Olly’s jaw drops. Then he holds his arms out, palms down, and bows to me. “We’re not worthy.”
“Speak for yourself,” Klara says.
“In which decade did the Six-Day War take place?” the landlord asks.
“Easy.” Nathan takes the answer paper and pen from me. “It was in the sixties.”
“That wasn’t easy,” Olly says.
“You really need to brush up on your general knowledge,” Aria says.
“In the croquet game inAlice in Wonderland, which creatures were used as mallets?” the landlord asks.
“Oh! I know this one.” Olly grins as he writes ‘flamingoes’ on the sheet. “I love that film.”
“It was a book first,” I say.
“Yeah, I don’t read.”
“Maybe that’s why you’re bad at general knowledge?” Elouise suggests.
Olly waves his hand.
“What is alliumphobia a fear of?” the landlord asks.
“Aluminium?” Olly says.
“I don’t think that’s right,” Aria says.
“Do you know what it is?”
“No.”
My phone buzzes. “I’ll be back in a sec.” We’re not allowed to use our phones during the pub quiz, so I have to go outside.
Aria grabs my wrist. “Don’t abandon us.”
“Yeah, whoever it is can wait,” Nathan says.
“I don’t know the answer anyway. I won’t be long.”
I get a couple of napkins chucked at me on my way out. I lean against the wall, close to the pub door, and check my phone. I have a message from Jett.
Jett:I’ve spent the last four hours dealing with a work problem.
My guess is Jett is a bundle of stress right now. My first instinct is to go to him and help him unwind. I glance at the door to the pub. Will I let my friends down if I duck out of the quiz now? There will still be five of them to answer the questions. It’s not like I’m a fount of all knowledge or anything. But they’ve just given me shit for bailing on them. Guilt spears my heart for even thinking about doing it again. Why can’t I split myself in two? That way, I could stay with my friends and go to Jett. But I can’t, so I have to choose.
Kian:It sounds like you need to de-stress.
Jett:Yes. Are you free?
Kian:I can be there in an hour.
I’ll stay at the pub for another round of questions before catching the bus to Jett’s.
Jett:Sounds great.
Me:I’ll see you soon.
