Chapter Sixteen: Day Ruined

"You like?" he asked cockily before driving out of the long driveway.

"You even have to ask. This is awesome!" I exclaimed and he laughed. He turned on the radio and Kendrick Lamar's 'King Kunta' came on.

"Nice." I simply said and started rapping along to the words.

"I thought you were going to say it's weird." He admitted shyly as his head absentmindedly bobbed.

"Oh, it is. But I don't really feel like stating the obvious today." I said and a blanket of silence fell over us. The only thing that was heard was the soft murmur of the G Wagon and the hip hop beat of Kendrick Lamar. The air was thick in tension, and I couldn't say that I was surprised.

"So how come you never learned how to drive?" he asked after a few beats.

"My dad tried to teach me one day. I was horrible; I even drove into our garage door."

"Was the car okay?" he asked in shock. Boys.

"Yeah, I lived hey! I didn't puncture a lung or anything. Thanks for the concern Principal Matthews."

"Well I'm pleased to hear that you still remember I'm your principal." He said this in an icy tone, and I immediately knew what he was referring to. My cheeks immediately started to burn from embarrassment. I used my hair to hide my blush and watched the change of scenery as the car swiftly moved by.

"Look, that kiss was a mistake-"I started but he cut me off.

"Mistakes like that don't just happen Azania."

"But it did okay! And I regret it, more than you will ever know. I didn't mean to kiss you; I was just overexcited and caught in the moment with the whole race and everything. Honestly, I don't know what came over me and I am deeply embarrassed by it. It's been one embarrassing thing after the other since I met you. It's bad enough you have to bring it up. I promise you it won't happen again. It was stupid and reckless of me to do it. I have learnt my lesson, so please don't hold this over me. I'm sure you've also made a lot of mistakes back in the day." I was breathless by the time I finished. My face was flushed, and for some annoying reason, tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Jackass stayed silent the whole ride to school, only speaking when he parked at the coffee shop he dropped me off at the first time I rode with him.

"Do you want a birthday coffee?" his tone was gentle, not at all what I expected.

"I could never say no to free coffee." I replied, suddenly feeling sad and rejected. He must have noticed this because he sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt, turning his body to look at me. I couldn't read the emotion in his eyes.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up. I didn't think it would embarrass you. I don't want you to be sad on your birthday." He said softly. I sniffled and turned to look at the entrance to the coffee shop.

"Enjoy your day Principal Matthews. Never mind the coffee." And with that, I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car. I could feel the weight of his eyes as I walked through the door, dodged the queue, and went straight to the counter, where Tony was waiting for me with a fresh cup of vanilla flavoured coffee. How he knew I would be coming; I did not care to ask. Ayanda arrived a few seconds later, and we left immediately. Jackass was still in his car when Ayanda drove by. Nothing was going to ruin my day.

Ayanda and I were discussing our plans for my birthday as we walked arm in arm through the quad, when we heard a voice behind us.

"Your dress code is going to get you into trouble." Kevin said. He was so close to me that I could feel his breath on my cheek.

"Oh, morning Kev, how are you? I'm fine thanks very much for asking. Happy birthday? Aw thanks babe." I could not mask the bitterness and sarcasm from my voice.

"Nia, this fight has been going on for too long. I know you're still egged about what happened last weekend, but I apologised. Can't we just move on already? I miss you baby." His voice was sincere, and it thawed my heart a little. "Azania." I corrected petulantly. I was rewarded with a smile. Ayanda laughed next to me.

"Good. Now that that scowl has left the building, allow me to turn that frown upside down by wishing my beautiful and amazingly awesome girlfriend a happy birthday." I don't know how I hadn't noticed the big bouquet of red roses that were hidden behind his back before, but I was genuinely surprised when he pulled them out.

"It wouldn't be a complete birthday without Nutella brownies." He added and handed me a Tupperware container of homemade Nutella brownies. I beamed and threw my hands over his neck, finally feeling the sadness leave my body.

"Baby, we're still at school. Save it for later okay?" he winked and disappeared into the crowd, where he had prefect duties to take care of. Well, that was fun while it lasted.

"Mh, red roses? Aren't you a lucky girl?" His voice filled my ears and I groaned.

"Leave me alone." I snapped and turned around to face him. Ayanda gasped. Oh, right.

"A year older, and still as rude as you were when I first met you." He observed, making me kiss my teeth in an effort to bite my tongue.

"My apologies Principal Matthews, I thought you were someone else." I mumbled and avoided his eyes.

"Meet me in my office as soon as you are marked on the register." And with that, he walked away with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his briefcase. Ayanda gaped after him, and then turned to look at me and started laughing. I noticed a few girls staring and ogling at him as he walked by; a few teachers too, rolled my eyes and grabbed her arm and pulled her to our hangout spot. To my surprise, my entire netball team was there waiting for me, each with a gift bag and balloon in their hands. With everything that had been going on, I had almost forgotten about netball. This was shocking because I lived, breathed and loved netball with all that I had. But I was flattered that they still made an effort even though I have neglected them lately. After everybody wished me luck and handed me my presents, Ayanda all but chased them away and sat down on the bench with a huff.

