Cosplayed: A Sweet Lesbian Romance Page 12

  Again with the funny look on her face. I didn’t figure funny looks were a good sign. I searched her eyes for some sign that she was about to tell me what was wrong, but instead she got this weird look and locked eyes with me. Her tone wasn’t exactly friendly, but at the same time it wasn’t exactly angry either.

  “Could we just dance and have a good time? I don’t want to talk about anything else right now,” she said.

  I shrugged. Something was bothering her, but I wasn’t going to dig too much. Dancing sounded good. So I moved in closer. As close as I dared when the two of us were in armor that could potentially catastrophically fail on the dance floor if we got too up close and personal. Some of the guys around us staring and hoping for just that would probably enjoy it, but I wasn’t in the mood to put on that kind of show.

  I put my hands out on her waist again. She moved hers down to mine and we did a sort of awkward sway where we twirled around one another. Maybe it was awkward, but it also felt pretty damn good. Again, I was so starving for any sort of attention along these lines that any contact from a pretty girl was going to drive me nuts.

  We settled into a groove and almost I thought things were going to settle down. That things would finally start to go okay for a change. The only problem? It seemed like fate or whatever cruel power controlled my corner of the world at the moment was in the mood to throw me for a loop.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  Damn. A shiver ran down my spine. There was a time when that shiver would’ve been because of how turned on I was at hearing that voice, but no more. These days the shiver was because that voice had become like nails grating across a chalk board in so many ways.

  Hailey’s eyes went wide. Any hope that she didn’t recognize the voice was dashed in that moment. Damn. Why did Natalie have to show up to the ball to cause trouble?

  Because she had every right to show up at the ball. That’s why. She was an attendee at the convention. I might’ve kicked her out of the group, but I couldn’t very well kick her out of the convention. I didn’t have that kind of power. I also should’ve known she would come to the masquerade. It was a big event for people in costume and she never missed it.

  Why would this year be any different? Why would she stay away just because that was more convenient for me? Damn.

  “What is she doing here?” Hailey hissed.

  “What am I doing here? I’m trying my best to enjoy my convention after my girlfriend broke up with me. Broke up with me to go off with a new piece on the side, it seems!”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. There it was. Natalie was already replacing what had really happened with her own version of events. A version of events where she wasn’t the bad guy. I wanted to scream and launch myself at her. Clawing her eyes out seemed like the least she deserved after everything she’d done, but then of course I’d be the one getting escorted out of the convention and probably thrown in jail for the night.

  I didn’t want to think about what might happen to me in a jail overnight when I was in nothing but this costume. It didn’t bear thinking of. I figured I could turn some of the rage bubbling inside me on her though.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing Natalie?” I shrieked.

  People around us were starting to notice something was going down. I knew I should stop shrieking at Natalie, for that matter, but I couldn’t help myself. It was like all the anger I’d felt the night before was coming back to the surface. I guess I wasn’t as over it as I thought I was. Also, from the way she was taking a deep breath, it seemed that Natalie was ready to pick up where we’d left off the night before as well.

  Damn. I really didn’t want something like this to happen. I really didn’t need it to happen right in front of Hailey, for that matter, though I guess it couldn’t be helped. I was too mad. Too far gone. This was going down.

  “What the hell am I doing? What the hell are you doing Zoey?” she shouted. “Yesterday you were doing your whole crazy jealous thing accusing me of going after other girls and now today I find you on the dance floor in the arms of another girl? That’s rich coming from you.”

  I couldn’t believe it. I mean I could believe it based on past performance, but at the same time I couldn’t believe she would actually have the audacity to try and turn this around on me again. After I’d so thoroughly schooled her when we had this conversation yesterday. She really did live in a crazy world that was all her own. A crazy world that made me crazy angry.

  I knew I shouldn’t engage. It was the same as getting in an argument online. It was best not to engage. Only just like getting in an argument when there were people who were wrong on the Internet I couldn’t help myself even as I knew better.

  Besides, people were starting to stare with disapproval. At me, and not her. I felt like my honor was being besmirched here. She was accusing me of cheating on her, she was turning this around on me, and it made me furious to think that someone might believe her even for a moment. Even if we were surrounded by a bunch of strangers. These were strangers at the con. The con was like my family and my home away from home.

  So even if they were strangers I couldn’t stand the idea that they might think I was capable of something like that. Especially when she was trying to turn it around on me.

  The bitch.

  “You were the one who was cheating on me! With her!”

  I pointed to Hailey. Only when I pointed to her I realized I was pointing to empty space. Well, not quite empty space. There were people there dancing, but they weren’t Hailey. She’d disappeared. I turned towards the door and saw her making her way through the crowd.

  Damn. Though I couldn’t blame her. I’d done it again. I completely lost control of my temper. Why wouldn’t she run when I was acting like this? I turned to Natalie and glared.

