Sweef | Hoërskool suig – Louise van Niekerk | English Summary

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Hoërskool suig – Louise van Niekerk

Lize is a grade 8 student disenchanted with the entire high school experience. The teachers all seem to hate their jobs and children, save for their English teacher. The older boys are perverts who say obscene things to the new girls. Not to mention the fact that it is difficult to adjust from being the big cats to being little rabbits in a cage. The older girls dislike the grade 8s, and the narrator thinks it’s because of the attention that they’re getting from the boys. Lize also thinks the initiation is a complete joke – and not the “haha” kind. She believes it’s not funny; it’s pathetic. She also has to pack not only her schoolbag but that of Sonia too. She has to remember to pack glue, a calculator, paper to cover her books, chocolate for a prefect having their birthday (which is mandatory), among other things.

A grade 8 learner named Lize finds herself surrounded by matrics who want her to walk as if she’s Paris Hilton. A pudgy, red-faced matric hands her a lunchbox as a prop – it’s Paris’s lapdog. Throughout the ordeal, Lize makes it a point not to cry; however, she’s saved by Simon, the head boy. He tells them to stop and sends Lize on her merry way. She’s surprised that he knows her name at first; however, she remembers that she’s wearing a big board with her name written on it in black pen. The bell rings for class and Lize has had no time to have any of her sandwiches, nor does she even know where her next class is. She misses the life of primary school, which was a more nurturing environment with the camaraderie amongst the learners and teachers know learners from a long time before.

Her mathematics teacher is very intimidating, with his monotonous tone sharpened by sarcasm. Late for class, she apologies and tries to slip into her seat but falls back, bumping into a bespectacled classmate who loses his glasses in the process. Giggles decorate the air, but silence quickly resumes when the Hitler/Einstein clone gives the class a scary glare. The teacher sarcastically quips about how Ms Hilton finally decided to grace the classroom with her presence and adds on something inappropriate to the second learner in the equation, Mol, saying that he should get his glasses on to see the unsolicited “invitation” he’s just been given.

The tears might breach – Lize wants to cry about many things today. Her best friend going to a private school, the sizable pimple from the night before that grew bigger on her chin that morning, her nails that she had to cut for school, the poor children living in squatter camps that she saw on Special Assignment, and lastly, she really wants to cry about her favourite aunt moving to Australia. While she’s lost in thought, she notices the big hand on her desk. She immediately apologises – “Sorry,”. “Sorry, who?”. “Sorry, Mr”. “Mr... who?”. The name is on the tip of her tongue, but she guesses the wrong one! Mr De Bruyn – with a long -y, he adds.

Later, the school campus is hustling and bustling with activity as the prefects continue with the grade 8’s orientation. They have to pick little bits of grass from the crevices in the pavement and Lize’s knees hurt from the constant kneeling. Then suddenly, a bellowing “STICK” cuts through the air and Lize instinctively falls flat on her stomach. She watches an ant close by and starts thinking about ants and if they ever get tired or lost. “FLY” bellows a voice and the grade 8s get back to picking grass out of the paving. “Fungus!”, shouts a different voice which sends chills throughout Lize’s body – it’s the red-faced matric from break time. Looking at him in the eyes, he snaps and asks how she dares to look him in the eye; grade 8s are meant to know the prefects from the sight of their shoes alone. He tells her to recite his life’s story, and Lize finds herself drawing a complete blank – the dirty, worn-out shoes and strange red-blonde hairs on the legs emerging from the shoes have her distracted. When a shiny set of shoes appears, she recognises Simon’s voice immediately – he tells her that her prosecution will be put off until the next day. She has another chance, but can she live down this embarrassment?

At home, she asks her parents if she could transfer to her best friend Christelle’s school, but they lecture her about the cost and how she should count her blessings, that people should not run away from things when they get difficult. She’s also had a nightmarish day considering the compulsory sokkie she had to attend with a primary schooler date who was chosen for her. They had to be dressed in overalls and terrible makeup. Lize is curious about the pretty redhead who was hanging around Simon the whole night – she thinks they might be dating. She laments her feelings because there’s no way Simon would be interested in a grade 8 learner like herself. Angry at her parents, Lize signs off for the night saying if she pulled a Juliet, her parents would be sorry. She makes a note to remind herself to study for mathematics because Mr De Bruyn has a habit of testing them whenever he feels like it.

Next day, Lize visits Christelle, and they share stories about their first few days at high school. Christelle does not have initiation, just orientation – they show them where everything is and the basics of how school works. Christelle laughs about Lize’s experiences and says she wishes she could go to Lize’s school. After church, Leon asks Lize if she’s enjoying high school – she lies and says yes. She thinks the grade 10 learner is cute.

Lize is in good spirits on this hot day. Despite the fact that they have to wear winter clothes on a hot summer day, Lize’s having a great day, with her skin clearing up, Leon calling her a cute polar bear and her coming out with 100% for her maths test. Leon tells her to persevere as the orientation is almost over. She feels much lighter – maybe life isn’t so bad. She writes a note to remind her to bring canned food for flood victims, tights for her Little Red Riding Hood costume and cards for the rookie concert.

The concert goes well, and Lize gets complimented for being an excellent Little Red Riding Hood – she remembered all her words, the audience enjoyed it, and the prefects told the grade 8s that they’re proud of them. At the end of the night, everyone stood up to sing the school song and when they sang the part that goes “Together we’ll carry on and together we will win”, Lize got goosebumps. Lize is proud of her school, and she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she’ll love high school. Leon asked her out to watch a movie and naturally, she said yes.

SummariesKeroshan PillayComment