Episode 38

Angie stood still, yet to recover from the shock of seeing both her parents at home. Lot's of different reasons ran through her mind 'Did something bad happen? Did they lose their job? Did someone die? Did they come for business trip and decided to visit home first?' All these thoughts ran through her head as her mother walked up to her and hugged her tightly "I have missed you Zara" She smiled happily.

Angie couldn't utter a word as she stared at all their smiling faces. "Are you okay honey?" Her mom asked, breaking the hug and noticing the look she had on.

"What are you guys doing here?" She finally found her voice.

"We decided we shouldn't miss your graduation out of high school, so we came to surprise you" Her dad replied, smiling warmly at her.

On hearing this, Angie's countenance fell. Jessica noticed this and knew what was coming next. She was about to lash out. "So you wouldn't miss?!" Angie reiterated, irritated. "Too late 'parents', you already missed out on everything. Why don't you go and take care of the business you love most and never miss out on" She blurted out, turned and stormed off. Surprised at what just happened, her parents stared at each other speechless and then shifted their confused look to Jessica.

"I told you. She isn't going to welcome you with open arms" Jessica shrugged, walking out also. "I'll get dinner started" She added.

***

Kyle rushed Into the sitting room where he found Kelvin and his mom looking into the sales book, calculating the sales for the day. He ran up to them, clearly looking happy. "Guess what!" He said, almost shouting, holding a piece of paper.

Kelvin looked at the paper and then looked up at him "You are pregnant" He quipped, keeping a serious look.

"Not funny man" Kyle said, smiling.

"What is it?" Mrs Williams asked curiously.

"Okay, remember the scholarship exam I took that was arranged by our school?.....I secured it" He announced excitedly.

"Are you serious?" Mrs Williams inquired, dropping the book she was holding.

"Yes mom" Kyle confirmed, nodding his head with a smile planted on his face. She immediately jumped up to her feet, hugging Kyle and screaming with joy.

"Wait, wait, wait. What scholarship exam?" Kelvin asked, confused and feeling out of the loop.

"I told mum about it when I took the exam. University of Stellenbosch brought a scholarship offer. Our school was listed among schools that could apply, so I did and I was given" Kyle explained.

"And I didn't know this?! How come both of you do and I didn't?" He asked, still surprised.

"Well at that time, we weren't in a great place, if you can remember. Well now you do and the important thing is that I was given and now we both can have the chance to go to higher institution" Kyle kept smiling, genuinely happy. Although Kelvin was still a little angry he didn't knew about it, he was happy when he looked at the bright side, he could finally see a future for himself after high school. He stood up and joined them in celebrating.

***

Kelvin laid on his bed thinking about how luck was shining upon them. He also knew that hadn't solved all the problem because the money they had saved still wasn't enough yet. He sat up and checked his phone for time and it was 8pm on the dot. He was about to go get dinner when a knock came on the door. He walked to door, unlocked it and came face to face with a shocking sight. Staring in shock, he asked "Wow, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing. Your mom let me in when I met her outside" Angie replied, her school bag hanging on her back.

"First things first, what are you doing here by this time of the night? Won't Jessica be worried?" He inquired, still trying to understand what was happening.

"Actually..." Angie started, walking past him into the room and sitting on his bed. Kelvin closed the door and joined her, staring at her curiously. "My parents just came back" She announced.

"When you say parents, you mean both of them?"

"Yeah, both, which is very strange because i can't remember when the whole family was present at home. And I had a fight with them. I didn't want to stay in the same building as them tonight, so I decided it was best if I come to sleep over and thankfully your mum doesn't have a problem with it. Do you?" She asked after explaining her situation.

"The only problem I have right now, is your dad coming to arrest me" He quipped.

Angie smiled "He wouldn't dare" She said and then drew him in, kissing him.

Breaking the kiss, Kelvin returned the smile "Okay, but how are you going to go to school tomorrow?"

"My uniform is in my bag"

Kelvin relaxed more on the bed. "Well at least we could study more tonight"

"Well...not all study" She gave a sly smile, moving closer to him. She sat on his leg and began kissing him. They kissed for what seemed like forever. "Is it weird that the last time I slept here was with Kyle and now with you?" She asked, breaking the kiss.

Kelvin thought about it and nodded. "Yeah definitely"

Angie smiled "Where is he anyway?" She asked.

"In his room, studying"

"Okay. I guess I'll definitely see him in the morning then" She stated, resuming the kiss.

After kissing and romancing for a while, Kelvin ended it and stood up."I should go get us dinner" He said, walking out of the room.

***

"Good morning" Angie and Kelvin said simultaneously, coming into the sitting room, dressed for school already.

"Good morning" Mrs Williams replied.

"Wait, what! You slept here?...how come I didn't know?" Kyle asked with a clear and visible surprised look as he stood up from the couch. He was also ready for school. Angie gave a nervous smile.

"You were busy being a good student" Kelvin joked, grabbing Angie's hand and leading her towards the door "We are gonna be late, see you guys later" He added. They both bade then farewell before exiting the house.

Kyle glanced back at his mom still in shock. She shrugged "She's a nice girl" She pointed out, picking up her bag.

***

"So you are saying you spent the night at his house?" Brian asked, pointing at Kelvin. He was trying to confirm if he heard right what they just told him. Angie nodded, confirming it. She looked over at Grace who seemed surprised too.

The four of them all sat in the class, not taking part in the activities of lunch break. "You will have to go home today, right? Because your parents will be worried" Grace pointed out, turning to Angie.

