‘Yeah,’ he replies grouchily.
‘Any of your other friends?’
‘All of them.’
‘Any girls?’
He side-eyes Finn. ‘Yeah.’
‘Cool.’
‘You can come if you want.’
My eyebrows jump up. I shoot Finn a quick look, but he’s staring at Michael.
‘Am I allowed to?’
‘Yeah. Anyone’s allowed.’
‘Don’t you have to have tickets?’ I ask, wondering how we’re going to get ourselves out of this.
‘You can buy them there.’
‘Looks like you and me are going to a dance tonight, baby,’ Finn says cheekily, grabbing my hand and swinging it high.
Michael looks at our hands and rolls his eyes, but not as dramatically as usual.
I drive us while Finn sits in the front seat of my blue Honda Civic, his long legs stretched out. It’s only a short journey, but he’s plugged his phone into the car’s stereo and is trying to decide what to play to get us in the mood.
‘Hang on, Mikey, you’re going to love this song,’ he says.
‘Don’t call me Mikey!’ my brother snaps.
‘He hates it,’ I say as an aside to Finn.
‘Hang on, Michael, you’re going to love this song,’ Finn says in exactly the same neutral tone as before, not taking the slightest bit of offence.
He puts on Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Michael’.
I glance in the rear-view mirror at my brother in the backseat and see him staring out of the window. His head begins to bob.
‘Oh, I like this one!’ he gushes, his face riddled with excitement as he uses our headrests to haul himself forward.
‘Put your seat belt on!’ I scold him.
He flops back and nods his head along to the beat as he fastens up, singing the odd word here and there.
When the chorus kicks in, Finn belts it out and Michael’s face lights up with glee. Then he joins in too and I try to concentrate on driving while laughing at the pair of them.
We pull into the car park opposite the social club, and as soon as I’ve turned off the ignition, Finn jumps out of the car and jogs around the front to hold up his hand to Michael. My brother grins and high-fives him.
Finn has tried time and again to be friendly to my brother – his persistence is one of the things I admire about him. I’m thrilled that Michael finally seems to be thawing.
Lots of Michael’s friends live in Perranporth and loads of them are already at the social club when we go inside. P!nk is blaring from the sound system and red, green and blue disco lights are swirling around the wooden dance floor. There are lots of people here, and not just those who regularly attendMichael’s club – the crowd is full of friends, family and support workers.
Michael has made a beeline for Timothy, so Finn and I go over to say hi. They’re chatting excitedly about something, but they come to a sudden stop when they see us.
‘Hello!’ Timothy says cheerily, and he and Finn share a hug complete with back slaps.
