You know those times in your life that you remember at two o’clock in the morning, sweating with embarrassment? Well, my Kauai moment has just overtaken every other embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me. I can feel myself cringe every time I think of it. My stalking days are officially over. Yes, you heard it here first. All my snooping and spying have earned me is heartache. Not to mention the most embarrassing moment of my life. From now on, if I want to know something, I’ll ask someone.

The next time I see Amanda is in the school hall at the first official rehearsal for the Pop Idols concert. We’ve all been practising on our own, but now all twelve acts have to rehearse together in the big, draughty hall. The final concert is only a couple of weeks away now.

Jayden and I have already run through our act. We were okay, I think, considering I could hardly look him in the eye. I kept remembering how kind he was to me on Saturday night after my fall. Helping me to my feet, wiping me down with napkins, asking me if I wanted to join them for supper.


Jam, as if. All I could think about was getting out of there as quickly as possible. It almost made it worse that he was being sweet to me.

Now it’s Amanda’s turn on stage and things are not going well for her. She keeps forgetting her words, or going off key, or coming in at the wrong time. She looks a bit of a mess too. Her normally sleek blonde hair is all greasy and lank, and she’s covered in spots. Mrs Reece-Smith is not the most patient teacher at Innesfree. I can see she’s about to snap.

So why aren’t I enjoying seeing her being humiliated? I’m the person Amanda has had the vendetta against. So why can I not bear seeing her up there on the stage struggling with her microphone and getting all red in the face?

Okay, I can’t stand this anymore. I hop quietly up onto the stage and go over to where Amanda is standing. I show her that the cord of her mic has got tangled up with someone’s drum kit and help her to release it. Then I whisper the words of the verse she’s struggling with into her ear, and sing her the note she’s meant to come in on. Then I leave as quietly as I came. Amanda takes a deep breath and tries again.

Image: Chiceaux, CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0