I freeze for a second. Kelsey is my best friend. Did I really think I could pull the wool over her eyes? She must know it’s all an act.
‘You must really like him,’ she says with a smile.
‘Yeah, I do,’ I reply.
‘And watching Todd and Nikki watching you both so happy, and seeming so bothered, well, that’s a lovely bonus,’ she adds.
‘Are they bothered? I hadn’t noticed,’ I reply, feigning ignorance.
One by one, people start taking the mic. Neil and Kelsey do ‘I Got You Babe’, which is more adorable than it is on-key. Kira chickens out of doing her song, not wanting to sing one on her own, so Al does one with her – but of course it’s an Elvis song. ‘Viva Las Vegas’ is always a crowd-pleaser though.
Even Todd gets up and sings a Coldplay song, an old one, not a fun new one. There’s nothing wrong with Coldplay, but ‘Yellow’ doesn’t really get anyone lit, and I could swear he was spitting a few of the bars in my direction.
Then it’s Brody’s turn. Now this I’m excited to hear.
He grabs the mic and takes to the front of the crowd – facing us, instead of the screen, so he must know the lyrics. He’s got all the performance of a rock star. I guess he’s used to standing in front of large groups of people and performing, although singing and bowling are really different skills.
As the opening bars of the Bee Gees’ ‘Love You Inside and Out’ start playing, I can’t help but smile.
It’s our dumb little in-joke. The song we bonded over in frontof the others. And it really is my favourite Bee Gees song, that wasn’t part of the act.
There may not be any crossover between being good at bowling and being good at singing but a performer is a performer and he’s killing it, every note. He’s strutting around, shaking his hips, leaving everyone a mixture of amused and impressed.
And then he turns his attention to me, extends a hand, pulling me up next to him, serenading me.
I cackle as he pulls me up. He places his free hand on my waist, my palm finds his shoulder, and suddenly we’re swaying under the disco lights and it’s so cheesy but so perfect.
He dips me. He twirls me. And then he finishes by doing a seriously extra – but absolutely spectacular – slide across the floor on his knees, finishing the song at my feet.
Everyone goes nuts – well, almost everyone. The usual two refuse to enjoy the moment.
‘Jessa, it says you’re next,’ Kelsey announces.
‘I haven’t chosen a song,’ I reply.
‘Someone has chosen a song for you then, I guess,’ Kelsey replies with a shrug. ‘You got this.’
I feel empowered and emboldened by Brody’s performance, like his confidence is contagious. There’s no way I can be as good as him but his happy vibes make me not care all that much. I just want to have fun.
I grab the mic and take a deep breath.
The screen lights up, the music starts, and a song starts that I’m not all that familiar with. It’s a country song – not my favourite genre. I look out at the crowd, to see if anyone can shed any light.
‘I don’t know this one,’ I say as the intro plays.
‘It’s Carrie Underwood,’ Kira announces. ‘Country is my guilty pleasure.’
Did Kira choose this for me? Just because she wanted to hear it? Surely not.
I try my best to follow the lyrics, singing along, but as I do I realise what I’m saying. It’s a woman singing very uncomplimentary things about a blonde woman who – I’m assuming – is with her man.
I only need to glance at Nikki for a second to realise that she’s chosen this song for me, because she’s actually smiling, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable I look. Presumably I’m the blonde tramp in the song and Brody is the cheater. Rich, so rich. And as subtle as a nuclear bomb.
‘What song is this?’ Kelsey asks.
‘It’s “Before He Cheats”,’ Nikki says. ‘I’ll sing it, if you can’t…’
Do you know what? She can have it. I hand her the mic just in time for her to belt the chorus.
