Chapter 2: The Catfish Trap

 

At Northcliff High, everyone knew that if you messed with the Golden Girls, you were wasting your time because even the principal, Mr. Daniels, was basically their number one fan. Yoh, this man treated them like his own daughters. Always smiling when they walked into his office, calling them “young leaders” and “future bosses.” But deep down? Everyone knew it had nothing to do with their grades or good behaviour. Their parents were loaded. Big names, politicians, businesspeople. They sponsored events, bought new computers for the school, even funded the fancy sports kits. So Mr. Daniels? He kept his mouth shut. Even when things were dodgy.

One time a teacher tried to report Lulu for bullying a Grade 9 girl. Mr. Daniels called it a “misunderstanding” and told the teacher to “focus on more serious issues.” That same week, Lulu’s dad donated new tablets to the school. Coincidence? No ways. And when Themba got accused of cheating? The principal didn’t even ask for his side of the story. Just gave him detention and said, “You should be more careful, my boy.” Careful? Themba wanted to scream. But he didn’t. He just nodded, took the punishment, and walked out with fire in his heart. Everyone could see the principal was protecting the Golden Girls. But no one said anything, because in a place like Northcliff, money spoke louder than the truth. What Mr. Daniels didn’t know, though, was that his favourite girls weren’t just mean they were hiding something dangerous. And soon, all that smiling and covering up? It was going to blow up in his face. Themba thought things were finally looking up. One night, he got a DM on Instagram from a private account. The profile had no name just a picture of the Jozi skyline and the username: @GoldenDreamz. The first message? "Hey… I see you. You’re different. Smart. Special."

At first, Themba thought it was a scam or some joke. But the messages kept coming. Sweet, kind, and deep. Stuff no one had ever said to him before. This mystery girl said she liked his mind, the way he answered questions in class, and how he always stood alone but never looked lonely. It felt real. And Themba, who had never had someone flirt with him like that, started falling. Hard. He smiled at his phone more. Stayed up late chatting. Wrote poems in his notes app, hoping one day he could send them to her. He didn’t know who she was, but he believed in her. What he didn’t know was that it was one of the Golden girls behind the screen. They had made a bet Bonolo was the one who started it. “Let’s see if the nerd will fall for it,” she’d laughed. The others had giggled, sipping their iced coffees and scrolling through his feed. They created the fake account together. Chose every word carefully. Made it sound just right. It was all a game to them. To Themba, it was the first time someone saw him. He didn’t know he was being set up. He didn’t know they were planning something next-level embarrassing. And he definitely didn’t know… That his heart was about to break in front of the whole school.