Sophia opened the windows in the lounge so that the harsh smell of the nail polish wouldn’t choke her. Doing her nails helped her to think. And she needed to work out what had happened. How could the school not have her results? As far as she knew everyone had got their results!

She dipped the brush back into the nail polish. Could this mean that she had failed? No she could not think like that, but truth be told she had slacked a bit during the exams. She hadn’t studied for her exams as hard as she could and she went out on many weekends. But, failing? No way. If Mpho – the school’s trouble maker – could pass then so could she. No, she had nothing to worry about. Maybe they had mixed the results thinking that the twins were one person. With the same middle name and surname, and also the almost similar ID number, it was not surprising that they could have mixed their reports up! Yes, she breathed a weak sigh of relief. That had to be it. See, painting my toenails always seems to put everything into perspective, she thought.

“Hey Valerie, can I come in now?” Sophia knocked on the bedroom door.

“Yes,” she heard Valerie say softly. Sophia went inside the room and saw that Valerie had changed into her pyjamas , was in bed again, and was covered from head to toe by her duvet.

“Aren’t you excited at all that you passed?” Sophia asked her. “If I were you, I would be dancing like a kite.” Sophia felt her jealousy getting more and more intense. She had to make an effort to contain it. Why was she the one who had to wait an eternity to know her results? Valerie remained quiet. “Hey Valerie what’s up? I can see that something is bothering you… especially since you talked to David today.” Sophia walked towards her bed and sat down.

“Did you and David break up?” After a long pause Valerie answered back.

“Something like that.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Sophia asked. Despite the jealousy it hurt to see her twin sister like this.

“No,” Valerie answered back through her pillow. “I just want to be alone.”

“So I guess you’re not coming to the party then?”

“No, you and Mado can have a good time.” And the conversation ended there.

It was clear that Valerie wanted to be left alone.

***

A few hours before the party Sophia started to get ready. She had a quick shower, shaved her legs, straightened her hair, and pulled her outfit on which comprised of denim shorts, cowboy boots, a loose fitting top and peacock feather earrings.

In between dressing up she phoned Mado to check up on how far she was getting with her preparations, only to wake her up! Mado had fallen asleep dreaming of her bright future. Soon, she would be able to forget all the misery of the past… How she used to go to school without a lunchbox and starve the whole day – at least in the beginning before she made friends with Valerie and Sophia who shared their lunch with her. How she used to wear a frayed school uniform and old shoes that everybody laughed at… Soon she would be able to forget all that. Who knows, she might meet the boy of her dreams as well.

“Come on Mado, how can you sleep knowing that the party of the century is happening in a few hours’ time?” Sophia was almost shouting down the phone now. She loved exaggerating. But, Mado didn’t really have that much to do. Her hair was in loose braids – one awesome thing about having braids is how effortless they are. She also wore boots, paired up with denim jeans and an oversized cardigan. She was ready.

The girls met at Cape Town train station and headed towards the party. They both hoped to start off their new year with a bang! Sophia was going to forget her worries about her marks and just enjoy the night.

Have you had a similar experience to Mado’s?