Page 87 of My Cosplay Escape
Sabine Kennedy: Meet in real life.
My phone radiates energy. I can feel Adam on the other end catch his breath. I can feel him trying to think up the right reply.
I throw him a bone.
Sabine Kennedy: Where will you be tomorrow?
Adam: SDSU.
I have to shake out my hands and vent some nervous giggles before I type the next text. Holy wow, Nightbat. I’m really doing this.
Sabine Kennedy: Let’s grab coffee.
* * *
Four miles of interval sprints this a.m., and I can barely stand for my shift at the gym. Not a big deal since my clientele usually insists I join them on the floor. But yes, it took sprinting for my life for half of every minute for four miles to achieve my current state of calm.
“So you’re going to do it?” Gwen asks. I texted her on my break about my rendezvous with Adam later today, and now she’s at the coloring table with me. Her perfectly-sculpted eyebrows are arched as she awaits my answer.
“I am. No more lies. No more excuses. I’m going to tell him it was me all along.” I’ve hurt Adam. I’ve taken the nicest guy in the world, run him through my grinder of crazy, and dropped him cold. Adam doesn’t deserve that kind of torture. He deserves the truth.
“And are you going to tell him anything else? Talk about your feelings, maybe? How you ‘greatly esteem’ him?”
“K. WatchingSense and Sensibilitywith you was a mistake.”
“Would you pass me the green?” Gwen asks.
I take a deep breath. “Don’t you think he’ll piece it together on his own?” I hand over the green crayon.
Gwen rolls her eyes as she adds swirls of green leaves to her still life. It’s not a bad picture, but it’s not making my art board. The competition these days is way too fierce.
“Hey, what happened with you and Mike that night you filled in for me?” I ask.
“Mike?”
“Badpun?” I whisper. We may have a comic corner in the Kids Club, but I’m not about to introduce any of these kids to a psychotic clown.
A wistful smile appears on Gwen’s face. “Oh, yeah. We shared a kiss or two after the escape room thingy. I invited him out for a drink, but he’s a teetotaler. Nothing happened.”
“Is he going to come sniffing back?”
“I doubt it. There wasn’t much chemistry. It was more about the costumes, really. Ever notice how sexy those make you feel?” I shoot her a playful stink eye. “Oh, right. Sorry.”
I bend down to retrieve a fallen dinosaur. “Who dropped a stegosaurus?” I ask my remaining kiddos, but I know whose it is.
Laura runs over, pigtails bobbing. “Can we make a picture for Steggy?”
“Sure,” I say. “What do you think Steggy would like a picture of?”
Laura considers. “A birthday party!”
“Again?” The number of times I draw Steggy eating cake has gotten out of control.
“He wants to wear a tutu and tiara this time!”
“Okay, but you color it. Deal?” I grab a new sheet of paper and reach for a pencil.
Gwen’s giving me a look.
