I yank my suitcase, stroll into the hotel foyer, and stop in my tracks, surveying the scene in front of me, nerves clutching my chest. Everyone’s here. Absolutely everyone; I didn’t think there would be this many. People are running to each other and hugging, like they’ve known each other all their lives. I’ve only been a member of Fanstory for just over a year, what if no one recognises me? I frown. Is that . . . yes I think that’s Barbara Wilkey being crowded by her fans, all wanting selfies, I’ll have to try and speak to her later. Keeping my head down I edge to a smaller queue for the front desk, heart ramming hard against my chest. I’ve come all this way, I can’t bottle this now, but part of me just wants to go straight to my room and flop on my bed. The dark haired receptionist becomes available and I stride to the front desk, putting on the biggest smile I can.

In my room I pull out the invitation and schedule, pacing as I try to calm my nerves. Right, ten a.m. everyone’s invited to do a reading of whatever they want poetry or prose in the main dining room. It’s in half an hour’s time. I suppose I could go along. This Fanstory convention must’ve taken over the whole hotel, the staff aren’t going to know what’s hit them.

Stuffing the schedule into my pocket I head for my door and pull it open, making sure my name tags on my shirt, and without even looking, I collide straight into a woman passing.

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ I say, hands trembling.

The woman rights herself, smooths down her purple dress and smiles. ‘No, worries at all,’ she says. ‘Oh I know who you are; it’s Jacob, isn’t it? I’m Carol, you know me as Begin Again.’

‘Oh wow.’ At last, someone who knows me. I’m going to be like one of those people who clings onto to the one person they know for the whole weekend. ‘I didn’t think I’d see you until later. Again, so sorry, let me get you a coffee, are you going to the reading? I was a big fan of Spirited Justice.’

‘Don’t worry about getting me a coffee,’ she says, brushing her hair back and flapping her hand. ‘Although, I could do with a gin, I know it’s not midday yet, but when you’re on holiday, and its five o’clock somewhere in the world and all that. Yes I’m going, and thank you, I had such fun writing it.’

We head over to the lift, just as another woman wearing a dress with gold sequins that sparkle underneath the light, with blonde spiky hair joins us.

‘Carol, Jacob, hi, it’s Debbie, or Debbie, D’Arcy,’ the woman says, stretching out her hand. She frowns at me. ‘I think I spotted you at JFK international, Jacob.’

‘Really?’ I reply, shaking her hand. ‘Sorry, I was so focused on getting through security. Of course, you come from the UK as well, don’t you?'

‘Oh, JFK can be a nightmare for security,’ Carol says, rolling her eyes.

The lift whisks us back to reception and we find a throng of people waiting to pile in at the bottom. I spot Dolly arriving into the hotel foyer, smiling at everyone. This thing might not be so nerve wracking after all.

‘So, where are Gretchen and Rachelle?’ I ask, flicking my eyes around the room. ‘Has anyone seen our hosts yet?’

‘Oh, I suppose they’ve got something up their sleeves they’re planning for us,’ Debbie says with a mischievous grin. ‘I overheard a couple of people mention something earlier.’

‘Oh, tell, tell,’ Carol says, with a grin.

Debbie smiles. ‘I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise now, would I? In any case, it’s only rumour I’ve heard, there might not be anything in it.’

We stride into the dining area, a wide room with gold lights hanging from the walls and cream coloured wallpaper. Debbie hurries off to the front where a woman wearing a lanyard around her neck is standing. There are tables dotted around with white table cloths and jugs of water. People are already sitting down, clutching pieces of paper in their hands. I spy a few familiar faces, there’s Roy Owen towards the front sitting beside Barbara.

I sit at the back beside Carol.

‘So, are you going to read, Jacob?’ she asks.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I say, running my tongue around my dry mouth. I used to love reading my work out loud to my class at school, but I’ve never done a public reading like this.

‘Have you brought anything?’ she says.

I rub the back of my neck. ‘Oh, just a short chapter, but depends how I feel.'

‘Well, just think of it this way, you publish your posts online for hundreds of people, perhaps even thousands around the world to read, reading to a group this size should be easy,’ Carol says.

‘Right, I’ve put both of your names down,’ Debbie says with a massive smile as she re-joins us.

