Entwined (13 page)

“Staring?” ask Wiki and Lebz together.

I nod. “I was with Rakwena.” I pick up an uncomfortable vibe from Wiki. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he says quickly. “I’m just wondering what he wants to talk to you about. It’s so sudden.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll find out eventually.” I take a deep breath. My heart rate has returned to normal, and I can’t hold back my smile. “I can’t believe it. He spoke to me!”

“I’m happy for you.” Lebz squeezes my hand. “But I don’t think you should get too excited. Let’s hear what he has to say first.”

Too late; I’m already excited. Here I was giving up on the guy and finally, finally he notices me. I’ve waited three years for his attention and my patience has been rewarded. My hands travel up to my fae, then round to my hair. Suddenly I feel self-conscious. “Lebz?”

“Ja?”

“I think it’s time to do something about my hair.”

I spend my lunch hour sitting with Lebz, paging through magazines she borrowed from Kelly. It’s amazing what you can get from that girl. Tampons, painkillers, nail polish remover, bronzer – yes, bronzer, for highlighting certain body parts when you have a date behind the school shed. I don’t have much faith in the lighting over there, but you’ll get an A for effort.

“Ooh, what about this?” Lebz points at a woman whose head resembles a pineapple.

“I thought you were my friend.”

“OK, this one.”

I peer at the picture. “I don’t want to look like wallpaper or patterned stockings.”

Lebz lets out an exasperated sigh. “Connie, you don’t know what you want.”

I glance at her hair; very thin chestnut braids. I hate braids. I don’t like having my hair trapped. “Can’t I just iron it straight or something?”

Her face lights up. “Yes! Why didn’t I think of that?”

Wiki sighs into his book. Rakwena approaches, sipping a can of Fanta. “What’s going on?” he asks Wiki. “They look more excited than usual.”

“Connie’s unrequited love is now requited,” says Wiki, without raising his head.

Rakwena turns to me, a bemused look on his face. “Is that some kind of code?”

I stick out my tongue at him. “Don’t you have small children to frighten?”

“She’s nervous,” says Lebz, flipping through the magazine. “Her one true love has finally made his first move and she needs an extreme makeover to win his heart.”

Rakwena blinks. “Does nobody speak English any more? What one true love?”

Lebz looks up. There’s a sly look in her eyes that puts me on my guard. “She hasn’t told you? You guys have spent so much time together and you don’t know about the guy she’s been in love with for three years?”

I shoot her a warning glance.

Rakwena stares at me in confusion. “You have a boyfriend?”

“Not yet, but soon enough,” Lebz replies in a sing-song voice.

I snatch the magazine and hit her with it. “Don’t mind her,” I tell Rakwena. “She’s an imbecile.”

Lebz laughs and Wiki chuckles behind his book. Traitors. I turn my attention back to Rakwena, but he’s already on the move. “I’ll see you guys later,” he says, and slinks off to his favourite spot.

“Did you see the look on his face?” gasps Lebz. “Poor guy. You shouldn’t keep secrets from your friends, Connie.”

“Shut up,” I snap irritably. “We never got around to talking about those things.”

“Uh-huh.” Lebz takes back the magazine. “I wonder why.”

After school Lebz and I head to her house so she can practise hairstyles on me.

“Ouch,” I mutter as she pulls my virgin hair through a ceramic straightening iron.

“Don’t be such a baby,” she chides, and proceeds to burn the top of my ear.

Twenty minutes later I look in the mirror and gasp. I look like… well, like other girls. My dark brown hair hangs down my shoulders in a sleek sheet, framing my face.

“You look so pretty,” Lebz gushes with pride. “All you need now is some proper earrings.”

I finger the silver studs in my ears. I know what her idea of “proper” is, and I want nothing to do with it. “Thanks, Lebz.”

“Just try not to get it wet, okay? Tie it up when you take a bath, otherwise I’ll have to iron it all over again.”

I wince. I can’t believe people go through this every day, not to mention make-up and clothes. Who has that kind of time? “Why am I doing this again?”

“Because Thuli likes KIA girls and KIA girls iron their hair.” Lebz packs up her tools. “You’d better get going. I’m supposed to cook today and I have to get started.”

I get up and turn from side to side, examining my new look. I hope I’m not going to have to keep it up – I want to make an impression on Thuli, but I also want him to like Connie, not some girl who used to be Connie.

