Page 18 of Just for December

‘Right, there are several rounds to this: general knowledge, movies, history, science – but no sports or music since the cultural divide between the UK and US reference points means I’ll only be accused of rigging it one way or the other,’ Jerry begins. ‘Ready?’

Evie looks around nervously and makes her way over toDuke. If she walks out now it will feel like he’s won, somehow, like she can’t hack it. And she can. She can take him on. She will not lessen herself for him.

‘I’m very competitive,’ Duke says, by way of greeting.

Evie slips onto the low couch beside him, close enough that her knee knocks his as she settles in to see the scoresheet, telling him: ‘Me too. So … don’t mess this up, okay?’

He sets his mouth in a firm line. The quiz begins.

The pair storm through the general knowledge round, surprisingly passing off answers in quick succession.

‘What is the world’s largest land mammal?’ asks Jerry down the mic.

Duke shrugs and says to Evie simply, ‘Elephant.’ He isn’t conferring with her, he’s saying it to confirm it with himself, but it sounds about right so she doesn’t stop him from scribbling it down. Jerry moves on to the next question.

‘Nostradamus was famous for makingwhat?’he asks the room.

Evie doesn’t know the answer to this one. Duke looks at her and she shrugs.

‘Didn’t he predict the end of the world?’ she offers, and Duke’s eyes light up.

‘Predictions, then?’ he asks her, and Evie shrugs again.

‘I guess.’

Duke writes it down with the disclaimer: ‘If it’s wrong, that’s on you.’

‘The velocipede was a ninth-century prototype ofwhat?’ presses Jerry.

Evie is determined to prove her worth now. His suggestionthat she could cost them a point makes blood boil under the surface of her skin. She knows stuff! Just because he’s terrible at consulting her doesn’t mean she can’t pull her pub quiz weight.

‘I mean, that has to be bicycle, doesn’t it?’ she says, talking quickly, joining the mental dots of the etymology of the word. ‘Velocipede,’ she considers again, and he looks at her, boring holes into her skull as a way to motivate her to think faster. Not that he’s coming up with suggestions of his own. ‘Velo.Isn’t that French for bike?’

‘I think so?’ he says. ‘Sounds sensible enough.’

‘Bike, then. Put down bike.’

She watches him write down the answer.

‘And hey,’ she adds, leaning in to hiss at him. ‘If it’s wrong, that’s on both of us.’

He raises his eyebrows in a way Evie can’t make sense of.

12

Duke

As the quiz goes on, it bugs Duke that he’s noticed Evie smells like incense and patchouli.

‘What?’ she snaps, as Jerry pauses his questions to get another beer.

Duke pulls a face. ‘Nothing,’ he says. ‘God. You’re so … defensive.’

‘Just anxious not to make a fool of myself, actually,’ she shoots back. ‘Here … let me write. You’re starting to slow down.’ She takes the pen from his hand and leans in, ready for the next question.

George Michael,she’s written,‘Careless Whisper’.He hadn’t known the answer to that one anyway, so it’s just as well she’s taken over.

‘Who said the lyrics,When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me?’ Jerry asks now he’s back, andDuke knows Jerry is getting drunker because he’s slurring his words whilst also talking, somehow, faster.

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