After school, Khalipha is walking with Alizwa. They are discussing the matters of the school day.

ALIZWA: So, how was lunch with annoying Mr Ngxaka?

KHALIPHA: Is he annoying?

ALIZWA: Duh, of course. I mean, all the maths teachers are annoying. We always speak about how annoying he is.

KHALIPHA: Oh yeah, he is annoying.

ALIZWA: OK…even a two-year-old would be able to tell that you are being sarcastic right now.

KHALIPHA: Is it? The brains of two-year-olds are not that developed. They are children. They can barely speak. How would they know about—

ALIZWA: You know what I meant! What happened during lunch that has completely changed how you feel about him?

KHALIPHA: Feel? I didn’t say I had feelings for him.

ALIZWA: Obviously not…you know what I mean—wait, Khalipha (whispering), do you have feelings for Mr Ngxaka?

KHALIPHA: What? No. I have never even dated. Why would I have feelings for him?

ALIZWA: Well, you have the man’s number, you faked sickness to avoid his class, and now you are defending him.

KHALIPHA: He is the one who gave me his number so I could remind him about things related to our class!

ALIZWA: It doesn’t change the fact you have it.

KHALIPHA: I don’t have feelings for the guy. Let’s just drop this topic.

ALIZWA: OK, we will. But first, tell me what happened Tuesday after he ran out of class and you followed him.

KHALIPHA: I told you what happened.

ALIZWA: (abruptly stopping) Uh, no, you didn’t.

KHALIPHA: Nothing happened. As you saw, he was on the verge of tears. I stood next to him and asked him what was wrong. He chased me away, and I didn’t go. I insisted that he tell me what was going on because he clearly wasn’t OK.

ALIZWA: Insisted? Why do you care that much?

KHALIPHA: It is not that I care! You said so yourself: maths teachers are supposed to be annoying, so his storming out like that meant that he was not OK.

ALIZWA: That still doesn’t answer my question, Khalipha. It is not your duty as a learner to make sure teachers are OK.

KHALIPHA: Well, I couldn’t help it.

ALIZWA: You have feelings for the guy. You just don’t know it yet.

KHALIPHA: That is not true.

ALIZWA: (rolling her eyes) We will see.

Tell us: What do you think of Alizwa’s ideas? Is it a student’s duty to look after their teachers?