Frank without a word, stood up and left the coffee shop. He was devastated more than the last time when he found out about Cedric having a crush on his girlfriend, at the same time, knowing his girlfriend was falling for Cedric. He thought it was over, but his girlfriend was considering Cedric again.

Thando became a topic amongst these two rival groups. She was now seen as a bad friend. Moreover, the fact that she had spoken ill of Cedric, became the more reason Cedric's group began to distance themselves from her.

She began to be more and more bitter inside, as she saw her friend Charlotte now spending quality time with Cedric, the one she was still into.

Meanwhile, after Frank got furious at Thando, he decided to distance himself from her. He started spending more time with Cindy, maybe even going on a date or two. But what he didn't realize is that Cindy has been manipulating the situation all along to drive a wedge between Frank and Thando, so that she can get Frank for herself.

This whole thing made me realize that not everyone you call a friend is your friend. Some have a hidden agenda while others are genuinely your friends. The Thando we knew being the most wanted, the one who was dating a handsome rich guy. Now she is all alone with no friends at all.

One day, I was all alone in my room thinking about my past life. I thought of Thando and how it is that she is all alone. I knew exactly how she felt because I have been there. So I thought, Sarah, Peter and Chris when they came into my life, I was given hope. What if I do that to Thando. I think that would be the right thing to do unlike to distance myself from her.

So the following day, I looked around for her and took her to a coffee shop. While we were at the coffee shop, I asked her, how they became friends with Charlotte and Cindy, and what she thinks about what Cindy has done to her.

Before she responded to my questions ,I took a sip of my coffee, closed my eyes while savoring it. I then looked at her with compassionate eyes, and said, with a soft and soothing voice, "Thando, I know things have been rough for you lately. And I also know you haven’t always been the nicest to me. But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that I understand how it feels to be alone, and I want to help you through this."

Thando, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her fingers said, "I...I’m not sure what to say. She began to cry and so I let her be. After a while she said, "I am sorry that I haven't been kind to you. Though I knew how you felt about me, I shouldn't have spoken ill of you. Please forgive me."

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I looked at her in the eyes, smiled and said, "you are forgiven hey." Then she said, "I.....I don’t know why I did it," Thando choked out, the tears blurring her vision. "I guess I was just so used to being the center of attention, the most popular girl in school. When I came here, things were different. I didn’t know how to handle it. And I was so afraid of losing the only thing that made me special—Frank. So I acted like a total brat. I’m sorry."

I reached across the table and gently placed my hand on top of Thando’s. When she said these words, I had dialed Frank's number and I wanted him to hear what had happened to Thando. Surprised of hearing that Frank made her special. I asked her, " how do you feel that Frank seems to be dating your friend?"

Thando’s eyes widened with shock and hurt as she heard the question. "I-I can’t believe he would do that to me. I thought he loved me. I thought we were going to be together forever." A sob escaped her lips as she clutched the handkerchief to her face, attempting to stem the flow of tears. "I feel...I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore. Everything is falling apart."

My heart ached for Thando. I felt her pain, but also recognized a familiar determination in her eyes. I hanged up the phone and Frank began to sob into tears. He had realized that Cindy had been manipulating all things so she can date him. He got furious at the same time, felt pity for his lover- Thando.

Thando looked at me with a newfound admiration in her eyes, now dry from her tears. "Thank you, Cedric. I know you didn’t have to be kind to me, but I’m glad you did. I see now that Cindy is just a manipulative person. And I see now that you...you’re a really good person." She reached for my hand again, this time squeezing it tightly in hers. "I think I might have misjudged you all this time."

I smiled softly. "It’s okay, Thando. We then left the coffee shop and I could see Thando smiling as we were chatting. When I was at home. I began to visualize the time we were at the coffee shop, how it is that, Thando ended up smiling. I was so thankful that atleast I was the person she could feel grateful to after having reached out to her.

I took out my phone in my pocket and dialed Frank's number. "Frank, are you well? Man I just want to let you know that, Thando loved, and she loves you. If it is true that she was falling for me, I don't know but I am sure you heard it yourself. Man, please take back your girlfriend."

"Are you sure about this?" Frank asked, his voice with a mix of confusion and hope. "She betrayed me, Cedric. She lied about everything. I don’t know if I can trust her again."

"Look, I get that," I said. "But think about it—you love her. And she loves you, too. From what I can tell, she was just scared of losing you and she handled it all wrong. But that doesn’t mean you have to throw away your relationship. Give her a second chance. You won’t regret it."