  “Stay out of my life, bitch,” I said. “You spent long enough screwing me over when we were together. I don’t need you screwing me over now that we’re broken up.”

  “I thought the problem was that I was screwing everyone but you over?” she asked with a smile that was almost too sweet. Like she knew what she was doing the entire time. She’d probably launched into the whole fight just to piss me off and scare Hailey off. That would be just like her. If she couldn’t have something then why should anyone else have it?

  I glowered at her one final time and turned to plunge through the crowd. They’d already moved in around Hailey and I couldn’t see her, but I knew she had to be somewhere between me and the exit. I just hoped I could get to the exit in time to stop her from running off. I really needed to talk to her and make this better.

  Even if I had no clue how I was going to do that.

  15: More Apologies

  Hailey:

  I reached up and brushed away some moisture threatening at the edge of my eyes. I was not going to break down into tears here of all places. Not in front of all these people who were here to have a good time. I wasn’t going to be the girl who was a buzz kill.

  Then again I was going to call even more attention to myself if I waited until I got out into the hall to burst into tears. There wasn’t music and a press of people all around me to keep people from seeing me burst into tears out there.

  Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. The only thing I knew for certain was I needed to get away from Zoey and Natalie and their crazy relationship dynamic that kept sucking me in.

  Why did the two of them have to keep fighting like that? Zoey seemed like a perfectly normal and insanely hot girl until she saw her ex. Then it was like there was a switch being flipped and she turned into a crazy woman who I hardly recognized.

  A crazy woman I didn’t want to be around.

  “Hey baby, I was wondering if…”

  I didn’t bother to wait around to find out what the guy was wondering. He was in a costume that looked like it was maybe supposed to be armor of some sort, but it was made out of cardboard and whatever it was it wasn’t very impressive since I couldn’t
tell who he was supposed to be. I shouldered him out of the way and he went sprawling back into the crowd.

  I wasn’t in the mood to deal with any bullshit right now, whether that bullshit was from Zoey and Natalie or from creepers who thought they had a chance with me because I was a girl at a convention.

  Anyone who thought like that had another thing coming.

  “Hey! What’s your problem lady?” the guy shouted after me, loud enough to be heard over the music. I didn’t stop to tell him what my problem was. It’s not like he cared. And I needed to get the hell out of this place.

  This convention had gone from being a good time to being hell. All thanks to Natalie and Zoey and their constant arguing.

  I was an idiot for ever thinking I could have anything to do with her. It was obvious the girl had issues. She came on a little too strong, for one. Like she was trying her best to impress me instead of just being herself. It reminded me of Natalie, and reminding me of Natalie was the last thing she should be doing.

  And that brought me to issue numero uno. Natalie really was a problem. A huge problem. One that I didn’t think I could overcome. Having an ex-girlfriend hanging around was infuriating under the best of circumstances. Having an ex-girlfriend hanging around who’d also tried to seduce me and sent Zoey flying into a rage?

  No thanks. I needed to steer well clear of that. Even if there was a voice in the back of my head whispering that I was making a mistake. That I needed to give her another chance. That this was all a big mistake.

  I didn’t want to get caught up in that. I didn’t want to get caught between them. I wasn’t going to be stupid enough to put myself in that position again even if there was a part of me that very much wanted to.

  I should’ve invited Jake. He would’ve said something that made me feel better even if he would’ve also annoyed me by staring at my cleavage or something. It would be nice to have a friend right about now. Even if that friend could be a huge perv.

  “I have the power m’lady!”

  I had to pull up to a halt. The guy standing in front of me was so big that the line “that’s no moon…” ran through my mind. And he actually had a fedora on that he tipped at me. I stared open-mouthed. I didn’t think that was a thing that actually happened out in the real world. I figured that had to be an Internet stereotype.

  Of course if there was ever a place where the geekier elements of the Internet were made flesh it was at a convention where people tended to be freer about letting their geek flag fly.

  “What do you want?” I growled.

  The guy didn’t pick up on the warning tone. He didn’t strike me as the kind of guy to pick up on social cues anyways. His smile only grew wider.

  “I was hoping this humble gentlesir might have the pleasure of escorting m’lady this evening. You seem a damsel in distress, and I’d like to make it all better for you.”

  I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe this. I was actually being white knighted. The asshole didn’t even know who or what was bothering me and he was trying to move in. I crossed my arms and let loose some of the frustration I’d been feeling all night. Was it fair to let it loose on this guy? Maybe not, but he was there and I was pissed off so here we were.

  “So would you be interested in hanging out with me if I told you I wasn’t in the least bit interested in ever having sex with you?” I asked. I figured a bit of candor might be enough to scare him off.

  The guy blinked and seemed taken aback, but he was good. He didn’t miss a beat. His smile widened and he spread his arms. “If you’re happy then I’m happy!”

  “I’m serious. I’m never going to fuck you. It’s not happening. I’m into girls,” I said.