‘Debbie,’ I say, my mouth dropping open.

‘Well, you need to push yourself,’ Debbie says, sitting beside me and crossing her knees. ‘Otherwise you’ll never do it; you’re up after Rachelle and Gretchen.’

‘Now that’ll be a hard act to follow,’ I say, smacking my face in my hands. ‘I’m going to be a nervous wreck standing up there.’

‘You’ll be brilliant,’ Carol says, giving me a nudge. ‘Once you’ve done it once you’ll want to do it again.’

‘More likely I’ll want to book myself on the next flight home,’ I reply, nausea swirling through me. I can’t do this, I need to go to the front and somehow remove my name.

A few more people trickle into the room, all with excited smiles on their faces. I focus my attention on the stage. There’s a door off to the right of the stage. Gretchen and Rachelle are going to come through that door any minute, and then after they’ve read their pieces I’m going to be expected to stand up and speak. I’ve just been flying for eight hours, there’s no way I’m going to be able to string a sentence together. I haven’t even had time to mentally prepare. I need to get up now and remove my name.

‘Ooh I wonder what Gretchen and Rachelle are going to read,’ Debbie says excitement in her voice.

A hush descends on the room and the lights dim. There’s a round of applause as Gretchen and Rachelle stride onto the stage, big beaming smiles on their faces. They’re both wearing stylish dark jackets. Rachelle holds up her microphone.

‘Wow, I can’t believe this moment is finally here,’ Rachelle says. ‘Let me tell you, Gretchen and I have both had a whirlwind of a ride getting this thing organised and we both had such fun getting here, Gretchen hasn’t stopped going on about this for days.’ There’s a few murmurs of laughter around the room. ‘It’s amazing how many of you have turned up and just look at you all, here in person, this is actually bringing tears to my eyes. But, I must confess, we have told a cheeky white lie on the schedule that you were all handed as part of your invitation, so, I’ll leave this to Gretchen to explain.’

I raise an eyebrow at Debbie, remembering what she said earlier about Gretchen and Rachelle having got something up their sleeve. What on earth are they about to say?

‘Well, thank you all for coming, like Rachelle says, it’s such a thrill to see you all here, in person. We thought about doing a zoom call, but you know there’s no way that would be nearly as fun! So, some of you, I see have already signed up to read this morning, but I’m afraid you’re all in for a bit of a nasty shock.’ Nerves flitter through my belly. A nasty shock. There’s a mischievous grin on Gretchen’s face. Oh, no, what is she going to say? Did Debbie know about this? ‘Now you can entirely blame me for this, Rachelle wanted everyone to do a reading, but I insisted and in the end she ended up backing down. So, I thought what better way to help break the ice, than to launch straight in with karaokeeeee.’

The lights flicker off and a disco ball illuminates the room. My jaw drops as the ABBA song, Dancing Queen booms from the speakers and both Rachelle and Gretchen whip off their jackets to reveal ABBA themed clothing underneath. They both lean their backs against each other and belt out the song, which draws even more people into the room clapping and cheering. Damn, I’m up next. They’re not expecting me to sing are they? Carol and Debbie both leap to their feet both whopping and cheering. I’m up next. No, I’m up next.

‘Thank youuuuuu,’ Gretchen says as the song reaches the end. ‘You have no idea what I had to promise to convince Rachelle to sing with me. Now, I believe next up on the list to sing we have, Jacob.’

Everyone spins around and looks at me with big beaming smiles. Carol nudges me.

‘Go on,’ she says.

I tentatively walk towards the stage. If I’d known I’d be doing karaoke, I would’ve mentally prepared myself. Mentally prepared myself to not get up on stage whatsoever. I swallow as I edge closer. The stage is there, right there in front of me. I can't turn back now. 

‘Choose your song on machine over there, Jacob,’ Rachelle says, pointing to the karaoke machine.

I edge over to it. Well, I wanted people to know who I was, didn’t I? Swallowing hard, I select the one song I know how to do well and, with shaky legs, climb the stairs to the stage. Carol and Debbie both give me a thumbs up from the back of the room. The song begins to play and, taking Rachelle's microphone, I launch straight into Mr Brightside allowing all the nerves that preceded to this moment to float away. Well, people will know who I am now.