What does one wear to a Friday night table quiz in a parish hall? I wondered. I’d already spent almost two hours that evening trying to answer the question, and now I was running out of time. I wanted my style to be distinctive but understated. It was important to make an impression on Nick, but it should also look effortless. At the moment it looked like my suitcase had exploded, as I flung clothes all over the caravan.
‘Jacki, will you come on? We’re going to be late,’ said Mum.
‘OK, OK, I’m nearly ready.’ Mum had got dressed in five minutes and looked perfect. She hardly spent any time on make-up whereas I couldn’t go outdoors without eyeliner I felt so bare without it. My eyeliner had gone missing now and it took me about ten minutes to find it. And I still couldn’t decide what to wear. Nothing looked right, nothing matched. Hannah and I usually got ready for important things together: we’d made a pact after the leggings incident of 09. They’d looked good in Teen Vogue, they’d looked good on the hanger, they had not looked good on me. After Hannah experienced a similar incident with denim hot pants, we’d made the pact. Mum was no help – she just said everything looked lovely. Maybe I could visit Dublin for a weekend soon… Hannah could come shopping with me. Clearly I desperately needed some new clothes.
I finally settled on my skinny jeans and white tank top with the gold detail and buttons down the front (top two left open). I quickly brushed my hair, lined my eyes black and slipped into my grey boots. I stuffed only the essentials – my purse, my phone and a stick of blood-red lipstick – into my black shoulder bag.
I stole one final glance in the bathroom mirror before following Mum out of the caravan on to the damp grass. It hadn’t rained again but the sun was still hidden behind grey cloud. A light breeze carried us down to the village. Mum pulled her pink cardigan tighter round her shoulders as we dodged the puddles of rainwater dotted along the winding road. Avarna was beautiful in the daytime, but it was lovely in the evening too. It was so peaceful.
‘You can be on our team if you want,’ said Mum. ‘A few other teachers from the school are going too.’
‘It’s OK. I already have a team.’
‘Oh, really?’
‘Nick from the shop asked me to join his. They were one short.’
‘Nick from the shop, eh?’ Mum stopped walking and gave me a quizzical look.
I couldn’t stop my cheeks from going red.
‘So that’s why you took so long to get ready.’
‘He has a girlfriend,’ I said, walking ahead.
‘Minor obstacle.’
‘Mum!’ I squealed, and we both laughed.
As we neared the parish hall the village was buzzing. Throngs of people headed for the hall, located on the curve of the main street. It was hard to miss with its bright red window frames and doors. A large plaque with the numbers 1878 told us when it had been built and the courthouse sign informed us of its original function. I tried to imagine the trials that had gone on here in the past.
As we entered through the doors at the front of the building we could see groups gathered round the twenty or more tables across the floor. Whispers of gossip and bursts of laughter filled the hall. I could see Mary Reynolds weaving through the tables, placing a small stack of answer sheets on each as she passed. Quizmaster Joe Clancy was standing on the stage, surveying his audience. I spotted Nick at one of the tables at the front. Another guy sat across from him. I recognized Colin’s red hair immediately. The minute I saw them I felt a bit nervous but I quickly got over it. This was too important to screw up.
‘There’s Margaret,’ said Mum, waving over at the primary school principal. ‘Is your team here yet?’
‘Yep. They’re over there,’ I said, pointing at Nick.
‘Oh, I see!’ said Mum, raising an eyebrow at me. ‘Good luck. And I hope you do well in the quiz too,’ she added, smirking.
I rolled my eyes at her before strolling over to Nick and Colin. Nick was looking gorgeous, and had clearly got some sleep since I last saw him. He looked at me, and there was a noticeable second of silence – that momentary beat that every girl strives for, which can only be achieved through a perfectly planned outfit.
‘Hi,’ he said as his eyes subtly scanned my body. ‘Colin, this is Jacki.’
‘We’ve already met,’ said Colin, looking up to smile at me. There were ink stains on his hand and he was doodling with a biro.
