Bongi had, at last, agreed to go out with her best friend Andiswa, now that her university future looked more secure and her student loan was being handled by Xavier — good things did happen! Perhaps she just needed to trust after all. Andiswa had been partying all summer. Pre-university was lit with parties, and tonight, she would be celebrating at one.

There was a knock at the door, and Andiswa burst in with a huge pile of clothes.

“Sho! Have you gone into the clothing business?” Nana chuckled.

“You should try one, Nana. You’ve still got a lot of party in you…” Andiswa joked.

Just then, Andiswa’s phone pinged — yet another party invite!

“It hasn’t stopped pinging all morning,” Andiswa rolled her eyes.

“Mine as well,” said Nana, whose phone was also pinging. “Mxm…I just don’t understand it. This phone is new, and no one has my number apart from Bongi, but look at all these messages…”

She handed her phone to Andiswa.

Bongi felt a flutter in her stomach. Nana and Bongi were not the only ones who had Nana’s new number, she thought. She remembered how Xavier had underlined the phone number.

Do you need life cover…the first text read. It was from a company called Steadfast Insurance.

“Do I look that old? I’m not about to die, I can tell you that. Not until I see my Bongi on her way to university…” said Nana.

“You didn’t sign up for any of this stuff, did you, Nana?” Andiswa was frowning.

Just then, there was another PING.

“Only the one…something about covering any debt I had and…”

“Yho Nana, there are a lot of scams out there. Don’t you sign up for anything any more…” Andiswa said. “You know when they ask you for your details. It’s for a reason.

When you give them your number or your address and ID, you are giving them information they can use. Next thing you are being scammed, or they are trying to sell you a lot of stuff you don’t need.”

“But what can I do…?” said Nana. Bongi saw the look of worry on her face.

“It’s OK. I can change your settings for starters,” said Andiswa, tapping on Nana’s phone.

“How do you know all this stuff?” said Bongi, taking out her phone and checking to see if Xavier had sent her the email he had promised, but there was nothing.

“Let’s say I learned from experience,” Andiswa sighed.

“Thank you, my dear,” said Nana.

“Remember, don’t give anything away, Nana…there are so many scams out there…Not on your phone or at the mall when they try to sell you things and need your details.”

“I won’t. You have truly helped me,” Nana said.

“Now it’s time to find our outfits for tonight,” said Andiswa, as she followed Bongi into her bedroom.

“You can wear that if you want,” Andiswa offered, noticing her friend mesmerised by the little golden sequins on the top she had thrown on the bed.

Just as Bongi was holding the top up in front of the mirror and Andiswa was searching Bongi’s cupboard for some jeans to pair it with, Bongi’s phone pinged.

She sat down on the bed.

It was from EezyLoans!. Her heart jumped. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She would be going to varsity. It was perfect timing. They could celebrate at the party tonight.

But when she read it, her heart plummeted, and she felt sick. Andiswa looked at her friend. Something terrible had happened.

Dear Applicant

We regret to inform you that your loan application was unsuccessful

Good luck with your future endeavours

Xavier

Chief Operations Officer

EezyLoans!

“What is it, Bongi? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

Bongi read the email four times, but the words didn’t change. He had lied to her.

“What is it, chommie?” Andiswa asked.

Bongi told her the whole story.

“But why didn’t you apply for NSFAS?” Andiswa asked her.

“The guy told me all these stories. How you get into trouble if you don’t pay it back…”

Andiswa clicked her tongue. “Nonsense!”

They looked at each other. “What have I done?” whispered Bongi.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation,” Andiswa reassured her. But Bongi could see her face was worried.

“So, tell me everything you gave this Xavier again,” said Andiswa.

Bongi listed the documents she had handed over for copying and the questions that Xavier had asked. And how he had done her application for her because she had to get back to Nana. She told him how the second time she went to see him, she had asked him a whole of things about Nana.

“And you gave him Nana’s new number as well?”

The vague suspicion that Bongi had felt when Nana’s phone had pinged had turned into a red flag.

“Did the university send you a confirmation of your provisional acceptance?” Andiswa said.

Bongi put her head in her hands. She realised she had got nothing to say she had got in — just Xavier’s word. “He did give me my password,” said Bongi. She had typed it onto her phone from the piece of paper he had given her. He had never sent that WhatsApp confirming it.

Andiswa found the page on the internet and punched in Bongi’s password.

“That’s odd!” Andiswa said, “It says there’s an error. It isn’t recognising those numbers. Something must be wrong.” She tried the password again, but the same thing happened.

Bongi was panicking now. Andiswa saw her face and hugged her.

Andiswa, ever the optimist and never one to give up, said firmly: “We will get to the bottom of this. We will go back to that loan company, and we will phone the university. It will all be sorted out. But right now, you need to come and forget your worries. You can’t just stay here stressing all night. Right now, we need to party. There will be loads of students there, and you can ask them all the questions you need to about applying and loans…Plus, we’ll have fun!”

Tell us: would you like someone like Andiswa as a friend? Why/why not?