Between Us

Chapter 3: Esihle Mashile

It had been a week already but Zola was still finding herself lost in the labyrinth-like school. Which is why she was late for her English class. This was the third class she had been late to, and it was third period. Yep, she was off to a very good start in her new life.

She was looking at the map she stole from one of the classroom windows -don't judge- when she felt a small hand settling on her shoulder. It seems everyone at Edgeview High was a bit touchy. 

"Hey, do you need any help?" The voice she hoped belonged to the hand spoke. Zola turned and plastered on the most sincere looking smile she could manage.

"You would be my saviour, I don't feel like being late again." She responded to the girl, who extended her hand expectantly. Zola handed her the stolen map.

"No no, I need your timetable. I'm pretty sure I know my way around." The girl said, her black mid-length braids moving slightly when she shook her head.

"Oh right," Zola responded giving the girl her timetable. "You obviously don't need a map of the school."

"Exactly." The girl said as she started to look through the paper. "Plus they don't hand them out so I'm curious to know where you got that one." The girl asked and started walking in the opposite direction that Zola was originally walking in. Zola followed her as they took multiple turns she had no hope of memorizing.

"I stole it." She answered honestly.

The girl laughed, her pretty smile on full display and continued walking. "You had every reason to, you're new here right?" She asked.

"Yep, that's why I'm so hopelessly lost captain obvious," Zola replied but instantly regretted it. Sometimes she had a hard time holding back the snarkiness. It was problematic for her. She found out the hard way that people do not appreciate being told they dance like they're handcuffed to a goat. JB -a dink from her old school- almost bit her head off for that comment, even if he did deserve it after fat-shaming Noah, who was the nicest person alive and happened to be one of the most creatively talented people at Zola's previous school. JB could only wish he had the same amount of talent that Noah has in his little finger alone. In fact, Noah was the one who put together the music mix for the stupid party they were attending at that time. Yes, she was sometimes snarky, but she was never one to openly embarrass or shame others as JB did for sport. He rarely did it to her because he knew he would regret it. With a name like JB, he deserved whatever she threw at him. She made sure to always fight back against pricks like that, no matter how high the odds were against her. Zola could not stand jerks.

"Captain obvious?" The girl asked, stopping abruptly. Her face contorted into one of surprise at Zola's ungratefulness. "Well it seems like you know what you're doing, I'll leave you to it." She said and started to walk away.

"No no no I'm so sorry, that was a mouth fart. I have no idea where I'm going please help me out I'm already super late and I don't have an excuse to give the teacher and I know she won't take 'I'm new' as an excuse for the fifth time and I'm already making a bad impression on her and it will be worse if I lose half the period so please." Zola said, sighing loudly like she just finished eating twelve hot dogs in a row.

"Woah. I have never seen so much rambling in one breath before. A very rare case of verbal diarrhoea." The girl responded, with a look of shock on her face. "It's okay," she said, turning to face the red wooden door right beside them, "We're already here. We have the same English class."

"So you were just messing with me?" Zola asked.

"Well duh captain obvious." The girl said, throwing Zola's earlier remark back at her. Zola smiled, already liking the girl. "Wait how have I never noticed you if we've been in the same class for a week now?" Zola questioned.

"You are always late so you always sit up front." The girl answered matter-of-factly.

She then opened the classroom door and Zola braced herself for the stern talking-to she was about to receive.

"Ma'am I can explain, I was in Mr Mabuza's class then-"

"She was helping me with something Mrs Davis." The girl said, cutting Zola's sentence short. Mrs Davis nodded her head.

"Alright then, take your seats, please. Sihle, if you have duties please do them at your own time and try not to involve other students." Mrs Davis said to her. So Sihle is her name.

Mrs Davis turned her attention back to the smartboard, where notes on 'Life Of Pi' were on display. They were already in the second chapter. Life here in Edgeview was a bit more fast-paced than back home and Edgeview High School was no different. She felt as though she was already weeks behind. Maybe it was the stress of moving; the separation; the new school or the new city but the changes were too much all at once. And just like that, the bell signalling the end of the period rang. She had zoned out again. This was the third time this week. How does one zone out for forty-five minutes straight? That doesn't seem normal.

Zola got up and packed her novel and empty notebook back into her navy blue backpack. She left the classroom and was headed to the school tuck shop when someone grabbed her wrist. 1... 2...

"Zoleka!" Yelled Sihle, letting go of Zola's hand.

"Sihle!" Zola yelled back sarcastically. "Please call me Zola." She said with a smile on her face and continued walking. Food waits for no one.

"Oh okay, Zola. I wanted to ask if you were alright, you seemed out of it in class today." Sihle asked politely while trying to keep up with Zola. Which was ridiculous since she had longer limbs than her, but nothing could keep up with Zola's hungry stomach.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just zoned out for a bit, it happens." She replied, not wanting to talk more about it she changed the topic. "Wait how do you know my full name?" Zola asked, a bit creeped out that she knew her full name when she didn't mention it, she slowed down so Sihle could catch up.

"Oh, it was on your timetable," Sihle said practically running up to her.

"I never got to thank you for not only leading me to class but also for saving me from the wrath of Mrs Davis. Much obliged." Zola said with a little curtsey.

Sihle returned the curtsey, "The pleasure is all mine. Where are you off to?"

Did she just curtsey back? Weirdo.

"Uhh... I didn't bring any lunch so I'm going to go buy some from the tuck shop." She replied, already speeding in the direction of the school's main source of junk for all to gorge on. Sihle promptly followed her. Zola always thought of herself as a patient person. She was wrong, and she was hungry. Her stomach was slowly taking over her whole body and all she could think of was food, which is how she accidentally completely ignored her newly acquainted friend. Her responses were limited to 'Uh huh'; 'I think so too'; 'Yeah probably' and the occasional 'Nope' to add a little flair.

"I am a 400 ft tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings," Sihle said.

"Yeah, I think so too." Zola obliviously replied, waiting patiently for the lady to bring the bacon and cheese sandwich she just bought.

"Uh-huh." She said to no one in particular after getting her food. Sihle could not help but just stare at her, terrified of the scene that was unfolding. It took Zola less than ten seconds to make the sandwich disappear. It was, magical... and... disturbing. It was magically disturbing.

"Maaaann, I feel fantastic. Let's go find a place to sit so you can eat." Zola rubbed her tummy, clearly satisfied with her magic trick.

"Uhh, yeah. I know a place we could sit temporarily." Sihle replied, choosing to ignore the fact that her new friend could make it in life as a competitive eater. They walked to a pair of secluded benches under a tree near the art class. Miss Jensen's class. They took their seats and Sihle opened up her neatly packed lunchbox and started eating. Like a normal person. Zola on the other hand was reading her notes on 'Life of Pi'. Mrs Davis decided that they would take a break from the novel and start working on 'Hamlet' but that didn't mean the work would not continue. She was happy that this school was only doing the Shakespearean tragedy this year whereas she had already done it last year, so she thought she could read her old notes as a refresher when she got home. Zola looked at Sihle and her heart smiled. She was happy to be somewhat settling into her new life. It would take a while but she no longer dreaded the thought of it.