‘Oh, right. Take a seat.’ Nick pointed to the grey chair next to him before glancing around the hall and then he began texting furiously. I dropped my bag to the floor and settled down. Nick’s aftershave was almost overbearing, but so intoxicating that I wouldn’t have minded being suffocated by it. He was wearing denims and a Metallica T-shirt. A red hoodie hung across the back of his chair.
‘Four to a team, four to a team, twenty euro per table,’ shouted Joe from the stage. ‘Mary, will you see if you can get this to work?’ he said as he fumbled with the faulty microphone. Mary hurried up the wooden steps on to the stage. Joe stood beside a long table in the middle of the stage, where a chubby man was seated.
‘I didn’t think this would be your kind of scene, Nick,’ said Colin. ‘I was expecting to have to drag you here.’
‘Did you not know I was on our primary school quiz team?’ he joked, acting insulted.
‘Oh yeah, I forgot about that! But we’ll hardly win without a full team…’
‘I’ll text Chris and see what’s keeping him.’
‘When is David back?’ asked Colin, leaning back on his chair.
‘Tomorrow. I’ve told you, like, eight times,’ said Nick, without looking up from his phone. ‘Don’t worry, he got your comics or whatever it was you were looking for.’
‘Aw, savage. Did he get all the ones on the list? And did he get that DVD I asked for?’
‘I don’t know. I was only talking to him online for a few minutes.’
‘He’s so lucky. I’d literally kill to go to Japan.’ Colin picked up his phone and started texting.
‘Who’s David?’ I asked, wanting to get in on the conversation.
‘Our mate,’ said Colin. ‘His dad has businesses all over the place and is always going away. He had to go to some conference in Japan and David got to go with him. His dad is a bit of an asshole; David’s sound though. And his sister Carla is all right sometimes.’
‘He’s not an asshole,’ said Nick, dropping his phone down on the table. ‘Peter Mulvey is one of my dad’s best friends.’
‘Whatever,’ said Colin, turning to me and rolling his eyes.
‘Twenty euro, please,’ said the woman who had just arrived at our table.
Nick’s phone buzzed. He read the message and sighed. ‘Chris can’t come – he’s stuck in work. Looks like it’s just the three of us, so that’s going to be…’ Nick attempted the mathematics in his head.
‘Six sixty-seven each!’ I said. I loved maths. Maths and music were my two favourite subjects.
‘Eh… yeah,’ he muttered. We handed the woman our money.
‘David lives up near Nick,’ said Colin. ‘You’ll get to meet him when he gets back.’
‘Testing, testing,’ Joe’s voice echoed through the hall’s speakers. ‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the G. A. A. club’s annual table quiz. As usual there will be ten rounds and prizes will be given for the teams who come first, second and third. Alec McNamara, your local accountant -’ Joe pointed to the man seated next to him – ‘will be keeping the scores tonight.’ Alec gave a nod to the crowd. A black calculator and a row of sharply pointed pencils were positioned neatly on the desk in front of him.
‘Please write your table number clearly on the top of each answer sheet, and hand them to the lovely Mary Reynolds at the end of each round.’ Mary gave a little wave to the crowd. ‘The best of luck to everyone,’ said Joe. ‘We’ll be starting shortly.’
Nick shuffled about in his seat, and for a split second his leg touched mine. It’s amazing how electrifying a touch can be when it comes from someone you really like.
Nick saw that Colin was holding a pen and had resumed his doodling, so he placed the bundle of paper in front of him.
‘You can write the answers,’ he said. ‘We’re table four.’
I watched as Colin began to print the number four clearly at the top of each sheet.
‘Right, round one,’ Joe’s voice hushed the crowd. We huddled together like a guerrilla group preparing to go into battle, each of us displaying that fiercely competitive streak that surfaces in even the most placid of people during the marvel that is the table quiz.
‘Question one.’
We leaned in closer together.
‘Who is the Roman goddess of love?’