"Well, I'm not sure I'll be going anytime soon. I can't just bear to face them right now. How can they think because they are present when I'm about to graduate high school everything will be okay" She stated, feeling angry.

"They are still your parents. Won't you try mending things with them?" Brian questioned

"I don't know and I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's talk about something else. Like the news of Kyle's scholarship" She suggested.

"Kyle got a scholarship?" Brain and Grace said in unison.

Kelvin smiled proudly."Yeah he did"

"Does that mean you both have the opportunity to further?" Grace inquired with a hopeful gaze.

"Well it does improve our chances...but we still haven't come up with the money completely yet" He replied, shrugging.

"Well I hope you guys do. Exams are about to start and we need to start applying to our school of choice" Grace pointed out.

Angie took kelvin's hand in hers, interlocking their fingers "Don't worry it'll all work out" She said encouragely.

***

Angie and Kelvin walked down the street leading to his house as they were heading home after school. "So why wasn't Veronica in school today? I didn't see her?" He asked

"Yeah, she said she was going to the hospital for checkup today"

"Has her dad settled with her?"

"Nope. Apparently he is very stubborn. Understandable though, but at least the mistake is done already, he should accept her and make the family one again" She explained.

He looked at her and smile "Yeah true. You could also take your own advice too you know. Just make peace with your parents" He said to her. She glanced at him, about to say something when her attention fell on the car parked outside kelvin's house. Kelvin followed the direction of her eyes and saw it too "Who might that be?"

"My mom" Angie replied with a frown.

Kelvin was dumbfounded. They walked hurriedly to the house. On spotting them, Angie's mom got out of the car, followed by Jessica. Kelvin feeling nervous, greeted them and headed straight into the house, leaving them to deal with their issues.

"How did you know I was here?" Angie asked angrily

"Jessica suggested that you were here" Her mom replied

"Betrayer" She shot at Jessica.

"Sorry" Jessica said, shrugging.

"What do you want?" She shifted her attention to her mom.

"I know you are angry but can you come home please?! Let's sort this out" Her mom stated with a pleading look.

"There's nothing to sort out. I've been doing well before you guys came. I don't need you now. Go back to your precious work and leave me alone like you have been doing" Angie explained angrily.

Knowing her daughter had all the right to be angry, her mom didn't know what to do or how to convince her. She realized she knew nothing about her to be able to know how to convince her. "What can we do to sort this out? Just say it, we'll do anything, please just come home" She pleaded.

"I don't want anything from you!" Angie blurted out, storming off. She was halfway into the compound when she suddenly stopped, thought for a few seconds and then turned back, walking back to her mom. "Did you say anything?" She asked. Her mom's face lit up, beaming with smile, seeing they've got a chance. "Alright there's something you can do"

"Alright what is it? Anything" She desperately asked.

***.

Grace sat on the couch using her phone when her mom came into the living room and sat beside her on the couch, smiling. Grace glanced at her, confused as to why she was smiling "What is it mom?" She inquired.

Still smiling, her mom replied "Is it that boy you are chatting with now?" She asked, trying to connect with her daughter.

Grace knew she was talking about Kelvin "No"

"You didn't tell me how it went...about your feelings for him" Her mom pressed on

"Well, it didn't work out for us but we are friends"

"Well that's bad" She sighed, feeling pity for her daughter.

'That's how it's gonna be if we all are gonna be friends, not minding my feelings' Grace thought to herself.

"So it was infatuation at the end" Her mom's voice snapped her out of her thought.

Grace kept quiet for a while, thinking hard about it. She sighed and brought her gaze down. "It is for him, and for me at some point. But now, I don't know. I can't stop thinking about him sometimes, although I'm with someone else now" She confessed.

"Well, matters of heart is complicated"

"How can you talk about boys with me so casually mom? Aren't you suppose to be telling me to avoid them and focus on my studies?" Grace asked.

"True, but I believe a teenager should experience the fun of being a teenager as long as they don't take it far and it doesn't affects their academics, and so far, your grades are good" She explained, smiling. Grace couldn't help but smile at this too.

***

"You mean you are still not gonna go home and end the feud?" Kelvin asked, sitting on the bed with angie.

"Are you chasing me out of your house?" She asked jokingly.

"You know I wish we could stay together indefinitely. And I love how you are here...but I just want it to be under better circumstances" He explained.

"Well I will, if they agree to my terms" She said, smiling

"And what is it you asked them?"

"It's a secret" She kept smiling

"Come on..." Kelvin pressed on.

"Nope" She smiled, kissing him.

***

"What do you mean that's what she asked for?" Angie's father said, almost shouting.

"Well that's what she said" Her mom said.

"Wait, does she think that this is some kind of novel or movie? How can she think we'll accept to do that" He blurted out angrily.

"You will if you want your daughter back" Jessica stated firmly, storming into the room. "Frankly, it isn't that much to ask after all she had to endure and grow up with. I had to be her mother, her father, her sister and her friend. Doing your jobs for you, and she's giving you a chance to make up for it and you want to throw it away. You can do it without an hitch, and if you both don't want to lose your daughter's love forever you should. Because I know the Angie I raised, you will if you don't" She blurted out her opinion and advise and then stormed out of the room.

Both parents fell silent, staring at each other and taking it all in. They never expected Jessica to blow up on them. That just showed them how serious it was. After all she was right, she was the one that actually raised Angie and the one that knew her better. "Well these are the daughters we gave birth to. I think they are the parents of us right now" The mom stated.