People said that Kerrie D’Abreu was blessed with the strange and unusual gift of foresight...

“Kerrie!”

She wants to hide, but it’s too late. She doesn’t look her best today…but maybe he won’t mind. He’s Michael, after all. She greets him with a smile as he comes to a halt beside her, looming over her. He’s very tall, and yet…graceful. Her heart is fluttering irritatingly. She wants to put a hand on her chest to still it, but is too aware of looking stupid in front of Michael.

“Hi, Michael,” she says, smiling brightly. “How are you?”

He smiles. “I’m…good thanks. Really good.”

Good. She wants him to be good. Happy. Maybe she’s the one who can make him that way. All he has to do is ask. Just ask…

“So…” He is practically twiddling his thumbs. Is his the kind of discomfort that accompanies shyness?

Kerrie smiles at him, and gives him an encouraging prompt. “Yeah?”

“Well…it’s about the dance. I mean…it was just…you know, a ‘maybe’. Right? With you and me?”

Kerrie’s knees nearly give way. Wait. No they don’t. They’re locked in place. She’s staring up at him. Her expression nearly freezes in a horror mask before she remembers she has to be cool. She has to be cool, or...

She pictures herself bursting into tears, making everybody tragically aware of her utter loserhood. She pictures becoming the object of foremost scorn in school. She pictures people giggling behind their hands at her as she drags her heartbroken carcass past. She pictures her name in the school yearbook, bolded, underlined and italicised in the Most likely to end up a crazy old cat lady category.

She is lost for words, but she is fighting on the inside; fighting for a snazzy comeback like a drowning man fights for air...

“Sorry," Michael says, looking like a walking wince. "You're cool, hey. It's just... Well, Barb and I…”

Barbara. Barbie. Barb-wire. Barbara Estelle is the bitch who has ruined Kerrie's life. She ruined Kerrie's life merely by becoming a part of it. She has actually ruined a lot of girls' lives.

What are those sounds coming from Kerrie's throat. Is she choking? She’s not sure. Wait…no. She's standing utterly silent, the barest moment in time seeming to last an eternity. The choking sounds are just in her imagination.

“Oh…” she says softly. And then it happens.

She laughs, and feels the calm take command of her body. Yes! She has it now. The bearing. “Yeah…hey look," she says, "it was just a maybe. I’ve made other arrangements anyway…so really…it’s all good.” She smiles as if she's happy...as if she wants to be his friend.

“Oh!” Michael looks surprised, in response to her lie. “You have?”

“Yeah,” Kerrie gushes, channelling the spirit of stronger women who went before her. Her voice then turns breathless, and the Oscar is within her reach. “He’s just…” She trails of with a sigh.

It is enough. She doesn’t have to do or say anymore. She’s made an impression. Michael thinks she has another date. Michael thinks she is going to the dance with someone she is falling in love with. Someone handsome, dashing, maybe even your regular Prince Charming. And that’s what she wants, needs him to think…because if he knew what was really happening inside of her, she’d never be able to look at him again. She'd be truly mortified.

“Oh," Michael repeats. "Well, wow. That’s good.”

He smiles, and she’s not sure what to make of it. Is he surprised that she has a date? Does he see through her act? Is he jealous?

It can't be the middle one. She's going to win an Oscar someday.

“Yeah," she says now, retaining the dreamy-eyed look. "It is.”

She shrugs, and smiles one last time. "Anyway... I should really get going. It was cool to see you again, Michael.”

She nods, and begins to shuffle off, waving at him. She manages to look…okay. Almost as if she will not expire at any moment from a severely traumatised heart. Michael salutes her once before turning away.

She watches him for a moment or two, and then spins on her heel and hastens home, fully intending to cry in her bedroom until her face is puffy.

She is sitting in the lounge room with her friends. She has just related the whole affair to them, in all its gory detail.

Donna blinks. “I can’t believe you...improvised like that! I would've been a mess!”

Kerrie nods, feeling weak. “It was all I could think of at the time…and..." She hiccups. "...There was no way I was letting him see the wounds.”

Her stomach muscles, cheeks and throat are aching. She’s been crying for days now, but it has felt like longer.

There is a long silence. Then Donna says, “Kez…you do realise that you’re a genius, right? You totally pulled the wool over his eyes.”

Kerrie only sobs harder, for this is not comforting praise. But Donna and Ariana are exchanging amazed looks. They're both very impressed. They are sharing just one thought: It would ROCK to have the gift of foresight...like Kerrie does.

The End