Dad is already home when I walk into the house, sitting in front of the PC. The light from the screen is reflected in his glasses and he sits hunched in his chair. I peer over his shoulder. He’s working on something for the Salinger Biological Institute, a US-run organisation that does scientific research in Africa. It all goes over my head; all I know – and all I care about – is that their projects pay well.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hello, love.” He turns around and the smile freezes on his face. “What happened to your hair?”

“I thought it was time for a change,” I reply, flicking my hair over my shoulder. “What do you think?”

“It’s nice. You’ve never been interested in changing your look, though.”

I lift my shoulders in a casual shrug and drop my bag on the dining table. “I’m a teenager. We like to experiment.”

“Let’s have a look, then.” I come closer for inspection. “Is there something you want to tell me?” he asks when he’s done.

“Something like what?” I walk past him into the kitchen and open the fridge.

“You’re not… this is not because of… a boy, is it?”

How does my father know me so well? “A boy? Dad, of course not!” I laugh for good measure.

“Are you sure? You can tell me. You’re sixteen, you’re growing up.” He’s out of his chair now and watching me from the doorway. The idea of me doing anything as unpredictable as falling for someone terrifies him. He licks his lips and frowns. “But we can talk about it. We can talk about anything.”

No, Dad – not quite
anything
. “There’s nothing to talk about. It’s just hair.” I select the ingredients for a sandwich and turn to offer him a reassuring smile.

“OK. If you say so.” He approaches warily as if scared I might be contagious, then reaches out and touches the ends of my hair. “It’s pretty. But you were already pretty, you know.”

I laugh. “I think you might be biased.”

“A little,” he confesses with a yawn.

“Long day?”

“You have no idea. I think my students are getting more stupid every year – you should have seen their assignments!” He cringes. “I don’t know what they teach them in secondary before they palm them off on us. And then there’s the research report I’m doing for Salinger…” He sighs. “But right now, I’m going to take a shower and go to bed.”

“I second that motion,” I tell him, nodding. “You look knackered.”

Dad grins, amused as always by my use of a British expression. “I am that, love.” He kisses my forehead. “See you in the morning.”

“Night.” When he’s gone I run my fingers through my hair and wonder what I’m going to tell him when I finally do have a boyfriend. Maybe that day will come sooner than either of us expected. I replay my conversation with Thuli and smile.

It’s only when I’m halfway through my sandwich that I remember it’s Thursday. I think the curse has officially been broken.

I’m standing near the bench at lunch, rifling through my wallet and trying to decide what I can buy with five bucks when Lebz suddenly starts smoothing down my still-straight hair. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a pot of lip gloss. “Quick!” she hisses.

I open it, apply some gloss and stare at her, baffled. “Lebz, what in the world – ?”

“Hello Lebz, Wiki.” It’s that sly voice again, accompanied by a faint smell of cigarette smoke.

Oh, there goes my heart again. Wiki picks up his book, mumbles a greeting and heads to the library. They should really consider building him his own wing.

I swallow hard, lick half the gloss off my lips and turn around slowly. “Hi.”

“Connie.” Thuli’s lips stretch into a smile. Honestly, the boy is smiling way too much these days. His mouth must be in shock. “How are you?”

“Good. You?”

“Fantastic now that I’ve seen you.” Curiosity is coming off him in waves. He looks at each of my facial features in turn as if trying to figure out which part of the factory they were made in. I don’t understand why I’ve suddenly become so fascinating to him, but I’m not complaining. “Lebz, do you mind if I borrow her for a minute?” He’s talking to her but hasn’t taken his eyes off me.

Lebz raises her eyebrows. “Oh. Sure. I need to talk to Kelly anyway.” She gets up reluctantly and takes her time walking away.

I lower myself onto the bench. “Have a seat, Thuli.”

Thuli drapes himself over the bench like a cashmere throw. “Your hair looks lovely like this.” He reaches up with long, thin fingers. “May I?”

Yes, yes, please! “Sure.”

He takes the ends of my hair and gently drags them between his forefinger and middle finger. “It’s so… soft.” He releases it and gazes at me in wonder.

Is that a compliment? Do the KIA girls have soft hair, too? “Um, thanks.”

