Divergent

05|Friends?

"You sure took your time" Elihle eyes me. "I slept quite late last night and I forgot to set an alarm" I think I slept around two in the morning. "Ubuwenzani?" (What were you doing?)

"Uhm... I was, reading? Yeah, I was reading" I clear my throat. "All night?" I nod in response. "We've already wasted enough time, can we get going now?"

"Nkululeko has to drive us there" Nelisiwe states. "Why?" Dintle sulks. "I'm apparently not allowed anywhere near a steering wheel and my driver's off for the weekend"

"You do know that he won't agree right?" Elihle warns her. "There's no harm in trying..." I shrug. "And then you, where have you been?" I furrow my eyebrows as Mahlori walks in, stuffing his face.

"Around... Showing myself around the place" He winks, walking off. "Go and call Nkululeko" Dintle waves him off. "Sure" He shouts back. I can literally feel my eyes starting to close.

I rub my aching temple in frustration. "Let me go grab my bag and phone" I say to them. "You'll find us in the car" They walk out and I rush up to my room.

I grab my bag, putting my cards and phone inside. I walk down to find him waiting by the door. "What does Nelisiwe want from me?" He asks. "Uhm.. can you please drive us to the mall?"

"Pardon?" He winces. "Will you drive us to the mall or not?" I fold my arms over my chest. "Only because you asked so nicely" He scowls. "Sure" I walk past him and into the SUV.

He gets in, driving off.

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"I am never doing that again" He mutters, testing his head on my shoulder. "Okay... Don't get too comfortable with me now" I move away from him. "Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?"

"We're friends now?" He places the bags on top of my bed. "I was hoping we could be" He answers. "I'll think about it" I tease him. "I'll be awaiting your answer"

"Thank you for helping me with the bags" I mutter out. "It's not like I had a choice" He whispers back instead. Mahlori suddenly barges into the room. "Pack your things, we're leaving" He orders. "What?"

"Your father is on his way. We have to go" No. "I'm supposed to be leaving tommorow" He hands me his phone. "Makhanani" I place it against my ear. "Papa?" I answer.

"Hi le ndleleni" (we're on our way) I murmer a simple okay, pushing my tears away. It was nice while it lasted. I toss Mahlori his phone back and pack up my things.

"You can't seriously be letting that man control you" Nkululeko rolls his eyes. "That man is my father and he knows what's best for me" I grab my things. "You've got to be kidding me" He chuckles.

"If you have nothing else to say, excuse me" I walk past him heading down to the living room. "Are you really leaving?" Neli asks and I nod. "I'm so sorry, I'll make it up to you guys. I promise, I'll see you three on Monday"

"Safe travels" Dintle responds. I hug all of them and head out to the car. The guards grab my bags, putting them in the car. I get in and immediately cling onto Boti Mixo. He hugs me back, smoothingly rubbing my back.

"How was your sleepover?" He asks. "Fun... It was my first one" I smile. "I'm sorry we had to cut it short" He pecks the side of my head. "I understand" I heavily sigh.

We get home and I rush up to my bedroom, closing the door. I pull ot my phone, quickly texting the girls. I taks a short shower and head down to Papa's office. I knock. "Come in"

I get in and he's seated with Boti Mandla. Their attention snaps towards me as I take a seat. I don't say anything, I wait for them to explain first.

"The house you were staying in, it's owned by the Khumalo's... We aren't exactly on good terms with them and we don't want you anywhere near them"

"If they could've found out that you or Mahlori were there. They could've killed you without a second thought" I dryly swallow. "But you did a full background check on them first"

"We did but we didn't get any of that information. That's why we sent Mahlori with you, so that he could figure out more about that place. You're lucky that they weren't there"

"I don't want you associating yourself with those people or their children... They hate us and they'll do anything in their power to take us down". "We'll get them arrested Papa, it's not like they can kill me or something.

"Yes but we need to be extra careful..." He archs his eyebrows. "I hear you. It's not going to affect me going to achool right?" I inwardly panic. "Not at all"

"Thank you" I let out a breath of relief. "But we will be beefing up security and you need to stay away from those girls... I heard from Mixo that you misplaced your necklace"

"We will have another one made for you and you'll have to keep it on at all times..." He states. "Yes" I agree. "I've also noticed that you've been coming home a little later than usual"

"I have extra curricular activities now... And if not then I spend my time at the library" I truthfully answer. "That's what I like to hear. I'll be monitoring your first report and I'll decide on a way forward"

"You're dismissed" I waste no time in leaving the room. It's getting quite late and I'm not really hungry so I decide to just get into bed to make up for the sleep I missed last night.

My phone starts vibrating under my pillow. I quickly pull it out, checking the screen. It's an unknown number. A text comes in and I immediately sit up, re- reading it.

"I'm outside..."