"You look terrible." I said to her, laughing silently.

"A year older and you're still a bitch." She mocked.

"Forgot to take your testosterone tablets today?" I retorted.

"Suck my dick."

"Is it clean?" I said with a smile, to which she laughed at. Before I knew it, my lungs were being squeezed to a point where I couldn't breathe properly anymore.

"Let go of me!" I wheezed.

"I love you man. And now you're growing up. It's a big deal." She said in genuine sadness and I found myself giving into her embrace.

"There there kiddo. I will always be your thug. Till death do us part. And even then, we'll still be thugs. I'll just be the awesome one 'cause I'll be a ghost and shit." I said in a lighter tone, making her laugh through her tears.

"What makes you think you'll die first?" she paused, "actually yeah, you'll probably die first. Ima live until I'm 95." And at that moment, the bell rang. Ayanda cursed when she realized that I had a lot of gift bags and stuff to carry. She skimmed the crowd before she whistled to a bunch of grade 8 girls who were rushing to class.

"Make yourselves useful for a change and hold the birthday girl's gifts for her." she said to the girls, who looked at her with raised eyebrows and folded arms. Uh-oh.

"Do you imbeciles understand English? I'm going to count to 5, and if every gift bag and balloon isn't cleared from where they are now, I will have your asses' doing cartwheels until you graduate. Test me, I dare you!" she bellowed and just like that, the girls scrambled and true to her word, Ayanda counted to 5 and when she was done, I was free of any weight except for my Nutella brownies. I didn't trust anyone with those.

"Was that so hard? Chip chop, to her locker!" she ordered as we started walking, the poor girls trailing behind.

"You're such a dictator Ay!" I exclaimed in mock surprise.

"I was born to lead. 10 steps behind girlies!" she ordered again, and the girls fell in step. I almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. We eventually made it to my locker and dumped everything inside. My best friend made sure to tell the girls to meet us at the square at the end of the day so that they could carry my bags to her car. Ayanda and I walked to homeroom resuming our conversation of plans for the day. After the entire class sang the birthday song for me, to Mr Stewart's dismay, he gave me a permission slip so I could go to the principal's office. I wondered what he wanted. My question was soon answered when I stepped into his office.

"I shouldn't be encouraging this, but do you want to bunk school today?" He asked me when I sat down.

"Why would I want to do that?" I retorted.

"I have a day off. I only came here to fetch a couple of documents then I'm heading out. Figured you'd want to come with me if you knew where I'm going." He explained.

"Where are you going?" I couldn't keep the interest from my voice, even though I wanted to.

"A car show." If he thinks I'll choose to stay in school, when I could bunk and go to a car show, he's out of his mind.

"I'm surprised you had to ask. Let's go!" I said with an excited laugh. He smiled.

"Alright, go get your stuff. Don't tell anyone where you're going, obviously. Make up something else. I'll have Janice sign your sign-out slip. Meet me at the car." I was out of my seat, jumping with excitement before he even finished his sentence. I tried my best to look contrite when I left his office, not wanting to give Janice any reason to question me. I headed back to class to get my things. Ayanda and Kevin gave me questioning looks, but I promised to explain later. After grabbing my things, I walked to the parking lot, looking behind me to see if anyone was looking. But you'd have to be at the office or in the parking lot itself to see where he was parked. And everyone was in class, so I should be safe. I waited for 2 mins, time courtesy of my new watch, before he emerged from the office. I shifted my gaze downcast, not wanting to check him out. I can't believe I'm doing this. My dad would not be happy.

Jackass said nothing as he unlocked the car and climbed in, making me follow. He put the car in drive before I could even fasten my seatbelt, and raced, yes I said raced, out of the school yard. That should give the security guards something to chew on. We drove in silence, the only sounds coming from the speakers, where Gideon was playing. The music was cut off by an incoming call. Gia was calling.

"G," he said sharply after he pressed a button on his steering wheel.

"Ant? Ant, help me." She's crying. Jackass tensed. We had stopped at a red light.

"What's going on? Where are you?" his voice was urgent.

"I'm at- I'm at home ..." she breathed, "Ant, he's here."

"Fuck!" he slammed the steering wheel with his hands, and seconds later, roughly put the car in gear and took off. The force pressed me back into my seat, making me clutch the edges of the seat tightly. I was too scared to speak. One look at him and you could tell he was ready to kill someone. I quickly skimmed through the conversation the married couple just had and felt my heart dip. Who is "he"? Nothing was going to ruin my day.

"FUCK!" he screamed, making me jump in surprise. The car was moving at a dangerously fast pace, cutting through traffic like a hot knife cuts butter. And before long, we were racing up the driveway to their mansion. He violently spun the car to a halt by the door, and I couldn't stop the scream that escaped my lips. He was out of the car before I could even comprehend, shouting his wife's name. I stepped out of the car, feeling the life leave my body when a loud crash sounded from inside the house. This, this is ruining my day.