Page 30 of Prove You Wrong

‘Shall we get drinks?’ She looks at me expectantly.

‘Definitely,’ I reply.

‘I’ll send Enzo over.’ Nate keeps his eyes on me as he backs away, then turns and greets some other quizzers at a nearby table.

Josie glances hopefully along the bar but it’s chaos with last minute orders. After a short wait, the other bartender comes over to get our order.

Soon the quiz master is starting the first round. 'Nice and easy now, we'll start with general knowledge. Eyes down. Phones off. Here we go. What are the main ingredients in a banoffee pie?'

Josie whispers without hesitation and I write down her answer. The next two questions are obscure and we stare blankly at each other.

Next the quiz master asks, ‘What are Queen Anne, May Duke, and Morello types of?’

And with relief I scribble the correct answer.

Nate comes over. 'Okay, over here? Do you need any help? With only two of you on the team, you’re a bit low on numbers.'

‘We'll be fine,’ I reply as Josie says, ‘Yes please.’

Another punter calls Nate over, and while I’m grateful he’s distracted, I can’t stop following his movements across the room.

The following question is another hard one.

‘We suck at quizzes. We should really ask for help,’ Josie moans.

‘We’ll be fine,’ I insist as I take a random stab at question six. After two more tricky questions, Josie reaches for her phone. ‘Maybe if we ask Goog-’

‘No!’ I cut her off a little too loudly.

Nate reappears rather suddenly and I shoot daggers at Josie. We probably drew his attention.

‘I’m just doing a phone check,’ he whispers. ‘Got to make sure you haven’t been cheating.’

‘We haven’t!’ I show him the home screen of my phone. I’m no cheater.

‘Let me check your browsing history.’ He somehow juggles the phone from my hand, taps the screen several times, and after a few seconds and some more taps he hands it back to me with a nod. ‘All seems in order.’

Josie hands hers over for him to check. ‘Is that offer for help still on the table?’

‘Sure. I’d be happy to join your team.’ His eyes sparkle as he smirks at me.

‘Nowhere to sit, I’m afraid.’ I glare at Josie, trying to convey I’m not sure what the hell she thinks she’s doing but I wish she’d stop.

‘No problem.’ He magics a stool from somewhere behind the bar and pulls it up close to my side, sandwiching me between him and Josie.

‘Isn’t it unfair? Or cheating? You work here after all.’ I make a last-ditch effort to get rid of him. I can’t be held responsible for my actions with him this close.

‘I’m nottechnicallyworking tonight. Just helping out, collecting donations and things. And, I haven't seen the quiz before.’ He shrugs.

‘We need all the help we can get,’ Josie pipes up.

‘Speak for yourself.’ My voice raises as I snap back.

The quiz master comes back over the microphone again. ‘What is the name of the portable case where archers store their arrows?’

Josie and I exchange blank looks and then I remember something from Robin Hood and start to write “sheaf”.

Nate nudges me to get my attention and shakes his head. He mouths something I can't understand and then beckons me closer to him.

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