my hand. I just stood there and smiled at her,”

“Come let me show you around… by the way, my mom is a designer and a stylist. She has a boutique here in Sandton. She dresses well known celebrities; Bonang Matheba, Boity, Lira, Zonke, a lot of them,” she said.

At first, I was shocked with disbelief; I’m used to people lying about their parents especially girls. I remember how I lied and said Winnie Modise was my aunt just because we look alike. But the picture I saw in Ziyanda’s room grabbed my attention.

“Hey, is that Michael, Judith, Queen and Belinda?”

“Yes, that’s my dad and his colleagues,”

“Michael is your dad?”

“Actually it’s Allex. Michael is only his acting name,”

“Wow how is he like at home? Does he cheat on your mom too?”

“Hell no!” Ziyanda laughed. “He’s not like that in real life; he’s kind, funny and loving. You’ll see him when he comes home. So tell me about your dad?” she said with great interest.

I was shocked. I hate people who ask me about my father, but I tried to hold my anger. I immediately placed back the photo and said, “Uhm, I have to go before my mom thinks I’m lost or something,”

“Oh, OK. Let me walk you out,” she said looking a bit surprised.

***

Tell us: Do you think the girls will make good friends?