As we walked pass him, he spoke.

“Excuse me can I have just one second of your time?”

I saw it in his eyes that he was afraid but he fought it and I liked that.

But I couldn’t answer him because my friends burst out and laughed. I knew what they were thinking; how could he even think that he stands a chance with Nondu?

Looking at boys I’ve turned down before, his looks were the only things he had to compete.

“Duh! What can you possibly say to me in a second?” I said arrogantly as I walked away. I didn’t even wait; I couldn’t.

My friends laughed even more. They had the aid of people who were passing by who heard. I turned and looked at him again. He was still standing there looking at us like he was going to run after us. The disappointment was written on his face but it made him look even more handsome.

That picture of him did not erase in my mind. I wished I had said something nice to him so I could see him smile. My friends still spoke frantically but I became neurotic. I was looking at this boy in my mind and I was listening to my heart telling me how stupid I was for not listening to that boy.

“Nondu, are you okay?” Phumy asked.

“No, I mean yes, I’m fine.” I was not really fine.

I was dubious about turning down a boy, even my own system was amazed by this. I was very useless when it came to pretending. My friends noticed that something was wrong, but they were not going to easily think I was taken by a boy whose parents couldn’t even afford to buy him a new uniform.

But that boy caused something I have never felt before and it got worse by the second. Even in the taxi my mind was miles away. What would my friends say if they would hear that I was dating a very poor boy? That is what I saw when I saw him; a very poor boy. I convinced myself that I will stop thinking about him hopefully.

Tell us what you think: Did Nondu make a wrong decision by not listening to the boy?