My phone rings as I dash out of my APR class and head for my dorm. It’s my cousin Linda. I’ve only been at varsity for one term but she worries about me all the time. Her biggest concern is that I don’t become a social outcast. She seems to be enjoying herself travelling the world. She’s working on a cruise ship doing God knows what. And partying. Mostly partying.

“Hey, Sis,” I answer the phone when I’ve managed to manoeuvre my way through the throngs of people.

“How’s varsity? Met any cute guys yet? How’s the Mother City? How’s the parties?”

“Slow down!” I laugh.

I fill her in on my boring life. Mostly boring, considering how I’ve chosen to keep my head down and avoid people altogether.

“No cute guys,” I tell her and I can almost see her rolling her eyes on the other end of the line. “But there’s this party I’ve sorta been invited to. By my roommate so …”

“Good. You’re going. I’m so excited! OMG!”

Linda is already planning what I should and shouldn’t wear. She tells me to borrow that ‘sexy little dress of Noni’s’. Linda would have been popular if she’d come to varsity. To this day I still don’t know how she managed to convince Aunt Sisanda to let her go on the cruise ship. I think the fact that she’ll make a lot of money helped. I’m not complaining, though. Linda has always been like an older sister to me, even though we’re only two years apart. And she helps out often with things my bursary fund can’t provide.

“Niz, I have to go now. My shifts on. I’ll call you later okay? Love you.”

She hangs up before I can say … “Love you too.”

***

Later my roommate is fixing my hair. There isn’t much fixing, considering I have dreadlocks.

When Noni is done with the cute curls she’s transformed my locks to I almost look like an African princess.

“Do you really have to wear those glasses?” Noni tries to remove them but I won’t let her ­– I need the glasses. But I agree to wear the high heels she pulls from the back of my cupboard.

Noni’s boyfriend fetches us when we are done. He is hosting the party at his res. I curse myself for listening to Noni and wearing high-heeled shoes I can hardly walk in, and for promising Linda I’d wear Noni’s ‘sexy little dress’. As we walk up the steps to the party Noni tells me to stop trying to pull the dress down every two seconds.

The music blasts through the speakers as we enter a small crowded room.  The flat is bigger than ours, but still too small to fit this many people. I feel claustrophobic with the loud music and crush of bodies. I excuse myself from Noni and her friends and make my way to the small communal kitchen.

“Hi.”

I turn around to see what Linda would call a ‘cute boy’ standing behind me.

“I’m Dave,” he smiles.

“Nizole … but you can call me Niz.”

“What’s a beautiful girl like you doing in the kitchen all alone?”

“I just … I needed to breathe, that’s all.”

Dave nods in understanding. “Let me get you something to drink. What would you like?”

“Um … alcohol.”

Dave laughs until his face turns red. “You’re really funny. I like that.”

I wish.

He goes to fetch me a Savannah and I get back to … breathing.

“Haven’t you learned to never accept drinks from strangers?”

I whip round and there she is, in a dress possibly tighter than mine, but looking completely at ease. She looks just the same. The way she smiles and her casual tone hide what happened to us – how we were two people with big dreams, but two people who would collide, crash and burn.

I see Dave out of the corner of my eye, but when he sees me and Lizzy, he turns and disappears into the mass of bodies.

“What are you doing here?” I haven’t seen Lizzy for two whole years and now she is standing close to me, chatting as though we are continuing a conversation we started just a few hours ago.

“Well, it’s my friend’s place. And you? Last time I checked you weren’t a party person.” She gives me a sideways smile.

“You weren’t either.”

“Your friend? How long have you been living here?”

“Six months, maybe more … I was hoping our paths would cross again.”

I had waited for her to come back to our village – waited a whole year after Matric before I came to varsity, thinking she would return.

“You shouldn’t have left.” Tears prick my eyes.  I told myself that I wouldn’t cry if this moment ever came. I’ve imagined it countless times – often under a star-filled sky, never in a small communal kitchen with intoxicated people and music blaring so loud you can’t hear yourself speak.

Lizzy is pouring us drinks from a large bowl with pieces of fruit floating in it. When Lizzy hands me a glass she bursts out laughing. She looks buzzed. Her eyes are glowing.

I take a sip. It tastes deceptively like fruit juice and so I drink another and another until my head is spinning.

Lizzy is dancing, swaying to the music. I can see two guys leaning against the wall watching her. I’m watching her too. Her weave is tied up, accentuating her cheekbones. She is so beautiful. Her dress shows off her legs that go on forever. I catch a glimpse of Noni making out with her boyfriend in the corner. Then Lizzy dances over to me, takes my hand, and pulls me across the floor towards the front door.

“Call me!” Dave shouts as we pass him.

I follow Lizzy up the stairs onto the rooftop. Her long fingers are soft and cold intertwined in mine.

“We’re here,” Lizzy sighs. “It’s perfect.”

And she’s right – it is perfect. We are standing hand in hand under a sky filled with stars. It’s almost how I imagined us meeting again. And then I see the tears on her cheeks, but when she turns and looks at me it is with that boldness that I saw the first time we met. It was one of the reasons I fell in love with her – because she is unafraid.

***

Tell us: Why do you think Lizzy left their village?