A chorus of ‘boo’ rang out around the room and Gazza flipped them the middle finger. Elora laughed as he pointed to QUIZ-MASTER printed on his T-shirt.
‘I’m the boss here and what I say goes, and we’re starting in two minutes.’ He held up two fingers. ‘Same rules apply as the last round, so no googling.’
Good-natured groans filled the air, along with a few shouted insults between rival teams. The banter between the contestants had escalated as the evening wore on, fuelled by alcohol and competitiveness, Thommo and Robbo included.
‘Righto, brainiacs.’ Thommo thumped the table to get their attention. ‘The Galahs have got this in the bag, so I want you all to focus, put your thinking caps on, and don’t say anything stupid.’
‘That means you’ll have to shut your mouth for the entire round,’ Robbo deadpanned, and they laughed.
‘Dickhead,’ Thommo muttered without malice as he punched Robbo on the arm. ‘I want to win the week’s supply of beer that’s on offer.’
‘Which you’ll share with all of us, of course.’ Bindi flashed a sweet smile that made Kyle sway on his stool a little.
Heck, the poor guy had it bad for Bindi. If they’d been friends since high school, had he been pining for her for over a decade, or was his crush a recent occurrence? Elora would ask him about it tomorrow, on the pretext of putting in a good word for him with Bindi.
‘Everyone seated?’ Gazza barely glanced around the room before saying, ‘Good. Let’s get started. The first ten questions are Aussie general knowledge.’
Thommo picked up the pen and aligned the answer sheet in front of him, his tongue poking out as he concentrated. Elora glanced at Cruz, who pulled a funny face complete with crossed eyes, and she stifled a giggle.
Gazza cleared his throat. ‘First question. What colour skivvy does Anthony wear in The Wiggles?’
‘Too easy,’ Thommo whispered, jotting downBlue.
The Galahs nodded in unison, as Gazza said, ‘Second question. In 2000, which event did Cathy Freeman win a gold medal for?’
The crowd groaned as the Galahs’ collective brows furrowed.
When nobody spoke, Elora said quietly, ‘I think it’s the 400 metres.’
‘You think or you know?’ Thommo asked, glaring at her, and Cruz said, ‘Steady on. She’s the only one of us who has ventured an answer, so go with it.’
‘My dad’s an athletics buff, so I’m pretty sure,’ Elora said, remembering having to sit through countless dinners where her dad talked about random sporting facts and her mum pretended not to listen by covering her ears and laughing.
As the buzz of low conversation in the room got louder, Gazza tapped on his mic and feedback screeched through the air to more groans.
‘Sorry about that, folks, the equipment in this place is almost as old as me.’
Everyone laughed, but quietened quickly when Gazza said, ‘Question three. Is the iconic movieThe Castlebased on a true story?’
‘Doubtful,’ Bindi said, and Thommo wroteNowithout questioning it. Maybe it was only city girls he second-guessed?
‘Question four. What is Australia’s oldest chocolate bar?’ Gazza asked.
‘I could go a Snickers or Mars Bar right about now,’ Robbo said, rubbing his stomach, while Thommo pointed at Cruz. ‘You’re the big shot chef. You should know this.’
‘I’m a chef, not an Oompa Loompa,’ Cruz muttered, and the Galahs laughed.
‘You don’t have to make chocolate to know answers about chocolate.’ Thommo rolled his eyes. ‘Come on, mate, I need this.’
‘You don’t need beer,’ Bindi muttered, pointing at his stomach. ‘Have you seen the size of your gut in the mirror lately?’
Robbo and Kyle snickered, and Cruz’s exasperated expression didn’t fool El for a second. He was enjoying this banter as much as she was.
‘Cherry Ripe has been around forever,’ Cruz said with a shrug. ‘Write that down.’
‘Okay.’ Thommo scribbled it, his expression dubious. ‘Better be right.’
‘Question five. In which Aussie state would you find the towns of Lovely Bottom, Granny’s Gut and Stinkhole?’
