Our Awakening.

Sandton was a new taste. The air in the city was crisp and clean, the sun shone bright on my skin with a fervour I was infatuated with and everything fell into an easy pace. The people walked slower, gave kind smiles that charmed and beckoned and I found myself settling into this pace. In the early days of my arrival, the disparities with back home, Midtown, city that never sleeps, New York, made me feel like I’d entered a paradise I’d been oblivious to all my life. The days met me like a sweet haze and nights were cheery and intimate with my aunt Caryn, uncle Abel and Theo. They’d welcomed me like I’d done nothing wrong, as if I came clean, with no priors. I wanted to accept it, immerse myself in the newness, but reminders were omnipresent, lurking around dark corners, waiting for their time in the light. Summer was almost over, now nighttime came faster than you could blink and then it was day. Anytime now, school would start and I’d start to drown in work. Or maybe that would be different too, everything here was a new gift I was surprised with. Theo was bringing me with him to a kickback tonight, so I could meet his friends and maybe make some too. I wasn’t too finicky about the latter, if it happened, cool. Quality friends were like needles in a haystack, spread across different areas. Not many had such fortune, you were blessed if you actually found them. I shrugged on a jean jacket and a summer dress and joined Theo in his car. His face was illuminated by his phone screen, a small smile on his lips. “Zoe?” “Yeah, sorry.” He taps away at his screen some more before placing it in his lap. “Look at you, all dressed up,” he gives me a once over and sets the gear to drive. His phone vibrates, the sound muffled by his jeans, and he glances down at it before taking us out of our driveway. “It’s not dinner at the four seasons.” “I wasn’t being sarcastic, Rayna. I half expected you’d be wearing shorts and flip flops.” He grins at me and steps on the gas, sending the car hurtling forward and past a Mini Cooper. “What?” I laugh heartily. “I’m enjoying the weather while I can.” He chuckles, a vibrant, deep sound and pulls into another suburbia. It’s different from ours, more nouveau riche with glass windows and minimalist architecture, the whites and fluorescent lights a picture in the night. “Zoe’s in the kitchen,” he says when he parks the car by the pavement. I nod and we head out to the house with the thudding bass. The music thrums against my skin and I inhale shakily the cold night air. I’m jittery for a moment before Theo comes and wraps his arm around me, walking us up the pathway carved out in the middle of the lush, expansive lawn. “What’s up, man?” A blond calls out to Theo from the front. A blunt is nestled between his two fingers, the end a glowing umber in the night. He leaves the girl he was talking to and strides over to us. She seems unfazed by his abrupt behaviour and looks out onto the street, her cherubic face blank. “Haven’t seen you all summer, man!” He slaps Theo on the back, suddenly bubbling with energy. His eyes, beady and black in the light, scan me for a second and he looks back to Theo as fast as he looked away. After more remarks with man! as adjuncts, he tells Theo it’s good to see him and goes to sit by the hedges, beckoning for the girl. Theo chuckles. “Oh, I forgot to introduce you. That’s Brady.” I nod. I came here with no expectations, set up for no disappointments and I’ll be going home okay. Inside people hang around on the sofas and everything else in the position for sitting, glass tables, stair hand rails. The lights on the high ceilings are set dim and liquor bottles cover the tables. In the centre, some girls are playing a game with a couple of guys cheering them on. My outsider observations are cut into when Theo walks to the kitchen, barely stopping to take everything in. “Hey,” he sneaks up on Zoe and she jumps, spilling a bit of her drink on him. She laughs deliriously and falls into his embrace. Their colours swirl into each other, Theo’s ochre and Zoe’s olive. They whisper between themselves and I look away from their intimacy, rubbing against my arms. “Hey, Rayna. How do you like the party so far?” Zoe smiles confidently, baring her teeth at me, her dark waves framing her oval face. Her eyes are dark, always glittering with energy since the day I met her, and mischief. “It’s so small, and quiet!” “That’s because Keiran’s scared of a noise complaint. The littlest thing and the neighbours will call the cops on him.” Theo whispers something in her ear and she starts to flush. Okay, here we go. “You guys make me sick,” I murmur and look out the glass doors. Outside, there’s a pool at the centre of the backyard, away from where a girl’s grilling some meat. People crowd her with paper plates, and the guy putting the hotdogs and burgers together. “I’m going outside, catch you guys later,” I say and slide open the door. I hear Theo call one of his friend’s name, Peyton or something but I’m already pulling the heavy glass shut. Smoke rises into the air from the chrome grill and curls, mingling into the sky. I stand off wondering where to go—to the pool chairs where everyone’s already settled in with their friends or in an even bolder