After a while, the bell for lunch rang. The learners then got up to leave class, and Toby hurried towards Nelly as they head for the door. He tapped her on the shoulder, and when she turned, he was met by her hazel brown eyes. They sparkled behind her big glasses, and he felt like taking out his phone so he could take a picture of her.

“I want to say thank you. You saved my butt,” Toby said.

“No problem,” Nelly responded, smiling, and then they both exited the class.

“Hey, you and that chick Kamo don’t seem to be hanging out together like you used to,” Toby said.

“Something bad happened, and we are not friends anymore,” Nelly responded.

“For real?” Toby asked.

“Yeah,” Nelly responded, nodding.

“I’ve always known that Kamo and her crew are bad news. You made the right choice by leaving that chick,” Toby said.

Nelly smiled again. She was glad that Toby had not asked her what exactly happened between her and Kamo, because it was a topic she would rather not dwell on. Her relationship with her mother had gotten tarnished because of a certain incident that was influenced by Kamo.

“Anyways, you a very cute chick,” Toby said, looking at her and stopping to walk.

Nelly stopped walking too. “Thank you,” she said.

She wondered when the last time Toby had said word girl or woman was. She had never heard him say those words whenever they were in conversation. Even in his rap songs, it was always “chicks”, “shawties”, or the B word. Not even female, at least.

“Look, I’ve gotta go, see you in class,” she said, hitting Toby with another smile and then walking away.

Toby raised a thumb to her in response. Just then, his best friend, Sello Biyala from grade 11C, strolled through.

“Yo, buddy, what’s popping?” Sello said. Nobody needed to be told that Sello was also a rapper. You could clearly tell from his words that he was one.

“Nothing, dawg,” Toby responded, smirking.

“What were you and Miss four eyes talking about?” Sello asked.

“Don’t call her that,” Toby responded, his voice changing into serious mode.

“Come on, buddy, I’m just joking,” Sello said, giggling. “You look so good today, bro, let me take a picture of you,” he continued, and then took out his tablet.

“What is it with you and taking pictures of me? Yesterday and last week you’ve been doing the same thing,” Toby responded.

“You, my friend. Can’t I take a pic of you? Okay, how about a selfie?” Sello said. Toby agreed, so Sello stepped closer to him and they posed for a selfie. Toby kept a serious face for the photo, but Sello pouted. “Anyways. Check this,” Sello said, taking out a pamphlet from his sweater.

“What’s this?” Toby asked.

“It’s an invitation to the local talent search competition that will take place at the community hall,” Sello responded.

“What?” Toby said, taking the pamphlet and holding it closer to his face. He then read what his friend had just said, and the offered prize money brought a smile to his pimpled face. “100k to the winner?” he asked.

“Yep!” Sello responded.

“No ways, dawg! I can get better recording equipment with this money, or start my own underground label. When does the competition start?” Toby asked.

“Read there, at the bottom,” Sello responded. “Registration kicked off yesterday. It is continuing today so, we better go there after school before we run out of space. The competition starts two days from now.”

The chants that Toby usually heard from his fans come to his head again. That time around, the fans were chanting his name because he had won the competition. Among those screaming fans, he spotted Nelly’s face, and he smiled at her from the stage while the host handed him his trophy and the big cheque of R100 000.

“Yo, dude,” Sello said, waking Toby up. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing,” Toby responded.

“Let’s go eat,” Sello said, pulling him by the arm.

***

Tell us: Do you think it is important for schools and parents encourage their children to follow their dreams, even when they are not school related?