Knock knock knock.

That's how these books start, right? An ominous sound? Something scary.

I looked up from my books at the door like the rest of the class. It was early July, winter was settling here in South Africa, but the windows and doors were wide open for fear of Covid-19.

In the door a police officer stood with a visor alongside the Head of Discipline, Mr Van der Merwe.

"Jammer (sorry) Mev (Mrs) Grobler," He apologized to our Afrikaans teacher before switching to English. ",can we please have a moment with Shay?"

Everyone's eyes turned to me. I was glad my face mask covered my lower part of my face to hide my reaction. I felt like slinking away under the vision of twenty two sets of eyes but nonetheless, I got up and followed Mr Van der Merwe.

We walked down the corridor in the cold sunlight. We descended down a floor to get to his office.

The way it worked here at our highschool is that if you, for any reason, get called by the principal or the Head of Discipline, your reputation would increase. No matter if you actually did something bad, you were considered it.

Mr Van der Merwe's office was too small to actually sit in with the new regulations of Level 3 Lockdown, so we stayed outside which was fine by me. It was cold, yes, but the wintry wind had taken a break today or just for the moment at least.

"Shay," The hazy voice of Mr Van der Merwe came from behind his face mask. ", Officer Radebe is here to ask some questions today. I am standing in for your parents even though they are on the way. If you don't want to answer that's fine."

I nodded, not bothering to voice my answer.

"Hello Shay," Officer Radebe's clear voice began. ", I'm going to ask you a few questions now, alright? Okay, do you know a boy named Zake Mayer?"

I nodded, an eyebrow raising. Inwardly, I sighed in annoyance. The boy had caused me so much but still, if the police were here I wondered if he was alright.

"Right." He dotted that down on a notepad. "What is your relationship with Zake?"

"Their paths have crossed through her boyfriend." Mr Van der Merwe answered for me. I looked at him and felt the need to elaborate.

"Well, we dated a few times and he fought with my boyfriend a few times too." He dotted something else down, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

"Has Zake shown any signs of depression or suicidal thoughts of any?" He questioned further.

I shrugged. "He's a teenager, we all have thoughts like that somewhere. Especially Zake."

"What does that mean?" He inquired further. I felt as if I had said something wrong and that I needed to defend Zake.

"It just means that Zake in particularly happened to meet a lot of depressed and suicidal people. He helped them in any way he could and sometimes their drama rubbed off him."

"Is your answer yes then, Shay?" I hesitated but I nodded. He nodded and dotted something else down. His constant scribbling was beginning to get on my nerves.

"Okay, Shay. In a while your parents will be here and I'll explain why we are here today." Officer Radebe explained.

"""

Half an hour later my parents arrived and we were escorted to an open area behind some of the classes.  In that area, a number of grade 12 students stood with their parents. I looked at all of them. I didn't remember all their names but I recognized them, often around Zake and other grade 12's.

We gathered in a lose semicircle, a respectable distance from each family, seven in total. Officer Radebe and Mr Van der Merwe stood in the center.

"Right," He shouted from behind his mask. "For the reason you all gathered here today, your children each questioned, is because Zake-"