Chapter 2

RULE #1: NEVER PUT UP WITH A USELESS BOYFRIEND — DUMP HIM.

Presh

"What the hell is wrong with you, Presh?" Bandi snaps when he sees me pull up with my windows down.

My jaw clenches as I climb out of my car and slam the door behind me. I glance back at my little sister, watching from the passenger seat, and swallow down the humiliation of her hearing my stupid ex-boyfriend go off at me on the front lawn of his new place. I don't even bother asking what I've done, because with him, it's always somehow my fault.

"Voetsek, Bandi," I mutter through clenched teeth. "Just give me my half of the deposit so I can be on my way."

He stops in his tracks between the bakkie and the front door with a moving box in his arms. "I wish I could, but you weren't at the final inspection with the landlord, so they sent the money to my dad. You'll have to fetch it from him."

"Your dad? What? Why?"

Bandi carries the box, labelled Xbox stuff, into the house and drops it on the floor next to his TV before coming back to the bakkie. He's renting a new place with his best mate, and it would seem he's still holding a grudge against me for breaking up with him. Bandi and I dated for fifteen months, six of those we spent living in a shabby rental where we quickly learned that we actually hated each other. Apparently, we could date and sleep together casually, but being in a grown-up living-together relationship was a no-go.

It only took three months in that flat for him to cheat on me — or to get caught, I should say.