‘Ooh, will we be in it?’ Ciara broke her unusual silence.
‘Yeah, I might just show the back of your head or something,’ he joked.
‘Well, I can’t wait to see it,’ Holly said encouragingly.
‘Thanks.’ Declan put his knife and fork down and started laughing, ‘Hey, what’s this I hear about you singing in a karaoke competition next week?’
‘What?’ Ciara yelled, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.
Holly pretended not to know what he was talking about.
‘Ah, come on, Holly!’ he persisted. ‘Danny told me!’ He turned to the rest of the table and explained, ‘Danny is the owner of the place where I did the gig the other night and he told me Holly has entered a karaoke competition in the club upstairs.’
Everyone oohed and aahed and talked about how great it was.
Holly refused to give in. ‘Declan, Daniel’s just playing games with you. Sure, everyone knows I can’t sing! Now, come on,’ she addressed the rest of the table. ‘Honestly, if I was singing in a karaoke competition I think I would tell you all.’ She laughed as if the thought was so ridiculous. In fact the thought was so ridiculous.
‘Holly,’ Declan chuckled, ‘I saw your name on the list. Don’t lie.’
Holly put her knife and fork down. She suddenly wasn’t hungry any more.
‘Holly, why didn’t you tell us you’re going to sing in a competition?’ her mother asked.
‘Because I can’t sing!’
‘Then why are you doing it?’ Ciara burst out laughing.
She may as well tell them, otherwise Declan would beat it out of her and she didn’t like lying to her parents.
‘OK, it’s a really complicated story, but basically Gerry entered my name in months ago because he really wanted me to do it and as much as I don’t want to do it, I feel I have to go through with it. It’s stupid, I know.’
Ciara stopped laughing abruptly.
Holly felt paranoid by her family staring at her, and she nervously tucked her hair behind her ears.
‘Well, I think that’s a wonderful idea,’ her dad suddenly announced.
‘Yes,’ added her mum, ‘and we’ll all be there to support you.’
‘No, Mum, you really don’t have to. It’s no big deal.’
‘There’s no way my sister is singing in a competition without me being there,’ declared Ciara.
‘Here, here,’ said Richard. ‘We’ll all go so. I’ve never been to a karaoke before. It should be …’ he searched his brain for the right word, ‘… fun.’
Holly groaned and closed her eyes, wishing she had gone straight home from town.
Declan was laughing hysterically, ‘Yes, Holly, it’ll be … hmmm …’ he said, scratching his chin, ‘… fun!’
‘When is it on?’ Richard said, taking out his diary.
‘Eh … Saturday,’ Holly lied, and Richard began writing it down.
‘It is not!’ Declan burst out. ‘It’s next Tuesday, you liar!’
‘Shit!’ cursed Richard, much to everyone’s surprise. ‘Has anyone got any Tippex?’
Holly could not stop going to the toilet. She was nervous and had had practically no sleep the night before. And she looked how she felt. There were huge bags around her bloodshot eyes and her lips were bitten.
The big day had arrived, her worst nightmare – singing in public.
Holly wasn’t even the kind of person who sang in the shower for fear of cracking all the mirrors. But man, was she spending time in the toilet today. There was no better laxative than fear, and Holly felt as if she had lost a stone in just one day. Her friends and family had been as supportive as ever, sending her good luck cards. Sharon and John had even sent her a bouquet of flowers, which she placed on the draught-free, heat-vent-free coffee table beside her half-dead orchid. Denise had ‘hilariously’ sent her a sympathy card.
Holly dressed in the outfit Gerry had told her to buy last month and cursed him throughout. There were far more important things to worry about right now than irrelevant little details like how she looked. She left her hair down so it covered her face as much as possible and piled on the waterproof mascara as though it was going to prevent her from crying. She could foresee the night ending in tears. She tended to have psychic powers when it came to facing the shittiest days of her life.
John and Sharon collected Holly in a taxi and she refused to talk to them, cursing everyone for forcing her to do this. She felt physically sick and she couldn’t sit still. Every time the taxi stopped at a red light she contemplated jumping out and running for dear life but by the time she would build up the courage the lights would go green again. Her hands fidgeted nervously and she kept opening and closing her bag, pretending to Sharon she was searching for something just to keep herself occupied.
‘Relax, Holly,’ Sharon said soothingly, ‘everything will be fine.’
‘Fuck off,’ she snapped.
They continued on in silence for the rest of the journey: even the taxi driver didn’t speak. After a tense journey they finally reached Hogan’s, and John and Sharon had a hell of a time trying to stop Holly ranting (something about preferring to jump in the Liffey) and persuading her to go inside. Much to Holly’s horror, the club was absolutely jammed and she had to squeeze by everyone to make her way to her family, who had saved a table (right beside the toilet as requested).
Richard was sitting awkwardly on a stool, looking out of place in a suit. ‘So tell me about these rules, Father. What will Holly have to do?’
Holly’s dad explained the ‘rules’ of karaoke to Richard and her nerves began to build even more.
‘Gosh, that’s terrific, isn’t it?’ Richard said, staring around the club in awe. Holly didn’t think he had ever been in a nightclub before.
The sight of the stage terrified Holly. It was much bigger than she had expected and there was a huge screen on the wall for the crowd to see the words of the songs. Jack was sitting with his arm draped around Abbey’s shoulders; they both gave her supportive smiles. Holly scowled at them and looked away.
‘Holly the funniest thing happened earlier on,’ Jack said laughing. ‘Remember that guy Daniel we met last week?’
Holly just stared at him, watching his lips moving but not giving a damn about what he said. ‘Well, me and Abbey got here first to keep the table and we were having a kiss and your man came over and whispered in my ear that you were gonna be here tonight. He thought we were going out and that I was doing the dirt!’ Jack and Abbey laughed hysterically.
‘Well, I think that’s disgusting,’ Holly said,
