I don’t head to class. Instead, I find myself at the hall. There is yellow tape across the entrance and I can see police officers inside; they have their backs to me. When they turn around I recognise one of them. He looks up and we stare at each other.

“Tina! Is that you?”

“Lu!” I run towards him. He envelops me in a hug. I want to stay there in the warmth of him, but he pulls out of the hug. He is still holding me by the arms though, as he studies me closely, like he’s trying to remember every detail of my face.

Lu reminds me of home. We never went a week without seeing him. He used to work with my dad. He had become more than just a friend; he was like part of our family. Then he moved away to Cape Town to a better paid job. I can’t believe he is working on this case.

He is even more handsome than I remember him. I thought about Lu a lot after he left. I knew my feelings had changed for him in those last months when he used to visit. My brother teased me that it was a crush, but I thought it was love. I remember hoping that it didn’t show, because it felt forbidden. I was still at school and Lu, although much junior, worked with my dad.

“Look at you. All grown up!” We both laugh. I feel myself blushing and look down at my feet. “Hey!” He tips my chin up. “I’m sorry about your dad. I really am. You know how close we were.”

I bite my lip. Suddenly the tears well up. I look over at where the other police officers are searching the hall. “What’s going on? Did you find anything?” I say, to change the subject. “I can help. I can find out things about the boy who died. I can …”

I want to see Lu again, I think.

“I’ve got to go.” Another policeman is calling him. “I’ll see you soon.”

I walk to class in a daze. When the bell rings for break I realise I haven’t written down one single thing that the teachers have been saying. I follow everyone outside into the quad.

“Hey new girl!” Sia is standing beside a short girl with an afro, who is grinning at me.

“Hey!” I answer reluctantly.

“Wanna come with us?” The short girl sounds friendly. “I’m Ntombi, by the way.”

“Tina.” I walk over to them and introduce myself.

“We know who you are,” says Sia.

“Be nice, Sia,” Ntombi warns her friend.

I go with them to the tuckshop and then we head for the shade of a tree. Sia takes a cigarette out of her bag and lights up.

“Isn’t it against the rules?” I ask.

“It’s just smoking, nobody cares.” I watch as she takes a pull and exhales smoke rings. She has plump lips that are tinted with gloss.

“It’s sad what happened to Thabo,” Ntombi says. “Everyone’s talking about it. Nobody thought he was doing drugs. That’s what they are saying; that it was a drug overdose.”

“Drugs?”

Ntombi looks around before lowering her head to whisper. “I heard that there’s this new drug going around, called krokodil. I hear it’s pretty dangerous and …” She lowers her voice even more: “it can even kill you.”

Sia rolls her eyes, uninterested. “Only if you’re a loser and you take more than what you’re supposed to.”

“Anyways … apparently Thabo got really hooked and he kept using until his fragile body couldn’t take it anymore,” Ntombi says dramatically.

“Do you know who was selling these drugs?” I ask Ntombi, thinking about Noah, imagining him at school, being offered his first hit. Ntombi quickly glances at Sia, as if seeking approval about whether or not she should share her knowledge with the new girl.

“You know how they deal with snitches here at West?” Sia says warningly.

Ntombi waves her hand dismissively and shakes her head. “It’s not snitching. She’s our friend now. Right, T?”

Sia rolls her eyes and reaches out for my chip packet, helping herself.

“No-one is talking, not after what happened. But I overheard someone not so long ago saying that one of the Matric boys was dealing at school.”

“Zuganov,” says Sia flatly. “I heard it’s Zuganov. Well that’s what they call him. It’s a nickname. Stupid one if you ask me.” She takes another of my chips and crunches it.

“So why didn’t you tell the Principal?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, new girl,” Sia leans forward and slaps my thigh, a bit too hard. “But here at West, we aren’t snitches.” She raises her eyebrows to emphasise her point.

“I was just curious, that’s all.”

Sia eyes me. “What’s it to you, anyway?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to know what’s going on.”

***

Tell us: Why do you think Tina is so interested in the case? Is it right to not be a ‘snitch’, as in this case?