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12 December 2018 | Story Mothepane Lebopo

The door closed. My eyes opened.

My dreams were halted as I sat up. She was already outside my window, the midnight moonlight lit her skin and erasing my fingertips on her arms. I opened the window… cold truth blew in. It stung my heart. She was going.

“Seriously? After four months this is how you are going to leave?”

Silence.

She was trying to control her breathing, to keep it as flat as possible. She had a unique, annoying gift of being able to compose herself in such situations, especially when she knew it was needed.

She stared at me.

My heart was pounding against my chest. In anger. In desperation. It had settled on her, but clearly she wouldn’t let me get close to hers.

I felt the first tear roll down my cheek. I quickly wiped away the second one. She just stared…

She could have been looking at me, thinking of other things. With her you never knew. She turned.

“Wait, please wait. Did you ever love me?”

She stuck her tongue out and left.

And I knew that was it: we were over. Thinking back, I might have known for a while that it was coming. But still… being prepared for something doesn’t guarantee your heart won’t break when it actually happens.

I left the window open, slightly. My head was spinning and my heart was tearing.

I laid on what was supposed to be our bed and dug my head in a pillow in an attempt to block out reality. It was useless; warm liquid from my broken heart poured out through my eyes. All I could smell was her.

But what was I expecting? It could never work. We were two puzzle pieces from different sets. Two pieces that were never supposed to fit… We tried to force it, and it ended in pain.

She was such an odd person. She had this ‘forbidden love’ thing about her. Being hers was strange, I knew she wasn't mine but I still tumbled head over heels. Being with her was like cheating on a diet. Or texting when you’re supposed to study.

She had beautiful, wild eyes that had perhaps seen too much. She got high on other people’s vulnerability. When her arms locked around me, she wasn’t just holding me, she was searching for pain. Insecurity. She would pin me down and kiss my nose. When she felt my guard coming up, she would tickle me and my power would leave me and enter her. She always won.

Often we’d try to watch the stars. I could never concentrate, her beauty was fierce and demanded undivided attention. She couldn’t focus either. She looked at the stars, not for their beauty, but for adventure. She looked at them as a guide.

I felt her hot blood in her embrace, she had to move to keep cool. There was rarely a still moment. Always dancing. Always moving.

I guess that’s what attracted me to her. I made her my adventure. I wanted to see what she had seen. I told her I was happy where I was but in reality I wanted to go everywhere she went. Wherever the stars would take her.

My lips only met hers when she was drunk. Perhaps she didn’t want to remember showing a little bit of emotion, being a bit vulnerable in front of me. But even then she rarely shared her thoughts with me.

So her secrets are still with her, while she knows mine.

That wild girl, may I never hold her again. She said she didn’t like it. She wanted to feel liberated. And my arms didn’t offer her that.

The girl with a storm in her heart had started a fire in mine and left.

I look out the window, where she had been standing. I almost smiled. What was I thinking?  Thinking I could fix her? Whether I love her or hate her, it makes no difference because she’s not here. She’s not coming back.

I will never know what exactly she wanted with me. But I’ll grow wiser from this.

You can’t teach someone who’s power hungry to surrender. You can’t mould someone who despises being held. You can’t put out a wild fire. Don’t try to pick wild flowers, because their thorns will pierce your skin and then they will wither because of your blood. But their scent will linger forever.

Now I know. You can’t tame someone who is wild. You shouldn’t offer your heart to someone who has sold her soul to adventure.

Don’t try to love someone who can’t be still.

 

News Archive

Student leaders' hard work rewarded
2013-05-01

Four student leaders on our Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses each received a scholarship of R15 000. Handré Hay, Estine Cronje, Tsepang Lenka and Jean Vermaas were rewarded for the positive impact they had on the student community in the past three years or more. Student Affairs' scholarship programme acknowledges the contribution of student leaders in the upliftment of the student community.

Read what the four have to say about leadership:

Handré Hay:

Handré Hay, a third-year BSc Physiotherapy student who holds several leadership positions on our Bloemfontein Campus, served for two consecutive years on the committee of Armentum residence. He was also a member of the executive council in the Students' Representative Council (SRC) and served in two SRC portfolios. "Leadership is about being able to serve. When people see that you are willing to put other people's interests above your own and that you are willing to serve unselfishly, despite a position of authority, you will get far," said Handré.

Estine Cronje:

Estine Cronje is the current prime of Marjolein residence. This was the second time the fifth-year Psychology student were re-elected to this position."Leadership is very important to me. One needs leaders in everything you do. I believe a leader should never think herself better than the rest and should work as hard as her team. She should command respect, be disciplined, an example to others, accessible and open to the opinions of other people.

Tsepang Lenka:

Tsepang Lenka is the SRC President of our Qwaqwa Campus. Tsepang, who was twice elected as prime of his residence, has already obtained his BA degree in Public and Business Management. He is currently working on his Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). "To me leadership means to serve. As a leader you don't lie to people when things are taking the wrong direction, you stand firm and tell the truth; in that way, people don't lose trust in you. The scholarship inspires me to work even harder," Tsepang said.

Jean Vermaas:

Jean Vermaas is a former SRC member who is currently studying for his LLB degree. Some of Jean's achievements include leadership positions of the Juridical Society and the Broad Students' Transformation Forum. In 2012 he was a founder member of the Student Elders' Council."Leadership is of extreme importance to me. It formed me into the person I am now. Leadership isn't always easy, but in the challenges you face you grow as a leader and as an individual."

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