Nicholas had forced Seiji out onto the dance floor, which was a hideous experience. Then Nicholas went away and came back with Eugene and a mystifying story of doomed romance that they all had to listen to.
Seiji had heard that bad things always came in threes, and that seemed true. Next, Nicholas and Bobby stunned the populace by doing karaoke. Eugene had gone first with a soulful ballad about lost love, and Seiji had found that horrible. Nicholas and Bobby’s enthusiastic duet was much worse.
“I hate everything that’s happening,” Seiji informed Dante. “Don’t you?”
“Nope,” said Dante, smiling over at Bobby.
It occurred to Seiji that right now, Nicholas’s (terrible!) and Bobby’s (rather nice) singing was providing him with a cover. This gave Seiji the opportunity to resolve an issue that had been worrying him.
He made his way to the corner where the adults were talking and had a brief private discussion with Coach Robillard.
Once the duet was over, Bobby and Nicholas returned. Instantly, Dante stood and asked Bobby to go on a walk.
Nicholas came over and slumped gracelessly onto the bench beside Seiji. Almost everyone at the party was wearing some type of formal wear, except for Nicholas, who was wearing ripped black jeans and his Kings Row hoodie. He was drumming his fingers on the surface of the picnic table. He was an irritating mess, and no doubt he would soon pester Seiji into engaging in another uncomfortable social activity.
Overall, Seiji found this to be a pleasant party.