Authors: Marisa Logan
Chapter 6
In the afternoon, Jenny and Jeremy headed towards the showroom where the costume contest would be held. There were hundreds of participants, and the room was quite crowded. They mingled for a bit, which mostly consisted of Jenny gawking at some of the more elaborate costumes and giving shy compliments to the ones she found the most compelling. Though what shocked her the most was the amount of attention she was getting in her own costume.
“Love the outfit!” a girl in a purple wig said as she passed by.
“Thanks!” Jenny blushed, feeling a bit silly. The Crimson Star never blushed.
“Oh, Emm, Gee!” a teen girl said, staring at Jenny with her hands on her cheeks. “Anastasia Star! Oh, you're awesome. And I love the pendant. It looks so real!”
“Thanks. I was worried I didn't have the figure for this outfit.”
“Oh, you so totally do,” the girl said.
“You definitely do,” Jeremy added.
Jenny felt her face heating up again. She covered her embarrassment by posing with her nightsticks in an action stance, trying to stay in character. The girl snapped a picture, then hurried off to ogle one of the other cosplayers.
“God, I'm going to end up on that girl's Instagram page,” Jenny said, covering her face with her nightsticks.
“You should be,” Jeremy said. “You look totally awesome. Your costume must have cost a fortune.”
“I made it at home.” Jenny shrugged.
“Really? No way. I bought mine on eBay.”
“Really. One of the things about growing up homeschooled and poor is you learn a lot about sewing.” She adjusted the tight leather outfit where it rode up a bit. “Though I've never worked with leather before. It was a pain.”
“Totally worth it.” Jeremy smiled, taking her hand.
After the cosplayers had enough time to check out the competition, the event organizers started wrangling them into different groups. There were four categories up for judging: Solo Heroes, for the people who'd come by themselves, dressed as their favorite superhero; Dynamic Duos, for pairs in matching costumes, ranging from Hero and Sidekick combos to Romantic Pairings; Adventuring Parties, for groups of three or more, which included most of the X-Men and Avengers cosplayers; and Strange and Unusual, for people with more elaborate costumes, such as the giant Jabba the Hutt costume that was being operated by four people simultaneously.
The first stage of the judging involved a brief viewing before a table where five judges sat, taking notes. The cosplayers were marched in front of them, one group at a time, and asked a series of questions. When Jenny and Jeremy got to the judging table for Dynamic Duos, they were quickly grilled with the same default questions everyone was being asked.
“Real name and costume?”
“Jennifer Campbell. Anastasia Star. The Crimson Star.”
“Jeremy Pillar. The Wizard Wilhelm.”
“Convention ID?”
Jenny checked her badge and read off the number.
“Now,” the judge said, “show us your best pose.”
Jenny's face heated up. She looked at Jeremy, uncertain what to do. They hadn't practiced poses or anything. She hadn't realized that was a part of the contest.
Jeremy whispered to her, “Issue twelve, the cover.”
She nodded, picturing the comic book in her mind. Jeremy raised his staff overhead and brought it down in a striking motion. Jenny brought up her nightsticks, crossing them to absorb the blow, then dropped down to one knee, struggling to ward off the attack.
The judges nodded and took some notes, then the one in the middle said, “Thank you. Next?”
Jenny stood back up and moved along, unable to tell if the judges had been remotely impressed. She felt like a total dork. But at the same time, she knew she was among her dorky brethren. The next pair in line behind them mimicked one of the dancing scenes from the musical episode of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
. If they could get up there and dance, Jenny decided she had no reason to be embarrassed about showing off her action poses.
Besides, she was having fun.
It took quite a while for the judges to go through all of the contestants, but they kept the lines moving at a steady pace. When it was done, there was an announcement that there'd be a short break, then the finalists would be revealed. Jenny and Jeremy headed to the refreshment table during the break, and Jenny got a bottle of Coke.
“I'm so nervous,” she said.
“Don't be.” Jeremy squeezed her hand and smiled at her. “I'm having a great time. It doesn't matter if we win.”
