As they entered the reception area, they heard two familiar voices. Isla and Karabo’s eyes widened in disbelief. Standing in reception were Mzi and William, duffel bags slung over their shoulders. Karabo and Isla stopped in their tracks.

‘Mzi?’ Isla asked. He turned around and smiled broadly at her. ‘Hey, Isla,’ he said, his eyes sparkling at her.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked him, walking up to him, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

‘Well, after the holidays, Will and I thought that we would try a post matric. Take a year off kind of thing, you know. Get the A-levels sorted at the same time. Push out the real hard work of varsity for another year,’ explained Mzi, enjoying Isla’s surprise.

William smiled, slapping Mzi on the shoulder. ‘Yup, the prince and I have figured out we actually get along, or something,’ mocked William. ‘And after my results came out, I realised       I needed to beef up my marks. Post matric makes sense,’ he explained, his face more tanned than it had ever been. No bags under his eyes. Perhaps even happy.

Karabo found herself tongue tied and raised her eyebrows. She knew Isla was probably turning pink with delight.

‘Guess we’ll see you around then,’ Isla finally said.

‘Guess so,’ said William, a cheeky grin spreading across his face as he eyed Karabo up and down. Such a dog, Karabo thought to herself. ‘Come on Isla, let’s get our timetable,’ she said, dragging the beaming Isla by the arm.

As they walked away from the reception area, leaving William and Mzistaring after them, they heard the crunchof gravel leading up to the entrance hall as a car came to a dramatic halt outside the main entrance. They turned to see who had arrived and saw the door of a red Porsche fly open and a petite, dark-haired woman step out. Her eyes were covered behind dark black glasses and she wore a tailored suit. Her long dark hair whipped around her face as she closed the door of her car and marched inside. She immediately saw Mzi and William and lifted her glasses onto her head. She looked so familiar, but Karabo had definitely never met her before. Her eyes had Karabo spellbound. Emerald green.

‘William and Mzilikazi’ she stated.

Mzi swallowed. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he responded, glued to the spot.

‘I’ve spoken to Cedric, and he told me about what happened in Zimbabwe,’ she stated, a slight French accent escaping her perfect English. ‘He also said you two would be staying here, at Dayeton College for another year, is this correct?’ she asked, her eyes watching their faces closely. Mzi and William nodded.

‘The two girls? Ah, there you are. Karabo and Isla?’ the woman asked, eyeing the girls carefully.

‘Yes,’ responded Karabo, slowly walking towards this magnetic woman, Isla following hesitantly.

‘It seems we are all looking for the same person – perhaps for different reasons, but no matter. My name is Jessabelle, and I am moving here, to this one-horse town so that we can work out how to find Edward English. I feel like finally…’ she looked closely at Karabo, her eyes lighting up, ‘we may actually have  a chance to get the bastard.’ The four teenagers stared at her, unable to fully comprehend what she was saying.

‘Right, I’ll be in touch,’ she stated before walking over to William and planting a kiss on his cheek, having to stand on her toes to reach his face. ‘See you soon darling, it’s been too long,’ she said before turning on her heel, climbing back into her Porsche and skidding off.

‘What the hell, Will?’ exclaimed Mzi, looking at William, ‘Who was that?’ William sighed and flicked his fringe. ‘That, my friends, is my long-lost mother.’

The end…for now

*****

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