move, right into the pool to splash around like others. My fake calm dissipates so fast and my nerves send tingles down to my fingers. I pick a fizzy lemon drink to busy myself with and walk off to the lawn. There’s some set up chairs and it’s not nearly as buzzing as the rest of the party. They sit it out, the party watchers and those glued to their phones. I share a smile with a dark skinned girl with short curly hair and I wonder if I should strike up conversation. Everyone is in their own bubble and I feel like I’d be shifting the equilibrium, so I go to sit. I guzzle down my drink, my head tipped back and then let out a long exhale. “Is that any good?” The boy in the worn couch by me has his eyes on my drink, very heartstopping blue eyes if I’m being honest. His golden hair falls over his forehead, and his face is all hard lines and angles but his small gentle smile lights it up. I ignore his good looks and answer him coolly. “Very. Though I’m probably biased, I like my drinks tangy.” Boys are more trouble than I can handle. His smile grows, baring his crooked front teeth and my stomach flips for the tiniest second. “How can you enjoy punishing your taste buds?” I laugh. “Better than sugary sweet nonsense. Besides, doesn’t beer taste worse?” I tip my bottle at his Bud and he takes a sip for measure. “Nope,” he says goofily, too adorably and weakening my mission of detachment. He leans forward in his seat, propping his elbows on his jeans. I watch his arms flex in his light blue shirt and bring my eyes back to his, a bit too late because his stance stiffens for a second and my stomach tightens with guilt. I might have made him uncomfortable. “So either you’re new here or I’ve succeeded in alienating myself too much.” I smile to myself, wondering what he’s thinking of the fact that I just ogled him. “I think you did alienate yourself. Why are you here and not enjoying the pool?” “There’s been about a hundred people in there already, pink eye is very itchy.” I laugh and my body’s leaning forward too, treacherously. “I’m actually new—from New York, for my final year.” He raises his eyebrows. “You’re here for your senior year, how come? You saw the beautiful white sand beaches and just couldn’t stay away for a second longer?” He breathes the last part and I giggle too loudly, I’m embarrassed at the sound in my ears. I sober up and give my abridged version, what I’ve summarised and will tell everyone who asks. “My parents wanted a change of scenery.” He nods in understanding, not prodding and again I wonder what he’s thinking. “Do you want to leave?” From some other guy with the same air of assurance, it would be a call, to get out of here and go back to his place. But his eyes are earnest and open, like he’s actually harmless. “I have asthma,” he says and I chuckle, clutching my drink in my other hand so I can wipe off the sweat on my palm. He laughs too. “I don’t know anyone who could laugh at such a serious condition.” “Hence the distance from the grill?” “Precisely. Plus I’m not really in the mood. My friend’s supposed to be here but he’s probably off somewhere with his girlfriend.” He frowns. “Not much fun either.” My desire to leave is roused with each second and I have to tell myself to relax. He’s still a stranger. Boys start off nice till they don’t get what they want. “There’s a burger place, Willow’s. Have you been?” “Yeah, actually. I could go for that right now.” I’ve had burgers but nowhere comes close to the delicious beef burger, beautifully glazed juicy beef, signature spicy sauce spread over it. I touch the corner of my lips subconsciously to make sure I’m not drooling. We head out through the back to the front of the house. The breeze feels nice against my skin, I feel a wakening when we step onto the streets, distant from the music, the people. It’s just me and him, the kind stranger, going where the wind takes us. Well, Willow’s first at least. We walk tangentially, in the middle of the road like cars didn’t exist that could run us over. “How long have you been here?” I brush my curls out of my eyes. “Since August, almost two months.” His eyes linger on my face for a second, distractedly. “What have you been up to?” “Well I worked for a bit at my aunt & uncle’s restaurant. Ran some errands with Theo—“ His eyebrows raise. “Theo? You’re Theo’s cousin from New York.” I stop. “Wait, he told you about me?” He chuckles. “Well, I’m kind of his best bud.” “Peyton?” He guffaws and I start to laugh too as we come to the end of the suburbia, the bustling road before us. He stands by me, his light aqua scent filling my nostrils and making me feel light, happier than I expected tonight. It feels like we’ve come into our own bubble. His eyes come down to meet mine. “It’s actually Preston.” His actual name makes me remember. Remember that he’s taken. I don’t know when I step back, right into the brick walls of the hairdressing salon behind me. Something flashes in his eyes and I feel queasy though we haven’t done anything. I think of his girlfriend and Zoe and Brady and the seed of doubt is sown in the pit of my stomach. Even if I’ve come here for a fresh start, I question if my time in Sandton can really be a breeze. Maybe the end of my summer signals the beginning of life as it truly is.