Jenny looked over her shoulder at the crowd of people. “Yeah, but there's just so many people here. I doubt we have a chance.”
“We'll see.”
Before too long, one of the judges stepped up on the stage at the far end of the room. She adjusted the microphone, then started reading off the lists of the finalists in each category. As each name was called, the cosplayers headed up to the stage, forming four groups.
Jenny clung to Jeremy's arm. He patted her hand. “Don't be so nervous,” he said. “Even if we don't—”
“...and for the Dynamic Duo competition, our first finalists are Jenny and Jeremy, with their fabulous Crimson Star and Wizard Wilhelm costumes!”
There was a round of polite applause. Jenny squealed, then remembered that she had to stay in character. She marched up to the stage, holding one of her nightsticks triumphantly overhead. The applause got a bit louder as she marched up onto the stage, where she ended up standing beside a Batman and Robin pair, and a gender-swapped Agatha Heterodyne and Gilgamesh Wulfenbach couple. She grinned at the other contestants and gave them encouraging waves, glad to be a part of the group. A handful of other pairings joined them as their names were called out, until they had a nice little crowd on the stage.
The contestants were introduced one by one, some getting huge applause while others got only polite clapping. Jenny clung to Jeremy's arm, her stomach twisted in knots. When it finally came time to announce the winners for the Dynamic Duo contest, she closed her eyes, afraid to even listen to the results.
“And our first place winners,” the judge said, reading from a card into the microphone, “who will each receive a $500 cash prize and an upgrade to VIP status for the rest of the convention...Agatha Heterodyne and Gilgamesh Wulfenbach!”
Jenny clapped along with the rest, disappointed but still happy for the couple who'd won. She had to admit that their costumes were amazing. The man playing the gender-swapped Agatha even had a couple of little metal robots, just like the character from the comic.
She stopped listening to the rest of the announcements, and ended up being surprised when she and Jeremy took third place. She squealed and leapt into Jeremy's arms, giving him a giant hug. They headed up to the microphone, waving to the crowd, and accepted their prizes, a pair of $50 gift cards to an online comic shop and a couple of t-shirts with the comic convention's logo on them.
“Gosh, I can't believe it!” Jenny said, holding the t-shirt in her hands and looking it over. “I've never won anything in my life. Third place is good, right?”
“Out of more than a hundred people? Of course it is.” Jeremy patted his wizard robes, looking for a place to put his gift card, but it turned out his costume had no pockets.
“We can drop this stuff off at your room,” Jenny said, grinning.
“Sounds good. I guess I should have worn pants under this.” He lifted the hem of his robe up to his calves, revealing a pair of black shoes and knee-high white socks.
Jenny laughed. “Well, blue jeans aren't exactly in character for a wizard.”
“Harry Potter wore jeans under his robes.”
“True.” Jenny nodded in agreement. “But he was raised by muggles.”
They headed up to Jeremy's room. Jenny tucked her prizes into her backpack, then pulled off her red wig and sunglasses. “I'm starting to get sweaty under this thing.”
“I know what you mean.” Jeremy pulled off his wig and ran his hand through his buzz cut hair.
“Ahh!” Jenny squealed. “You've got a fuzzy cut!”
She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, just like she had to her little brother when he'd started getting a buzz cut last year. It was soft and felt tingly against her fingers.
Jeremy laughed and tried to duck away. “Geez, stop!”
“Aww, what, you don't like that?” She rubbed his head again. “Come on, you're good luck!”
He tried to duck away, laughing, but she got him pinned against the dresser. She poked him under his robes, and found out he was extremely ticklish. “Oh, this is great!” She tickled him more, until he started doubling over laughing. “My siblings are never ticklish. Now I can see why they love tickling me so much. It's a power trip!”
After a minute he held up a hand to ward her off. He was wheezing. Jenny backed away, clutching her hands to her chest. “Oh, crap. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill you.”
