The next day it was business as usual for Ayanda. She woke up, prepared for school and got Mpilo ready. They walked to Mma Radebe’s crèche, then she headed next door to fetch her friend.

The girls walked to school, saying little on the way. They were both tired. The week had seemed long, and they both had worries about their futures and what lay ahead. They had another Maths test coming up on Friday, and although Mr Ngwenya’s extra lessons were helping, they weren’t feeling confident.

Lerato had spent the evening thinking about what her mother had said about Mr Ngwenya. He was part of their church after all. She decided to let it go; not bring it up with Ayanda.

Plus, she knew her best friend was not good at Maths and really needed the extra help. Ayanda was ambitious and wanted to do well in school. She aimed to get distinctions for her matric year and so get a bursary to attend university. She knew she was her family’s hope for getting out of poverty.

The day went by without any major events and Ayanda was grateful. The last thing she needed was more drama because of her friend’s curiosity about the new boy, or Lerato getting into another fight.

Her actions the night before could’ve put them in grave danger. What was Lerato thinking? She knew they were not allowed to go near those toilets; it was dangerous enough that they had to go past the park to get home.

But Ayanda knew her friend: Lerato would not let it go; she would find out eventually what that new boy was doing there.

The end of school came. Ayanda was walking past Mr Ngwenya’s classroom when he called to her from the doorway. She stopped and waited for the other students to file out of class. She didn’t want to be there, and hovered by the door.

She was uncomfortable about being alone with him. But Mr Ngwenya didn’t even look at her. He went back into the classroom and started collecting the books that his students had left to be marked.

“Did you hear that we have an extra lesson today?” he called out, still not looking at her.

“No Sir. I thought we were only meeting two days a week,” said Ayanda.

“Yes, but since we have a test coming up, some of the students felt they needed the extra input,” he said.

“Oh, okay. I’ll tell Lerato and the others, Sir.”

“No need. I already told them when I saw them for Maths today,” he said. And then he looked up at her for the first time. “The lesson will start in an hour. I hope to see you here.”

Ayanda was unsure what to say or do next, so she just stood there.

“You have a lot of potential, Ayanda. I know you want to go to university when you finish school. I want that for you too,” he said, smiling.

Ayanda nodded.

“Good. See you back here in an hour then.”

Ayanda went to the school gate and waited for Lerato like she usually did when they weren’t in the same class. A part of her wanted to leave, but another part wanted so badly to do well in school. Mr Ngwenya believed in her and wanted her to succeed. Maybe she had been wrong about him. No other teacher was offering extra lessons. He was giving up his time to help his students to do well.

Ayanda called Lerato but her phone went to voicemail. She sent her a WhatsApp message, but it went unread. And then she thought about Mpilo. Mma Radebe wouldn’t know where they were, and would worry. Ayanda texted Mma, letting her know that she would be home late because they had an unscheduled extra lesson.

She took a deep breath, gathered up her school bag and headed to Mr Ngwenya’s class.

Tell us: Has Mr Ngwenya done anything wrong? Do you think Ayanda is being too suspicious?