It's Life.

Chapter 8: She is not sweet but she is psycho.

NALEDI MASEKO

I sat by my study table, busy on my laptop, while drinking coffee. I looked horrible, with bags under my eyes only because I had been stalking Thabiso on Instagram at nighttime. What annoyed me the most was that his girlfriend was all over his Instagram. You'd swear she had taken over his account or something. I couldn't stand how people in the comments thought they looked adorable together. It made me sick; how could he possibly leave me for her? I mean... we were madly in love with each other. She had stolen him from me because Thabiso was no longer interested in me. I rapidly stood up and smashed my coffee mug against the wall. I was fuming, and my dad rushed up the stairs, shouting, "Naledi, Naledi!" He opened the door and stopped by the doorway when he saw glass all over the floor. "Naledi, not this again," he said with a concerned look on his face. "Did you take your pills today?" I shook my head no. He sighed, walked back into the kitchen, poured some water into a plastic cup, and returned to my room. "Take your pills, Naledi." I walked towards my dad, trying to avoid stepping on the broken glass. I took the cup, opened my drawer, and took my pills. I didn't actually drink these pills anymore. I put the pills under my tongue and drank the water. I gave my dad the cup, and he walked out. I closed the door and spat out the pills. I went to my bathroom and flushed them down the toilet. I was bipolar; I had been diagnosed with it at the age of fourteen. Nobody but my mom, dad, and family members knew about my condition, not even Thabiso knew about it. You're probably wondering where my mom is... well, she is at a medical care center because she also is bipolar. My dad had to take her to the medical care center because it was getting worse. She had also stopped taking the pills; it was tiring to have to take pills every day for a condition I didn't ask for. I walked back into my room and cleaned up the glass on the floor.

LINAWE GUMEDE

I had decided to sleepover at Khanyi's house. She might act tough, but I knew she was torn by this whole abortion thing. She hadn't wanted to do it, but she also hadn't wanted to keep Pule's baby. Pule hadn't called ever since the incident, and he should keep it that way. My phone rang, and I looked at the caller ID; it was my boyfriend, Thabiso. I answered it, got out of bed, opened the sliding door, and stepped outside onto the patio. "Hey babe," I said. "Hey beautiful, how are you this morning?" I yawned. "I am fine... I guess. How are you?" I asked. "I am good, babe. Listen, there's a Pens Down party happening at The Royale. Will you come with me?" I chuckled. I knew wherever he was, he was definitely making a puppy face. "Yeah, sure, baby. What time is the party?" "15:00. I'll come to fetch you at 14:00. Well... we will fetch you at 14:00. Senzo is going, and he is hoping to see Khanyi there too," I looked back at Khanyisile; she was still sleeping. "I hope so too; she really needs it," I sighed. My best friend had been through a lot these past weeks. "Okay, just try to convince her otherwise. And be ready at 14:00, okay? I love you." I smiled. "I love you too, my baby," he hung up. I walked back into the room and closed the sliding door. I got into bed, and she woke up. "Morning," she said as she stretched. "Morning, bestie," I smiled at her. "How are you today?" I asked. "I am fine. How are you?" She got out of bed. "I am fine. Thanks," I nodded in understanding. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth, and I followed her. Khanyisile didn't want to interact with anyone but me, so asking her to come with me to the party was just me pushing it really. I looked at her with my puppy dog eyes. "Linawe... no," she said while brushing her teeth. "Come on, you don't even know what I was going to say," I fake cried. She chuckled. "What do you want?" She asked. "There's a party happening at The Ro..." just as I was about to finish my sentence, she cut me off. "No." My face flushed with disappointment. "Come on, it's going to be fun." She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth with water. After she was done, she looked at me and walked out. I followed her, begging her to come with me to the party. "Please... please, please, please, Khanyi. Besides, you are the life of the party. You've got the dance moves. Come on, it's going to be fun, and you'll see familiar faces there too. Rachel is going, Samantha is going, Tukelo is going, Senzo is going." She chuckled and wore her slippers. "Well, have fun," she said, smiling, and walked out of the bedroom.

KHANYISILE NDLOVU

Linawe followed me, sulking because I wasn't interested in going to the party. We got to the dining room table and greeted my mom and dad. "Morning," we said as Linawe sat down on her chair. I went and hugged my dad because it was my first time seeing him since he came back. "How are you, my Khanyi?" He said. "I am good, Dad," I said as I broke the hug. We did our little handshake, and I sat down. We were a pretty close family; I was best friends with my mom and dad. "So, what are you guys planning on doing today?" My mom asked. Linawe cleared her throat. "Well, we got invited to a Pens Down party, but Khanyi doesn't want to go to the party," she sulked. "Well, your mom and I are going on vacation, so I suggest y'all break the rules as much as you can while we are away," my dad said. He sipped his tea. That was him saying I should go to the party while I still had the chance because when they come back from vacation, he'll want me all to himself. "Okay... Okay, fine, I'll go." "Yay!" Linawe said with an excited expression on her face. "Thank you so much, Pops. You are the only person I knew would get through to her." She said as she fist-pumped my dad. We all laughed and ate our breakfast.

NALEDI MASEKO

I had been invited to the Pens Down party at The Royale. As a matter of fact, all the grade 12s from my school were invited, meaning I'd get to see Thabiso. I smiled at that thought, but then my smile disappeared when I remembered that his little trash of a girlfriend would be there too. It was currently 12:45, I scoffed and went to my bathroom to take a shower. After my shower, I contemplated whether I should take the pills or not. I decided not to, I mean I had been surviving without them. I went back into my bathroom to brush my teeth. After brushing my teeth, I lotioned my body and wore my black leather skirt, my white turtleneck, and black high-knee boot heels. I tied my dreadlocks into two ponytails. I looked good. I sprayed on my perfume and put on my lip gloss. Thabiso would definitely go crazy when he saw me. I grabbed my small yellow bag and requested an Uber. I checked the time and it was 13:15. I didn't really have friends, so I was going there alone.

KHANYISILE NDLOVU

Linawe went to her house to grab a few outfits and came back because she wanted us to get ready together. "Okay, I think we should wear our turtleneck jumpsuits," she said. Linawe and my wardrobe had similar clothes. We were so close that we sometimes bought the same clothes. "Okay," I said as we wore our pink turtleneck jumpsuits. We had been trying to figure out what to wear, but I think this one takes the cake. "Yes, yes, yes, and yes. These jumpsuits are doing justice to our bodies, so we are definitely wearing them," I said. Linawe chuckled. We were standing in front of my mirror and we looked like twins. My best friend of 12 years. I smiled at her, and she smiled back at me. "Let's do our hair," she said. We tied our braids in a long ponytail. We looked good. We did our finishing touches. By 14:00, Thabiso was outside, so we left.