Jeremy pulled an inhaler from his suitcase and took a couple of puffs. He sat on the bed, catching his breath. “It's okay,” he said once he regained his composure. “Not your fault. Stupid lungs.”
“I'm sorry,” she said again. She sat next to him and hugged him. He leaned against her. They were quiet for a long moment, until Jenny started to wonder if she should pull away. Jeremy held himself very still, almost as if he were afraid to move.
She sat back and reached up to pull the bobby pins from her hair. She shook her hair out, letting her natural brunette tresses fall over her shoulders and down her back. Jeremy watched her the entire time.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He looked away.
“It's something. What, is my hair a mess?” She looked into the mirror that hung over the dressed, running her fingers through her hair.
“No. Really no.”
“Then what?”
He looked at her again, struggling to meet her eyes. “It's just that you're really pretty.”
She dropped her hands into her lap, studying him. “Dork.” She lightly punched him on the arm.
He smiled, looking down at his feet. “I'm serious.”
She laughed and shook her head. “No. I'm a mess. I don't have any makeup on or anything, and my hair is a disaster.”
“Well, I think you're beautiful.”
He looked up at her, catching her eyes. There was something sweet and shy in the way he looked at her. She wrung her hands in her lap, unsure what to say. But a smile spread on her lips.
He looked at her lips. She wondered what he was thinking. She wondered if maybe he wanted to kiss her. She was pretty sure she wanted him to.
After a moment, he turned away. Jenny sat there, confused. Had she been misreading his signals? Or was he just too shy to make a move?
She scooted closer to him and reached out to take his hands in hers. He looked back up at her again. She gave him an encouraging smile.
Is this how to flirt?
she wondered.
Or should I just make the first move?
After a moment, when neither one of them did anything, she scooted even closer, leaning her head against his shoulder. He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes, savoring his gentle touch. He touched her like she was something delicate, something to be cherished. She pressed herself closer against him. No one had ever touched her like that before.
When she opened her eyes, she saw his face was closer to hers. She licked her lips. She leaned forward, tilting her face towards his.
He pulled her into his arms, and he kissed her.
Chapter 7
They spent almost an hour sitting there on the bed, awkwardly making out. At first, Jenny had no idea what to do. She'd never been kissed before. She didn't know how to move her lips, so the first time, she just let him kiss her, holding very still. Before long they found a rhythm with each other, her lower lip pulled gently between his lips, his tongue brushing every so slightly against her lip. Her body was trembling, and she kept pulling back away from him, giggling.
“Sorry,” she whispered, feeling like a fool for acting so silly.
“It's okay.”
She kissed him again, trying to be sexy, to be desirable. She wasn't sure what to do with her hands. She laid them against his chest, then held onto his shoulders. He pulled her close and she shifted to slip one leg behind him, the other sprawled across his lap.
They stared into each other's eyes. She'd hoped for something like this from the time they first made plans to come to the convention together. But she hadn't thought he would really like her.
She was torn between embarrassment and desire. The urge to explore this new discovery further, and the fear that this was too much, too fast.
She got up, shaking her hands to expel the pent up energy she was feeling. “Maybe we should go back downstairs,” she said. “For now, I mean. I'm kinda hungry.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”
They left the wigs and props behind, though Jenny kept her tight leather outfit on. She was afraid to go back to her old, boring self. What if Jeremy only wanted her when she was Anastasia Star? What if plain old Jenny Campbell wasn't good enough for him? She didn't want to turn him off with her chaste skirts and sensible blouses.
Jeremy went into the bathroom to change into jeans and his new convention t-shirt. She thought he looked adorable in his normal clothes, like a big cuddly teddy bear. She felt a bit overdressed, but she was too in love with the seductive look of the Crimson Star to give it up just yet.
They headed back down to the convention and had dinner in one of the buffet-style dining rooms. Then they made the circuits of the author tables, where comic authors sold their wares and offered autographs. Jenny got some pictures with a few webcomic artists she adored, and some of them gave her free sketches. Her only regret was that she didn't have enough money to buy any books. She had to save what she had left for bus fare back home, and she didn't want to let Jeremy spend any more money on her.
