Chapter 34

Let's Get It Started

Let's get this party started right…NOW!

Boom! Shake, shake, shake, the room!

Boom! Shake, shake, shake, the room!

Yo! Yo! Welcome to my club! CLUB OSCARRR!

And what an atmosphere! Lights flashin', people jumpin', the party's bumpin', the music's booming so loud it could raise the roof! What better atmosphere could I ask for, eh? And what better place to pop the question to my future fiancée? This was what I'd been waiting for… For weeks, man.

But I had to wait a little longer, I had to pick the right moment. I wanted the whole reef to see Angie's face when she saw that diamond. I wanted the whole reef to witness the moment when Angie said 'Yes'! Which I had no doubt in my mind that she would.

…

Angie was partying with her female friends in the dance floor. I was watching her from the rail outside the office. I figured this was the time to get her attention.

"Yo, Ang!" I called down to her.

Angie looked up and tried to spot me. "Ha, ha! Oscar, what are you doing up there?"

I leaped over the rail and swam for her. "Just tryin'a find you amongst all this crazy atmosphere. I thought I'd get a better look up there."

"Ha!" Angie continued to laugh and giggle with delight. "I've missed this place!" She shouted over the music.

"Yeah, I'd been trying to get it back open for weeks!" I don't know why I was talking when I should be dancing. "What am I talkin' for?" I took hold of Angie's hand. "Come on, Ang. Dance with me girl!"

I took Angie out of the crowd and on to the dance floor. Everyone made room, they knew who we were.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves in the centre of attention, surrounded by partygoers.

The music shook the club. Boom, boom, the floor was bumping. I practically lost myself in the music. Caught in a trance dancing with Angie, you know?

And in all this crazy atmosphere in this crazy club, how was anyone supposed to know that someone was watching us?

Yeah, that's right. Someone was looking down on us from the above the lights. Someone staying in the shadows and out of sight. Staring down from the scaffolding on the ceiling, someone was watching us. And she was scared!

Guess what? Emily had actually changed her mind. She was up there above us right that moment and none of us knew she was there. But now she'd got this far all on her own she couldn't get herself to go any further. She was sort of stuck.

EJ just floated there above the lights, watching us and wanting to be one of us. But she was too scared to swim out there and join us.

I myself wouldn't have spotted her even if I wasn't already dancing the night way. No-one looks up in a club. She was out of sight. But I she was trying to stay out of sight. Maybe just watching was all this kid wanted to do.

Well, no-one knew she was up there…until she slipped.

She was sorta leaning to hard on the scaffolding. Her fin slipped, she knocked one of the lights and it came crashing to the down to the dance floor.

"Angie, loom out!" I pulled her by the fin and pulled her outa the way.

"Ah!" She screamed as we both leaped for it.

Crash! The light shattered on the dance floor.

Emily started down at the distraction she'd accidentally caused. "Oops." She said to herself.

The whole club started to look up at the lights and people some even stopped dancing.

"What was that?"

"How did that come loose?"

"Is something up there?"

Angie looked up with the crowd. She stared at the lights. "How did that come loose?" She swam higher, up towards the lights.

"Hey, Ang. Where do you think your going?" I wondered why she was so curious about a fallen light.

But, my girl kept on swimming.

Angie swam up to the ceiling and floated just below the lights. She stared to see if she could see anything through the gaps of the light-rig.

"Angie, what are you doin', girl?"

"Shh. Hang on." Angie carried on.

She popped her head out just above the bars that were holding the lights. Angie looked around the dark space between the lights and the ceiling. It was almost impossible to see anything, the lights were shining down where Angie and I were supposed to be dancing.

I watched Angie as she actually swam over the light-rig and out of sight.

I decided to follow her. "Sigh Angie." I swam to the lights myself. "What are you doin'?" I looked over the top of the light-rig. "What do you think you're gonna find up here, girl?"

I spotted her through the darkness. She was with someone. I thought at the time: 'Someone's actually up here?'. And as soon as I looked hard enough, I recognized that someone all too well.

"Emily?"

She didn't look at me but she waved. "Sorry I broke your light. I didn't mean to."

I smiled. "Yo, EJ. What are you doin' up here?"

Angie smiled and tutted. "Tuh Oh, your just shy, aren't you hun?"

"But what the shell are you doin' up here?" I chucked at the thought of where she'd been hiding.

"I…I'm scared." Emily mumbled out. "It wasn't so bright and noisy and crowded up here."

"But you can't stay here." Angie took EJ by her right fin and tried to guide her out of the scaffolding.

The party goers were starting to wonder where I'd got to. "Yo, Oscar!" I heard Sykes call up. "What are you playin' around at?"

I swam out of the light-rig. "Yo, dawg!" I yelled back. "Look what Angie found!"

Angie giggled as she guided Emily into view.

EJ peered over the side of the steal bars holding up the lights, and when she saw all the people staring up at her she decided to make herself invisible.

"Oh, Emily." Angie sighed. "Don't be scared. I'm here. No-one's gonna make you the centre of attention."

"But everyone's staring at me." EJ complained.

"Well, if you swim down and act natural instead of hiding in the rigging then maybe people would stare at you so much."

Emily showed her true colours again.

"Come on. Just follow me." Angie took Emily by the fin once again and swam with her out of the scaffolding.

EJ then stopped. "I'm not going in that crowd." She panicked. "I can't."

"It's alright, you can come with me."

Angie knew how scared that little kid was already. So she didn't force her to mingle with the club-crazed dancing fish.

Angie took Emily to the reception box where it was quiet and out of the way.

"Emily, I'm so happy you came!" Angie cuddled hold of EJ, even thought EJ had her hands over her ears. "See, you can be brave. You can do anything when you put your mind to it."

Sykes also decided to pay Emily a little visit. "Hey kid, glad you could make it. How are ya holding up?"

Emily just shook her head. She was still covering up her ears so she couldn't hear anything.

"I'll take that as a… 'Not so good' answer." Sykes guessed that EJ wasn't taking the noise too well.

Angie wanted to make sure Emily was alright before she continued her partying. "Emily, will you be alright if I go back!" She shouted over the music so that EJ might hear her.

"What!" Emily didn't hear a word.

Angie scribbled on her note pad. She tore off the page she'd wrote on and held it up to Emily. But there was a problem.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot, you can't read."

Angie put the paper down and tried to use her fins to gesture to Emily what she was saying. "Ok, I…" She pointed to herself. "Will be out there!" She pointed back and forth from the dance floor to herself.

Sykes watched on as Angie tried her best to get EJ to understand.

"Will you be ok!" Angie pointed to Emily and then made the 'OK' sigh with her fingers.

Emily nodded.

"Sorry that you're missin' out on the fun, kid." Sykes sympathised a little though he knew Emily could hear him.

Angie swam on back to the club.

Sykes took one last look at Emily and shook his head. "You don't know that you're missin'."

EJ was left there. There was nothing anyone could do. She was just sat there with her hands over her ears, afraid of he music I thought she loved.

Sykes was right; Emily didn't know what she was missing.