It is midday on Sunday. Nelisiwe opens her eyes and instantly feels terrible. Her whole body feels sore; she has a terrible headache. She can see Zandile sitting on top of her bed, looking at her cell phone.

“Awake at last?” says Zandile.

“My head is killing me. How did I get here?”

“Sizwe had to carry you because you were causing a scene,” says Zandile.

“I feel so embarrassed. I’ll never touch alcohol again.”

“You really need to keep away. There’s a video of what you were doing drunk,” Zandile sits next to Nelisiwe and shows her the video.

“Oh no. Is this me?”

“The sad part is it is all over social media.”

“God no. What if my parents see it? My father is a pastor; they will be so embarrassed!”

“What’s done is done. They’ll have to forgive you. Just pray they don’t see it.”

Nelisiwe is sick for most of the day. She vomits and feels terrible. She heads to the store looking for pain tablets. She can feel eyes on her as she walks on campus.

“That’s her! She was so drunk she did the Zulu dance to house music songs,” says one girl.

“A true barbarian from a rural area,” says another girl laughing.

Many students follow Nelisiwe. They have they cell phones out taking videos of her.

“Stop it. Stop taking videos of me!” Nelisiwe answers angrily. The crowd breaks into laughter.

She takes off running and eventually evades the crowd. She bumps into Sizwe at the back of his res.

“Why are you crying, Neli?” Sizwe inquires.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” says Nelisiwe.

“Let’s go to my room. I’ll give you something to help you forget whatever it is that is bothering you.”

Sizwe rolls a marijuana joint as soon as they get in his room.

“Smoke this and forget about that video,” says Sizwe.

“I don’t know how to smoke. Did you also see the video?”

“Everyone has seen it. But it will pass. Someone will do something crazier and people will forget all about it.”

“I didn’t think there was so much hatred in this place. I’m just worried about my parents. If they find out about the video, I’ll be in trouble.”

“You are old enough now. You have to live your life, make mistakes and learn from them,” says Sizwe.

He lights the marijuana and teaches Nelisiwe how to smoke it. She coughs after inhaling the first drag but is soon inhaling without coughing. She is high off her mind, looking at the wall and laughing at nothing. She is soon kissing Sizwe. They both fall asleep in each other’s arms. Sizwe wakes up and studies.

“What time is it now?” asks Nelisiwe when she wakes up.

“Just after midnight,” says Sizwe sitting at his study desk.

“I have to go,” says Nelisiwe.

Sizwe walks her to her res. They hug and she gets to her room. The lights are off. Zandile lifts her head in the darkness.

“So you have a boyfriend now? That’s one secret you shouldn’t keep from a friend,” says Zandile.

“Sizwe is not my boyfriend. We are just friends,” says Nelisiwe.

“A friend you stay with until this hour?”

“We are not a couple. He has not told me he loves me, Zandile.”

“I was just asking.”

Thoughts of the kissing Sizwe fill Nelisiwe’s mind. She falls asleep smiling thinking of that kiss.

Tell us: Why are people so cruel on social media?