They walked hand-in-hand through the different rooms of the convention. Jenny wondered if this was what it felt like to be a “couple.” Except she knew they weren't really a couple. Sooner or later, she'd have to catch a bus back home, and Jeremy would go back to Philadelphia. But she wouldn't let herself think about that. Not yet.
Later in the night, they sat together at a panel where several well-known comic authors and celebrities were talking about the evolution of the comic industry into a mainstream genre that was accepted by the general public. Several guest speakers shared stories about how, as kids, they'd been teased for liking comic books. How their parents told them to read “real books.” But today, with Marvel and DC making hit blockbuster movies every year, the pastime that many people had once enjoyed in shame was becoming more widely accepted around the world.
“I wish it were accepted in my house,” Jenny whispered to Jeremy. They sat close together, holding hands.
“Your mom really doesn't like comics?”
“She doesn't like anything that isn't Christian.” Jenny sighed and shook her head. “I wasn't even allowed to read Harry Potter.”
“What? Why?”
“Because they're witches.” Jenny rolled her eyes. “And to a fundamentalist Christian like my mom, that means they get their powers from the devil.”
“That's ridiculous.”
“Tell me about it. I had to sneak off to the library and read the books there.”
“Well, I hope one day you get out of there.”
Jenny leaned her head against Jeremy's shoulder. “Me too,” she whispered. Though she didn't think it would ever happen. Her mom wouldn't even let her get a job, and without a job, she couldn't save up the money she needed to get out on her own.
After the panel ended, they headed back out to the lobby, still holding hands. “I might have to go soon,” Jenny said.
“Already?”
The disappointment on his face nearly broke Jenny's heart. “I've got to catch a bus back home before it gets too late.”
“I was hoping you'd stay for the rest of the convention.” He hung his head, holding tight onto her hand, as if afraid to let her go. “The best stuff is tomorrow. There's going to be a screening of this new indie comic movie. And a couple of big time comic artists are going to be doing signings, but only for the one day.”
Jenny pouted. She wanted to stay, too. And not just for the convention. “I can't. I don't have any money for a room. Besides, they're all booked up.”
She knew as she said those words that he would make the offer. She wanted him to say it. She was just too shy to ask him directly.
“Well...” He cleared his throat, looking down at his shoes. “You could always stay in my room.”
Jenny's face heated up. She almost wasn't sure if she should say yes, even though she'd practically tricked him into making the offer. Her mind raced, thinking about all the possibilities. She thought about what her mom would say if she spent the night in a hotel room with a man she barely knew. About what her friends and family would think of her, if she went through with what she wanted to do. And she thought about how she hadn't thought to bring any condoms and didn't know where she could find any.
“You sure I won't be in the way?” Jenny asked. She smiled and bit her lower lip.
“Definitely not.”
She kissed him, more deeply and aggressively than she had earlier. She wanted to make sure he got the message.
“Good,” she whispered. “I'll meet you upstairs. I just need to grab something first.”
“Okay.” He looked a bit confused, but he headed for the elevator without questioning what she was up to.
There was a small shop just off the lobby, selling toothbrushes, aspirin, and a variety of other goods that travelers might need while on the road. She went inside and looked around, though she didn't spot what she was looking for. She ended up having to ask the cashier. She leaned across the counter and whispered her request to the woman, embarrassed to tell another person out loud what she was here to buy. The cashier gave her a conspiratorial smile and opened up a case behind the counter where they kept the “adult” products. Jenny bought a three-pack of condoms, using the rest of the money Hank had given her, and trying her best not to think what her mother would say if she saw her with them.
Jenny no longer believed in God. But if there was a God, she knew, then He most
definitely
had a sick sense of humor. Because while she was crossing the lobby, condoms in hand, her new ruby pendant sparkling in her very noticeable cleavage, she heard a grating voice call out, “Jennifer!”
She turned to look, and there, stalking through the front doors of the hotel, was her mother.