Page 68 of My Cosplay Escape
“Sorry, I spent all my cash on gummy bears.”
I catch his eye and smile. He smiles back but does a double take when I don’t look away.
I clear my throat. “Hey,” I say gently.
“Hey.” He’s smiling. Now that the traffic is moving again, it’s as if there’s nothing but horizontal straight comic book hites outside our windows, blurring reality and intensifying the focus of our shared gaze. It’s one of those gorgeous single-panel moments tucked into a bottom corner before the punch line on the opposite page.
“So… I’m applying for an internship, and this particular company is old-school. They double-space after periods.” I crack and burst into laughter before I can finish.
“No!” Adam sounds amused but also a little disappointed.
My bro voice comes back. “Should I double-space after periods?’
“That actually happened?” Adam asks.
I chuckle. “Word for word.”
We pull up in front of an enormous hotel.
“I think you’re missing something,” Adam says. He unbuckles and pops the trunk.
“What?” I say, unbuckling.
Adam blushes and then shrugs. “Have you tried studying someplace else on campus?”
“Like the library?” I roll my eyes. “People are after my pens and gummy bear dollars there too.”
Adam is howling. He’s out of the car and doubled up with laughter.
“What? It’s not funny.” I slam my car door shut.
“No.” Adam laughs again. “It’s very annoying.” His lip trembles. He’s struggling to maintain a frown. “The role-playing made that part very clear.” Adam hands me one of his escape boxes.
“Right? Social and emotional learning can be fun.”
Adam grabs another couple of boxes and slams his trunk shut. He hands his keys to the valet, and we weave our way through the hotel lobby.
“Why aren’t we at the convention center?” I ask.
“Leto Con is a smaller convention. A lot more locals. Hence the Sheraton.”
We show our vendor badges at the ballroom, and while we thread our way through the labyrinth of half-assembled stalls, Adam asks me if we can stop a minute by the drinking fountains. He returns with a bag of gummy bears.
* * *
We find our station. It isn’t in the prime location that Adam had at Comic-Con outside the Halifax Sisters tent. But maybe this quiet back corner is strategic.
“Have you been to a convention before?” Adam asks me as we prime his escape boxes. The idea is the same as before, but the theme has been changed, of course, for the Letovians.
The lie is already forming on my lips. I’m about to deny all my comic nerdiness. “Just once.”
“Really?” Adam’s mouth tugs upward in amusement.
“I went to Comic-Con this year.”
“And?” I swear he’s holding his breath.
“It was like going to the zoo.” I mean it as a compliment. The San Diego Zoo is one of my happy places. Dad would take me when I was little, and then we’d ride the train around Balboa Park and hit up the carousel.