During these huddles my head was dangerously close to Nick’s. I noticed how long his eyelashes were.
‘A haematologist specializes in the study of what?’
And how a freckle touched the centre of his top lip.
‘If you have myopia, what would you suffer from?’
And how there was hard skin on his fingertips from playing guitar.
‘Jacki… Jacki!’ Colin whispered loudly as he tugged at my arm.
‘Oh, sorry.’ I’d been entirely absorbed in my own thoughts and hadn’t heard the question.
‘Do you know what it is? Which spirit is used in a bloody Mary?’
I realized that I would have to stop thinking about how close I was to Nick and focus on Joe’s questions. After all, I did want to get at least a few questions right, or Nick would think I had no general knowledge.
‘It’s vodka,’ I whispered to Colin.
At the interval tea and biscuits were served. We seemed to have done moderately well in the first half, though not as well as I’d hoped. The questions were far more difficult than I’d anticipated. And of course I was distracted. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off Nick for more than a few seconds.
‘I’m going to get tea. Does anyone want anything?’ I asked.
Nick shook his head.
‘I’ll have a cup of coffee,’ said Colin. ‘A caramel frappuccino if they have it,’ he added with a smile.
‘I’ll see what I can do,’ I said with a laugh.
The refreshment table was at the back of the hall, so I started to battle my way through the crowd.
‘Is Lily coming tonight?’ an old lady in front of me asked her grey-haired companion as they approached the table. They were walking slowly and the two kids behind me were pushing so much I came uncomfortably close to the old ladies’ perms. The smell of hairspray filled my nostrils.
‘No, she didn’t feel up to it. She misses Jim terrible, God rest him.’
‘He died very sudden, didn’t he, Molly?’
‘Oh yes, very sudden. It was quite a shock to us all… Can’t be easy for her, what with Beth’s birthday coming up and everything. Two teas, please, Angela.’
Beth. There was that name again.
‘What would you like, love?’ said the lady behind the table as I approached.
‘A tea and a coffee, please,’ I said.
She poured them into two paper cups.
‘How much is that?’
‘Nothing. It’s free,’ she said.
Pleasantly surprised, I thought I ought to take a few biscuits too.
I fought my way back through the crowd and arrived with the cups and a fistful of biscuits. Nick was gone, presumably to the bathroom. As I approached our table, Colin, not noticing me coming, pushed his seat back to stand up. It was one of those situations that I could see happening in slow motion, but I was powerless to stop it. I managed to save the tea but the coffee splashed on to my top, turning the white to a muddy brown.
‘Argh!’ I blurted as the warm liquid seeped down my front.
‘I’m so sorry!’ said Colin, jumping up. ‘Are you OK? Are you burnt?’
‘No, it’s fine. Thankfully it’s not too hot.’ I put the tea down on the table. ‘I think I’ll have to go home and change though. It’s soaking.’
‘But the second half is about to start,’ said Colin, clearly upset. ‘Here, you can wear my shirt. No one will even notice.’
Colin pulled off the check shirt he was wearing over the white T-shirt and gave it to me.
‘Oh… OK, thanks.’ Colin was being so nice… I didn’t want him to feel bad about what happened so I took him up on the shirt offer.
I followed the signs for the toilets and arrived at the single cubicle. I joined the queue of five ladies waiting by the lime-green door. In front of me stood a woman and a young girl, probably aged four, with her light blonde hair sectioned into two neat plaits. She was singing quietly to herself while her mother chatted to the woman in front.
‘Miss Jane had a bag
And a mouse was in it.
She opened the bag;
He was out in a minute.
The cat saw him jump
And run under the table
And the dog said -’
‘And, Lisa, how are you?’
The little girl looked up at the woman who was talking to her mother, and now to her.
‘Fine,’ she said sheepishly, and retreated behind her mother’s leg.
‘Ah, someone’s shy!’ said the woman. The girl resumed singing softly.
