Kenny’s Blog - 2

What a beautifully painful morning it has been. One beverage too many, I think, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy myself. Last night, I got invited out to a DISCO themed party by none other than my favourite accordion player, Nathan (admittedly my list of accordion players is very short). 

I pulled up to the house and banged on the door, I was ready to let loose. A window opened and a friendly face with a pair of tidy black rimmed glasses instantly appeared. 

“Kenny, for god’s sake, you aren't wearing that blue shirt out to a DISCO are you?’’

Ryan laughed as I sheepishly explained that was all I had left, never really being much of a fashion person. More specifically, I am not very consistent at keeping all my clothes washed, rather letting it build up and tackle it over a one-day washing bonanza as a series of loads.

I can feel you judging me as you’re reading this… It's more efficient. 

In an instant, the front door flew open and staring backing at me was a man with short hair and a warm smile, wearing what I can only describe as a ‘loud’ Hawaiian t-shirt.

“Are you a good throw?”

“Am I a what?”

“A good throw, are you good at throwing things?” 

“Depends on the thing I am throwing.”

The man’s smile spread into a full-blown grin and in that instant I recognised him.

“You’re Kenny, aren't you?”, he questioned.

“That’s me, you’re Callum?”

“I am indeed, now come Kenny, let's grab you a drink and you’re gonna help me win a game, if you do, we’ll do something about your distinct lack of a funky shirt.”

He guided me through the house and out to the back garden where everyone else was waiting in a spread circle around a flip-out table covered in red plastic cups like those you find in every american teenage flick that has ever existed. There was colourful clothing everywhere, tie-dye tops and luminescent socks, sunglasses, bling, mood rings, everything with more than five colours on it was present on the attire of the party guests. On the other side of the table, Nathan was waving at me. We struck up a brief conversion and he introduced me to the rest of the band. Callum set the table with the cups in neat sets of triangles on either side and then handed me a ping pong ball. 

“Right, it’s on fellas! Two teams of two. The winners get Nathan’s keytar!”

Nathan laughed but looked admittedly uncomfortable with such a proposition. Callum continued…

“Kenny, you’ll be with me and we’ll be up against Nathan and Joe, as the most sober of us, you can do the first shot!”

This came as a big surprise to me, I am not sure that I had ever been picked first for anything in my life. Ryan, who had just come into the garden chipped in some motivational words from Hamilton.

“I’m not throwing away my shot!”

The rest of the party started joining in the merry sing-along and I could feel the pressure to perform building up in me. I took my position and gripped the little ping pong ball tightly in my hand, being very aware that I now had the eyes of everyone on my next move. Raising the ball to my eye line, I took a small intake of breath and released. The ping pong ball wobbled pathetically through the air and I felt my heart sink for a moment, then with a tidy little plop, it landed perfectly in the middle cup directly in front of Nathan. There was silence for two seconds then applause followed. It was silly, but it did feel good.

The rest of the game however, did not go our way as Joe and Nathan took out each of our cups in rapid succession. Still, it didn't feel like a defeat, it was fun, proper fun. Before I knew it, we were all shoveling ourselves into a selection of taxis and making our way into town.  

The taxis pulled up to the club, a neon sign flashing ‘Sway’ hung above the entrance as the band members all grabbed their instruments out of the vehicle. Nathan turned around to me and tied an entry wristband on my left arm.

“We’ve got to head in the back and set up. Kenny, if you join the others, we’ll come and meet after we’ve finished our set.”

So after sliding into the club via the priority queue (thanks to Nathan’s wristband), I went straight to the bar, settling on an exceptionally sweet cherry wine. Standing to my left was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and a very summery white dress, completely absolved in her phone ignoring everything and everyone around her. She seemed completely lost in her own little world and when the bar staff asked her what she wanted it was like talking to a brick wall. I tried to get her attention so she could actually get served. 

“Excuse me” 

The woman dropped her phone and in a well timed moment of spider-like reflexes I caught it just before it made contact with the ground. She thanked me and told me her name was Steph. Told me she was a blogger and an artist and then proceeded to show me a number of beautifully captured photos on her phone. Whilst they were nearly all of her in different poses, I’ll admit that I was impressed by the time and care that had gone in each. She looked stunning. When I told her that I was there with my friends who were performing she happily agreed to join me on the dancefloor and groove to the music with me. I couldn't believe my luck. Very often I find myself completely tongue tied around women but here I was, with the prettiest individual in the room and she wanted to dance with me. 

We made our way to the floor and The Upsiders took to the stage, it was fantastic with the lights and the sound creating an intoxicating sense of groove as I felt my heart shift into sync with Ryan’s energetic drumming. I turned to Steph with a look of glee on my face only to notice that she was still completely involved in her phone, seemingly oblivious to the world around her. I kept my focus on the band but simultaneously felt my frustration building. Wasn’t this meant to be a moment which could turn into a wonderful memory? I could understand not being interested in the type of music or not wanting to be in my company but why would she say yes to joining me if she just wanted to spend the whole time disconnected from everything happening around her? I’m far from what most would consider attractive, but I’m not a dick either, if she wanted to leave, go find her friends or just go somewhere else then she could and it would be fine.

I asked her if she was okay, she said that she was. I asked her if she liked the music, she said she did. To avoid making my frustrations public I told her that I would go grab another drink and headed back to the bar. The whole thing felt weird. I didn’t want her to feel that she had to stay. As I stood waiting at the bar, Joe came up and joined me. I complimented him on the bass well slapped. He laughed and ordered several shots, handing one to me.

My phone vibrated in my left pocket. One message. 

“Hey Kenny, I’m feeling a little tired and I’m heading home but I just wanted you to know I had a great time, I had some crazy dance moves lol

Let's meet up soon, like some time next week when you’re free, you pick the place ;) 

Steph xox

PS. I’ll tag you in the photos, make sure you like them xx”

The rest of the band joined Joe and I at the bar and I explained what had just happened. They all jeered and patted me on the back telling me that they didn’t realise I was such a smooth talker. Callum looked oddly quiet, though it seemed he was just exhausted from playing. Ryan chipped in.

“So what are you gonna do next week?”

I honestly didn’t even know where to begin. After telling Ryan this, a big grin crossed his face. 

“I have the perfect idea…”