Sthe tries to act cool as Naledi walks towards them. He smiles and she returns the smile. “See, dude. I told you that she likes me,” he says and nudges Thabang’s shoulder. “Give me space, let me do my magic,” Sthe says and pushes in front of Thabang … as Naledi walks right on by.

“Hi girlfriends,” she chimes and hugs a few of her friends who are standing in a group behind Sthe.

Thabang breaks into laughter, but stops when he realises that Sthe isn’t laughing. Scowling, Sthe punches him on the shoulder: “Stop it. It’s not funny.”

In the classroom, Sthe is mesmerised by Naledi. He is staring at her. A hard bang on the desk jolts him back to the lesson.

“Mr Sthembiso Mbatha! Care to enlighten me as to where your mind is?” says Mr Thompson, the English teacher, his voice cutting.

“Nowhere, Sir. It’s all good.”

The kids laugh at him.

“‘It’s all good’?” Mr Thompson stares at him. “What is this place? The Nae-Nae, Rihanna, Bootylicious, class?” he asks, and everyone erupts into laughter. “When you are in my classroom, Mr Mbatha, you will engage in the appropriate form of conversation – formal tone. Are we clear?”

Sthe is embarrassed as he finds Naledi, like the others, looking at him. “Yes, Sir,” he whispers.

Satisfied, Mr Thompson walks away. Sthe tries to smile at Naledi but she now has a frown on her face and is concentrating on Mr Thompson writing on the board. Then something catches her eye and she starts laughing. Sthe looks to see who she is looking at. It’s Thabang. He’s making funny faces at her.

“Motsoaledi, are you a prankster? Do you want to join Ms MacKenzie’s drama class?” Mr Thompson now scolds Thabang.

“No, Sir. Apologies, Sir. Your impeccable teaching has me enraptured. I am frozen with appreciation, Sir.”

A small smile crosses Mr Thompson’s face. The bell rings and the group of students make their way out of the class. Sthe slings his bag over his shoulder and grabs his books.

“Mr Mbatha, if I were you, I would spend more time with Mr Motsoaledi. You might learn a thing or two from him.”

Seething, Sthe rushes out of the classroom. He sees Thabang chatting to Naledi in the corridor and moves to interrupt them but then stops himself. He doesn’t want to come across as someone who is desperate. Naledi looks over at him and then turns back and laughs with Thabang. Are they laughing at him?

He can’t take it and strides towards Naledi. He will ask her outright what they find so funny. But before he gets to her she turns and walks away. He catches up to Thabang.

“Thompson is so boring. Someone must spike his orange juice, hey!” Thabang jokes with Sthe. Sthe is not having any of it.

“What was that with Naledi? I told you that she is mine.”

“Yours? When did that happen? I don’t see your name written on her.”

“I saw her laughing at … with … me,” Sthe says.

“No, she wasn’t laughing with you, dude,” Thabang jumps in. “I was working her.”

“You were not. You are jealous of me and Naledi. You know she’s supposed to be my girl.”

“Sthe, it’s not–”

Sthe cuts him off: “It doesn’t matter.”

The sound of a car hooting makes them turn. Sthe’s ride has arrived. “My mom’s here.”

“Am I still coming to your place this weekend?”

“I don’t know … I think my family will be out most of the time,” Sthe lies to Thabang. The last thing he wants to do right now is spend more time with someone who makes him feel like an idiot.

Sthe slides into the luxury car and watches Thabang through the window as he is driven away.

“How was school, darling?” Sthe’s mother tries to make conversation.

“Fine.”

“Fine … OK. Will Thabang be joining you this weekend, again?”

“I don’t know, Mom. We’ll see.” He stares out of the window.

“Sweetie, I understand that it is not easy to make friends, but he seems like a good kid.”

“Mom, I said ‘we will see’. Please drop the Thabang story.” His voice has an edge.

His mother is taken aback by his attitude. “That is not the way to talk to me. What is the matter with you?”

“Sorry Mom.”

He whips out his cellphone, plugs his earphones in and shuts the world out. But he can’t shut out Thabang. He is there, seemingly in Technicolor, laughing.

Thabang has always been a joker. Sthe remembers when Thabang first came to their school. He and nine other students had come from a poor township on the outskirts of the city. They had been selected to come to this posh private school. It was Sthe’s father’s idea. It was his mining company’s way of ‘giving back.’ It was meant to incentivise and support the mine workers. Who didn’t want their son or daughter to attend the prestigious All Saints High School? Everyone knew that fees at the school were extremely high and no miners could afford to send their children there. That is, until his father decided on a pilot project in which the mine paid for bright students to attend the school his own son went to.

For several weeks, Thabang and the other township students kept to themselves. One could see from a kilometre away they were from a poor background. They arrived in taxis, or some of them even hitched a ride. They were bright, but couldn’t keep up with the standard or fit in, and soon there were casualties. They started dropping like flies.

Thabang, on the other hand, excelled. But he didn’t make any friends, until one inter-school cricket tournament. Thabang was once again appointed as the twelfth man. The coach and the rest of the players didn’t think kids from the township could really play cricket. It was always assumed that applied to Thabang and he was always on the bench, despite practising with the team.

In the dying minutes of the game as All Saints were defending a massive score their star captain, Neil, twisted his knee and couldn’t play anymore. Thabang was brought onto the field and the game continued. Sthe was given the Captains’ armband and the ball to bowl the last over.

For the last ball, the opposing team had to hit a boundary to win the match. Thabang plucked up courage and ran to Sthe.

“Bowl a full toss, straight at the middle stump. He will swing. If he misses, you hit the wicket,” he hissed.

He glanced at the batsman, looking composed and ready to face the ball. “Let’s hope he misses.”

Sthe nodded, but he was unsure. However, as Thabang jogged back to the boundary he decided to go with his plan. He bowled the full toss and the opposing player swung as far out as he could. He struck the ball and it flew into the air. Thabang was perfectly positioned at the boundary and caught it.

The stadium went berserk as everyone rushed towards him. He was an instant hero. Neil, the captain, patted Thabang grudgingly on the back.

“Lucky catch kasie boy,” he said.

Sthe came to his rescue, saying, “Neil, take a chill. For once you are not the hero. Thabang is the man.”

From that moment, the two were inseparable. With their shared love of cricket and movies, they spent every day together.

Until today – when Thabang showed his true colours, thinks Sthe bitterly.

***

Tell us what you think: Is ‘all fair in love and war’ or is Thabang betraying his friendship?