My sister Amanda is gorgeous.  I mean, she is beautiful.  She looks like she has just stepped off the set of Gossip Girl.

This used to drive me crazy with jealousy back before I knew we were sisters, but now I just feel proud of her. I love the way guys get a little silly around her, like they don’t know what to do with their arms. And I love the way I get more respect now that I hang out with her. It shouldn’t be like that, of course. Looks shouldn’t matter so much, but unfortunately that’s the way it is.

If I wanted to meet guys, Amanda would be my perfect partner. But there’s only one guy I’m interested in dating, and that’s Jayden Depaul. And Amanda and I are already friends with him.

In fact, that’s part of the problem. We’re all such good friends it’s hard to move the friendship to another level. I know I hurt Jayden badly when I accused him of ruining my life and told him to back off. What I don’t know is how to apologise and get the relationship back to where we were. To be honest, I don’t know if that’s even what he wants anymore.

In Life Skills, I sit slightly behind Jayden, just where I can watch him without being seen. We’ve got a substitution today because the teacher’s off sick, so I can really stare at him, guilt-free.

His hair is flopping over his forehead, almost into his eyes, and his face is all serious as he concentrates on what he’s writing. By leaning sideways a bit, I can see that he’s working on a poem.  Jayden is probably the only guy in school who could get away with writing poetry without being teased. The guys respect him because he’s an awesome soccer player, and the girls all want to date him.

The teacher who is meant to be watching us goes out of the classroom for a minute. Immediately, Refilwe stands up and slides into the empty chair next to Jayden.

“Hi, Jay!” she says, flicking her braids over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”

WHAT DO YOU THINK: Have you ever tried to change an ordinary friendship into a romantic relationship? How would you go about it?