I rang the mystery number over dinner, when I took my bowl to the sink and while Mum and Dad finished their casserole. I didn’t expect the call to be answered, but I wanted to keep an ear out for ringing somewhere in the house.

Nothing. I even went close to their bedroom door, but I didn’t hear anything. Of course, the phone might have been on silent, so it didn’t prove anything. For some reason I didn’t want to tell Mum and Dad about it either. I know I should have. It’s parents’ business when you’re getting messages from a stranger, but so far there was nothing creepy in the texts themselves. I vowed I would tell them soon, and certainly if I received anything weird.

But for the time being this was a mystery, and I like mysteries.

The message came through at 10.10 p.m. Was the person responsible deliberately making it late so I couldn’t check out possible senders? If it had come through during dinner I could’ve eliminated Mum and Dad, thereby trimming my suspect list to two. It didn’t matter, I guessed. I opened the message.

Good evening, Rob. Your first challenge follows, but I want to tell you why this challenge and the ones to come are worthy of your time. You are in love and that’s wonderful. Maybe it won’t last, but maybe it will. Who can say? What I do know is this: how can anyone else love you if YOU don’t think you’re worth anything?
So these challenges are not about impressing Destry Camberwick. They are about Rob Fitzgerald impressing Rob Fitzgerald. Remember this.
Challenge 1. You will enter the Milltown’s Got Talent competition, which is scheduled for two weeks on Friday. This gives you time to polish your act and find ways to overcome panic attacks. I would wish you luck, but the point of this challenge is that you don’t need it.

I closed my phone and then closed my eyes.

A public performance. Probably my worst nightmare.