Mosala is sitting alone on campus eating lunch. He looks a lot smaller and more vulnerable than he did at the beginning of the play.

MOSALA: (calling across the cafeteria) Hey Dino! What’s up?

Dino ignores him. Mosala lowers his hand and seems lonelier than ever. Enter Nkgopoleng. She goes to sit close to Mosala. They exchange a couple of awkward, curious glances.

NKGOPOLENG: Excuse me. Are you Mosala?

MOSALA: (suspiciously) Yes… How do you know my name?

NKGOPOLENG: You’re in my politics lecture.

MOSALA: Yes, I’ve seen you there too. But how do you know my name?

NKGOPOLENG: You always ask good questions in class.

MOSALA: (blushing) That’s just because I don’t understand. You actually raise good points and make good arguments.

NKGOPOLENG: A good question is worth more than a good argument.

MOSALA: That still doesn’t explain how you know my name?

NKGOPOLENG: What can I say? People in class seem to know who you are.

MOSALA: For all the wrong reasons…

NKGOPOLENG: Oh… You mean from the Sinazo thing?

MOSALA: Yeah. Sorry for being weird, I’ve just become so suspicious of how people on campus know about me.

NKGOPOLENG: No, I get that. Sinazo had no right to post that. And everyone who deserves to be your friend should feel the same way. All I saw when I read through that comment section was a lot of irrational stigma and fear.

MOSALA: I didn’t read the comment section. I was tempted, but I didn’t go there. It would have driven me insane.

NKGOPOLENG: Nothing good happens in a comment section! You can’t control the nonsense people circulate there. You can only stay true to what you think is right and the rest is noise. It was also so clear that no one commenting had any experience or understanding of what it’s like to live with HIV. It was all coming from a place of fearful ignorance.

MOSALA: You just can’t imagine how deeply it affects you to always be walking around with this thing. You can’t imagine what that’s like until you’re actually living it.

NKGOPOLENG: You’re right. I don’t understand what it’s like. But my mother has had HIV for as long as I have been alive. I can see how it has affected her life and I have also seen all the ways in which it hasn’t affected her life. I have seen it become a very manageable part of her life.

MOSALA: I know I know, but what gets me down sometimes is just the fact that I will need to constantly overcome this illness to have a normal life. It’s heavy baggage to carry around all the time.

NKGOPOLENG: Yeah, but aren’t we all carrying heavy stuff around with us? We’re all trying to live a normal life that we never quite get around to.

MOSALA: You’re probably right. I just wish I could stop thinking about it for a while.

NKGOPOLENG: Well, my friend Grace is throwing a party tomorrow night if you feel like coming? I’m almost sure no one there will have seen Sinazo’s post. Different crowd. That could be a nice distraction?

MOSALA: That sounds like heaven…

NKGOPOLENG: You’re more than welcome. I’d love to have you there.

MOSALA: I think that’s just what I need right now. A nice distraction.

NKGOPOLENG: This world is full of distractions. You just need to find the right ones.

Mosala smiles and the two students leave the cafeteria together.