soundly trounced Fish and me. Alfi. That’s what our friends and fans call Fish and me these days. Although, at the present moment, I’m living up to my other nickname among my friends. Diva.
We’re at Reed and Georgie’s house for a late-afternoon birthday party for Violet and me. Violet’s birthday is in four days, while today is mine. My twenty-second. And, lucky us, everyone we love the most is here to celebrate. Apparently, though, just because it’s my birthday today, doesn’t mean Zaloha is willing to let me win in a game of ping-pong.
In dramatic, diva-like fashion, I toss my paddle onto the table and scrunch up my face into a scowl, the same way Keane and Maddy’s high-spirited toddler, Billie, always does when she’s pissed off. Which happens a lot. And everyone laughs in response to my shenanigans.
“You’re heartless!” Fish yells across the table, after wrapping me in a protective hug. “You can’t even let this girl win a game on her frickin’ birthday?”
“No mercy,” Zander deadpans in his low baritone. But, of course, he flashes me one of his megawatt smiles after saying it.
Aloha lays down her paddle next to her husband’s with a sniff. “I think Diva knows by now it’s my cosmic destiny to beat her, in every game we play.”
Fucking hell. She’s right. Aloha’s winning streak against me is nothing short of supernatural at this point. It started last year during our tour and has continued ever since. Whether we’re playing ping-pong or cornhole or HORSE at Reed and Georgie’s, like today, or Cards Against Humanity or drinking games during one of our regular game nights at our friends’ houses, Aloha always beats me. And I can’t figure out why. All I can think is that, despite the close friendship Aloha and I have formed at this point, I’ve still got some sort of residual mental block about her being my childhood idol.
I wag my finger at Aloha. “Watch yourself, Disney. You’re pissing me off now. I’m coming for you.”
Aloha laughs uproariously, and so do Zander and Fish. It’s the same way they always react when I try to act menacing. During our tour, I was able to bring my friends to literal tears, on occasion, with my “diva” act. And it was a source of pride every time I did it.
“Cake time!” Georgina’s amplified voice sings out from a distant area of the party. “Violet and Ally! Come to the patio to blow out your caaaaandles!”
“Saved by the Georgina, again,” Aloha tosses out jokingly, as our foursome converges to head to the patio.
We reach the main area of the party and discover everyone crowded around the small stage that’s been set up near the pool. Georgina is standing onstage with a microphone, and when she sees our foursome, her face lights up.
“There you are, co-birthday girl! Come join Violet over here by the cake!”
I join Violet by the cake to find it inscribed in bright pink icing with the words “Happy Birthday, Flower Girl and Diva!”
It’s a funny thing, nicknames. Despite me being a florist’s daughter and notoriously loving flowers, it’s Violet, not me, who’s called “Flower Girl” by this crowd, thanks to her floral name, while I’m stuck with a nickname that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I acquired the “Diva” nickname last year on tour, when Keane and Maddy visited everyone with their new baby, Billie. After my set, Fish and I and the Goats and several others were hanging out with Keane and Maddy—Kaddy, to our friend group—and, somehow, everyone started telling stories about my ridiculous niceness. “I thought it had to be an act, at first,” Savage from Fugitive Summer said. “I thought, for sure, at some point, her inner diva would finally show itself. But, nope. It turns out Alessandra really is the female version of Fish.”
Well, that was that. When Keane heard that comment, he immediately started calling me “Diva.” And once Keane Morgan christens you with a nickname, that’s your name, dude. You’re stuck with it. “Diva” caught on like wildfire with everyone on tour—other artists, crew, visiting friends—and, quickly, it became a nonnegotiable fact of my life.
Diva isn’t my only nickname, of course. My friends also call me Ally Cat and Bowling Ally. The latter of which led to them calling me “Gutter Ball” for a while. Which was a little weird. But whenever we all get together for parties, the minute anyone starts drinking, they always revert to calling me “Diva” more than anything else.