The night is silent, with the stars blissfully blinking in a cloudless sky. It is a cool summer night. Everyone is fast asleep – every family, every home, even dogs and cats have called a truce. Only Brian is wide awake. Electronic gadgets are strewn on the floor of his bedroom.

Brian tosses and turns in bed. He can’t get a wink of sleep. Rising echoes of Mam’Gobhozi’s insults are playing tricks in his mind. He thinks of Mr Mazibuko – it’s true he moved into a better neighbourhood when Iziyo started high school. Is he hoping for his daughter to marry a boy from a better part of town?

He and Iziyo no longer play together in the street but recently they had started volunteering at the SPCA together, and that’s where their friendship grew. And now …

No, Mam’Gobhozi is just jealous of our happiness, Brian consoles himself. But he struggles to bury the pain caused by Mam’Gobhozi’s stinging words; it only resurfaces again.

Maybe she’s right. Who are we trying to be? Brian wonders. Are Iziyo and I pretending to be people we are not? Am I pretending that I am good enough for her? Will I ever afford to leave Vilakazi Street?

Across the neighbourhood, at the Mazibuko house, Iziyo lies awake in bed. A full smile is on her face as she relives the lovely moments she shared with Brian today. She scribbles in her diary. When she writes Brian’s name the wings of her heart flutter a bit and a warm feeling gushes through her.

She thinks about Mam’Gobhozi’s offensive remarks but when she looks at Brian’s present, the bracelet, all the bad feelings drain away. Maybe, just maybe, Brian could be the one, Iziyo wonders.

Durban High School students rush out of the school gates for the close of term. Iziyo stands at the bus stop waiting for Brian. When she sees him her heart skips a beat, her cheeks burn. She watches Brian as he comes over. Yet Iziyo can’t help but notice that something is not right with him. He looks detached, troubled.

“Hi, Brian. Are you ready to go?” asks Iziyo.

“Uhmm?” Brian mutters.

“What is it? You can tell me, Brian,” says Iziyo with concern.

“I’m planning to go with Jason somewhere,” says Brian.

“I thought volunteering with Mrs Coetzee at the SPCA was the highlight of your week,” says Iziyo.

Spending time at the local SPCA had started as a Life Orientation assignment. But the time they spend at the SPCA every Friday has become the best part of the week, for both of them.

“Yeah,” Brian says as he scratches his elbow. “But I have got to chill with the boys. I have to represent, you know. So, Iziyo, say sorry to Mrs Coetzee for me.”

“Okay,” says Iziyo, perplexed.

Later that afternoon, a Toyota Quantum taxi pulls up at the taxi stop next to a group of boys. Passengers climb out of the taxi. The group of boys catcall the girl passengers, one of whom is Iziyo. She peers through the crowd and spots Brian, who looks genuinely embarrassed by what the group is doing.

“Hey, Brian,” says Jaden. “Your cute, golden Oreo friend is looking at you.”

“Golden Oreo?” asks another boy next to Jaden.

“Yellow on the outside, white on the inside,” says Jaden.

The group bursts out in laughter. Brian seems hesitant. He wants to go to Iziyo, but he is afraid of what his friends will say, and he thinks of Mam’Gobhozi and Mr Mazibuko.

With a nudge from Jaden, Brian finally goes to Iziyo. He walks over to her with a heart that is scared and embarrassed, but with a burst of happiness. Iziyo begins speaking as she pulls out something from her school bag.

“Mrs Coetzee sends her regards and she said I should give you this surprise,” she says. She hands Brian a few photographs. “Sassy has puppies!”

Brian is hesitant, he looks back at the boys behind him. He shows no reaction to the photos. Iziyo watches Brian’s macho act, dumbfounded.

“Let me walk with you,” says Brian.

“Okay,” says Iziyo, confused.

The pair stroll down Vilakazi Street in silence. They pass Mam’Gobhozi’s house. Lucky for them she is nowhere in sight.

“Are we not going to our spot at the library today?” asks Iziyo.

“No, not today,” says Brian.

“Why? I thought you like it there, spending time …”

With me … Iziyo completes the sentence only in her mind. She stops and looks at Brian who is awkwardly scratching his elbow, then his head and his temple.

“Brian. Are you okay?”

“No,” he shrugs.

“What is the problem, Brian?”

“I’m okay. You are the problem.”

Iziyo is mortified.

“No … I mean us, you and me, spending time together is the problem,” says Brian.

“What do you mean?” Iziyo wants clarity. She is trying to control her impending tears.

“I don’t think we should continue seeing each other. Like, you love flowers and all that stuff. And I love cars and building stuff. And you don’t watch football.”

“You are the one who knows all the meanings of flowers and colours! And I can watch football,” Iziyo argues, with tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

She is hurt by this sudden change in Brian, and angry. She looks into his eyes, searching for the real answer, because this seems like an excuse. Brian can’t look her in the eye.

“So I’ll see you when I see you,” says Brian. “Say hi to Mrs Coetzee for me. And give a big hug to Sassy for me, it’s her birthday next Wednesday.”

Brian starts walking away, leaving Iziyo standing alone – abandoned, unwanted.

For every fifth step Brian takes, he glances back to Iziyo. He feels a heavy weight in his chest, then a sudden emptiness. It feels like he is losing a part of himself – his other half.

Tell us: Due to peer pressure Brian won’t show a soft side in front of his male friends. Do you think peer pressure is the same for boys and girls, or is it worse among boys, or worse among girls?