“You’re quite pretty,” he says in surprise. “And you have such interesting eyes. Eyes that have seen a lot, I’m sure.”

What the hell? I know I have limited experience of this sort of thing, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t the usual exchange between two flirting teenagers. He is flirting, isn’t he? Damn, I’m not even sure.

“Thanks,” I say again. “What did you want to talk about?”

He stretches one arm across the back of the bench and toys with my hair. “I think you’re a very interesting person, Connie. I like interesting people. I want to get to know you better.”

“Why now?” I sound like Lebz, I realise in dismay.

He smiles. “I was, you know, preoccupied for a while, so I wasn’t in a position to spend time with you. But that’s all over now.” He waves his hand dismissively. I wouldn’t want to be the girl described as a preoccupation, but her loss is my gain.

“Sorry to hear that.” I wish my heart would stop hammering like that.

“Break-ups are unpleasant,” he acknowledges with a nod. “But the old must make way for the new, don’t you think?”

I nod eagerly. Would I be the new in this situation? Oh, I hope so.

“Tell me about yourself.” He looks right into my eyes. He’s not just being polite – he really wants to know. “Everything. Background, family, hobbies.”

I hate questions like this. I think I should have a pre-written bio that I can refer to for such situations. I push my hair behind my ear. “Well, I’m an only child, my dad teaches Science at UB, my mother died when I was five, my grandfather is… well, he’s sort of well-known.”

“Lerumo Raditladi,” he says, as if he’s been waiting for the opportunity to mention him. “Renowned author, historian and expert on folklore and mythology. Interesting, interesting man.”

“Yes, he is.” I smile, pleased that he made the connection. “We’re very close.”

“Really?” His eyes light up and he leans closer. “How close? Does he talk to you about his work?”

“Sometimes,” I reply cautiously. I’m not quite sure which work he’s referring to. So far he’s shown no sign that he knows anything about Ntatemogolo’s double life, and I’m not going to give anything away.

He looks like he wants to cut me open and inspect my arteries. “What do you do for fun?”

“I love movies.”

“Movies.” He’s disappointed. “Do you read?”

“Of course.”

“Ah.” He’s happy again.

I didn’t realise Thuli was so… strange. No, I shouldn’t be thinking such things. Three years! This is what I wanted. It’s just odd getting to know him after I had built up my own version of him in my head.

“And you’re a loyal friend, aren’t you? I can tell. You’ve been friends with Wiki and Lebz for a long time.”

“Almost all my life,” I tell him, nodding. “Like you and Mothusi and Simon.”

He lets out a little laugh. He clearly doesn’t see his friends the way I see mine. “But you’re very picky about who you make friends with. I’ve noticed.”

I raise my eyebrows, on the defensive immediately. “So are you.”

He laughs again. “True,” he says without shame. “I only want to be around people who inspire me. Is it the same for you?”

“Well, I’m a little less complicated. I want to be around people I like, who like me in return. Generally the people I like inspire me, but I think that’s true for everyone.”

His eyes widen. “I’ve never thought of it like that. Hmm.” He starts playing with my hair again, but this time he traces his fingers along my hairline, making my pulse race. “Do you have a boyfriend, Connie?”

“No,” I whisper breathlessly.

His eyes narrow. He doesn’t believe me. What a joke! Too bad he can’t see into my head. “Be honest. It’s not nice to play with people’s feelings, you know.”

“Trust me, I don’t have a boyfriend. Friends who are boys, yes. Boyfriend, no.”

He smiles again. “Good. It would be a shame if someone got in the way of our relationship.”

My eyes widen. Relationship? That was quick. Isn’t he supposed to ask me first?

He notices my reaction and smiles. “I mean the relationship I hope we can have, in time. Once we get to know each other.” He traces his finger down the side of my face.

I’m going to die. No one can possibly experience heart palpitations like this and survive. Good thing I’m sitting down, because I’m not sure I have the strength to stand.

“Have a lovely weekend, Connie.” He lifts himself off the bench with the grace of a dancer and walks across the campus.

Oh. My. God. He was wonderful in my fantasies, but he’s even more so in the flesh.
Relationship
? I slump back against the bench, exhaling loudly.

“What happened?” demands Lebz, who is at my side almost as soon as Thuli is out of sight. “What did he say?”

“He said he wants to have a relationship with me,” I tell her weakly.