The date went so well and they both had missed each other’s company. The awkward silence came back when the movie ended and Alice wondered what other surprise he had in store for their date.

“Eish babes that was a nice movie,” Thabo finally said as they were walking out of the cinema holding hands.

“Yeah it was very interesting, I loved it,” Alice said.

“Imagine being stuck in a boat with a tiger, eish! That’s a tough situation,” Thabo said. They had just watched the movie ‘The life of Pi’.

“I’m hungry. Would you like to get something to eat?” Thabo asked.

“Yeah sure,” Alice said calmly.

They went down the escalator in Cavendish Mall to McDonalds. And as usual Thabo went to order while Alice found an empty cubical to sit in.

“Here you go,” Thabo gave her a chicken burger and he had a cheese burger.

They had lunch and chatted for a while until it was time to go. Thabo walked her over to the taxi and gave her a kiss goodbye. But before he could let go of her hand he whispered in her ear.

“Would you like to come and visit me next weekend?” Alice was surprised because he had never invited her over before.

“My brother is having a party and I would like you to come over,” Thabo continued.

“OK, I would like that,” Alice said shyly. She had never been to his house before, let alone a house party. She had heard of his brother’s famous ‘party animal’ reputation, because everyone knew him to always throw the craziest house parties. But knowing that Thabo would be there made her feel safe enough to say yes.

The following Monday she could not wait to tell Unathi about what had happened to her and about the party.

“Guess what Unathi, I got invited to attend a party at Thabo’s house,” she said in excitement.

“Seriously, when is it?” Unathi said.

“It’s this Saturday,” Alice replied

“Are you gonna go and will your mom let you go?” Unathi asked.

“If you come with me she will, so please come,” Alice pleaded.

Alice’s mother always trusted Unathi. Whenever Alice said she was going with Unathi her mother never seemed to question her much. Apart from what time they would be coming back, which always irritated Alice because Unathi was the same age as her.

“But chomi I can’t, don’t you remember I said Pedro and I are going to meet up this Saturday to work on our project?” Unathi replied.

“Oh no the project, I completely forgot,” Alice replied. She had been so busy worrying about her relationship that she neglected her school work. Alice had changed since she started dating Thabo and she knew it wasn’t for the better. She had grown to really like him a lot and wasn’t ready to give him up just yet even though her school work was suffering in the process.