‘Miss Jane had a bag
And a mouse was in it…’
I was back in time for the second half, wearing the oversized shirt, and clutching my soaking wet top. So much for the perfectly planned outfit. I sat back down beside Nick.
‘I heard Colin didn’t like his frappuccino?’ he whispered.
I laughed but there was no time to respond as Joe tapped the microphone and the hall fell silent.
‘Round six, everyone, pencils ready.’
We huddled closer.
‘What famous song did the Hill Sisters write?’
The three of us looked baffled. Nick squinted his left eye when he was thinking.
‘Arsonphobia is a fear of what?’
And bit the nail on his right thumb.
‘A currier works with which material?’
And he smiled a little whenever he knew the answer.
The atmosphere in the hall was gradually tensing as the teams tried to make up for their mistakes in the first half. We picked up between us in the showbiz round and Nick knew all the answers in the sports round.
‘The final round is a bonus round, double points will be awarded for each question,’ said Joe. ‘Question one: in what year did work cease in the Avarna mines?’
Nick struggled to remember, his head now resting in his hand.
‘How many sheep are currently grazing in Maurice Kelly’s field?’
Colin rolled his eyes.
‘How many times has Avarna won the Tidiest Village title?’
Nick sighed.
‘What is the colour of the doormat in Mary Reynolds’s shop?’
‘Green,’ said Nick and I in unison.
‘Think we’re in with a chance?’ said Nick when Mary had collected the last of the answer sheets.
‘Doubt it,’ said Colin. ‘That Avarna round let us down. No one ever beats Father McCauley and the Eucharistic Ministers anyway.’ He pointed to a table on the other side of the hall where Avarna’s parish priest was looking particularly confident.
‘Sorry again. About the coffee,’ said Colin.
‘It’s OK, don’t worry about it.’ Secretly I hoped I’d be able to get the stain out. It was one of my favourite tops. I rolled up the shirt’s sleeves, trying to make it look a bit girlier.
‘Back in a minute, scuse me,’ Colin said as he left the table.
‘Sorry if this wasn’t very exciting,’ said Nick.
‘What? Are you kidding? I had a great time!’ It had been a lot of fun. I didn’t want it to end.
‘Well, if you thought this was good, wait till you experience the Avarna Fête next Sunday.’
‘Oh, really?’
Nick nodded. ‘They have it every year,’ he said. ‘I’ve had to listen to Mam going on about it all month. She helps organize it.’
‘Does she help organize everything?’ I joked.
‘Pretty much. She likes to keep busy. Anyway… you should come to the fête. David and a few of the lads will be there. I’ll introduce you.’ He smiled. That irresistible smile got me every time.
‘I will… probably. I was going to visit my friends in Dublin next weekend… but I might just stay here.’ I did want to see Hannah and the others, but I also really wanted to make new friends. And I really wanted to hang out with Nick.
‘Did I miss anything?’ asked Colin, coming back to the table.
‘No, they haven’t announced the results yet,’ said Nick.
‘Testing! Testing!’ said Joe.
‘Here we go,’ said Colin. ‘Fingers crossed.’
We finished an admirable third, beaten by Mum and her team of teachers in second place and Father McCauley’s team in first. Nick, Colin and I were each given a box of biscuits from Mary’s shop as a prize. Nick was noticeably unimpressed. Mum’s team won the hamper and the priest’s team got vouchers for Sunday dinner in the hotel.
‘That’s it, folks! Everyone is welcome to join us in Clancy’s!’ said Joe.
I looked around to try to spot Mum. She was probably going to the pub with her teammates.
I reluctantly got up from my seat. I really didn’t want to leave Nick. I liked being near to him even if I knew that I couldn’t do anything… But it was nice being that close. Close enough to touch. Even though you can’t, I said to myself.
‘That was great craic,’ said Colin. ‘Sure isn’t a nice box of biscuits better than nothing, Nick!’
Nick pushed him and Colin ran ahead.
‘Jacki, are you coming to the pub?’ asked Nick.
I was now.