  The smile faltered and then a frown spread. He positively glowered at me after a moment. Oh yeah, the white knight was showing his true colors. I’d run into a few at conventions over the years and it was never a pleasant experience. Better to burst their bubble at the beginning rather than dealing with their crap and becoming the subject of a forum post later where they complained about being strung along.

  “Well fine. If you’re going to be a bitch then be a bitch,” he said. “You have no idea what you’re missing out on!”

  I rolled my eyes again and moved around him. I was careful to keep my distance. So far the guy hadn’t made any moves, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. I didn’t want to be within arm’s length if he did decide to make that move.

  Once I was on the other side I breathed a sigh of relief. I was within sight of the exit and I dashed for the thing, nearly knocking over a girl who was walking in. She shot me a dirty look, but I didn’t care. I was beyond caring about anything. All I wanted was to walk faster and get out of here.

  I stepped into the hall and took a deep breath. Somehow it was comforting being surrounded by neutral tan colors on all sides. It felt good to breathe in the antiseptic smell of a hotel corridor that was cleaned on the regular rather than the mix of sweaty bodies belonging to people who may or may not believe in deodorant if the smell was anything to go by.

  “Hailey!”

  Well then. I guess my relief at being out of that room was to be short lived. Why was she following me? Why did Zoey have to continue tempting me? It was like she knew what she did to me with a few words and did her best to drive me insane. I wanted to scream. I knew I should run, but what I really wanted was to stay rooted to the spot and see what she had to say.

  Damn it. I really was doing this again. I turned around and braced myself for whatever she was going to say to try and get me to stick around. Even as I knew it wasn’t going to take much.

  I was looking for an excuse the moment I turned around to give her another chance. I was thinking with the old brain between the legs and there was nothing going to stop that from hearing her out.

  “What do you…”

  I was on the verge of giving her a piece of my mind. I figured I could at least do that even if I was going to hear her out in the end. But then she opened her mouth and spoke over me. Didn’t give me a chance to get anything out.

  “I’m so sorry about that,” Zoey said, and then the words rushed over themselves as they spilled out. “That whole situation was so fucked up and Natalie made me so mad, but she made me mad because I was worried she’d screw things up with you and then it turns out I’m the one screwing things up by acting like a complete bitch and scaring you away.”

  Okay then. I guess she was more in tune with the situation than I thought. I figured I’d get some begging or something, but I had to admit that her coming out and admitting to everything was refreshing. She kept right on too.

  “I can’t control Natalie,” Zoey said. “What she does is her business and all I can do is tell her to fuck off. What I can control is how things go with you, and I don’t want this to come between us. The yelling person you saw back there on the dance floor isn’t who I am.”

  “I…”

  “I’m going through a difficult time right now,” Zoey said. “Maybe it’s not the best time to try finding something new, but there’s something about you and I can’t stop myself. I know I don’t deserve it, but I really hope you can give me another chance.”

  I stared at her long and hard. I knew what I should’ve said. I should have told her there wasn’t a chance. That I was done with all the craziness that came along with getting involved in her love life.

  I didn’t say any of those things. How could I? She was so beautiful. She was so sincere. I knew I was still thinking with the wrong brain, but I couldn’t help myself. I was powerless in the face of her apology despite knowing it was wrong.

  I smiled. “I guess I could maybe give you another chance. Let’s just try to keep Natalie away the next time we hang out. Deal?”

  Zoey grinned as well. “Deal. Even if you didn’t give me another chance, I know the girls would beat me if I didn’t ask you to join the group.”

  I frowned at that. Again we were getting to territory that was a little too close to w
hat Natalie said to me for comfort. I knew she probably didn’t mean it like that though. She wasn’t the same as Natalie. So far she’d been nothing but nice to me, even if she had flown into a rage when talking to her ex.

  “What’s your number?” I asked on impulse.

  We exchanged numbers. Actually she gave me hers and then I sent her a text with my name so she’d have mine. After that she gave me an uncertain smile and opened her mouth to say something, but I held up my hand.

  “With the way everything’s been going I’m thinking it might be a good idea if we leave it at this,” I said.

  I hoped she’d take that the right way. After all, I basically just told her she needed to get lost. But the smile stayed on her face and she nodded.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Knowing my luck…”

  She glanced over her shoulder. I was pretty sure I knew exactly what she was worried about. That Natalie would appear from out of the dance hall and try her best to ruin our night. Again. I didn’t want that any more than she did.

  “Yeah, best not to tempt fate when it’s walking around out there looking for trouble,” I said. “See you around?”

  “Yeah, see you around,” Zoey said. She turned and disappeared into the pulsing darkness of the dance floor. I stared after her for a moment and talked myself out of the temptation of walking after her and finishing what we’d started on the dance floor.

  It was tempting, but not worth the trouble. I forced myself to turn around and walk in the opposite direction. The thumping got quieter and quieter until I couldn’t even feel it rattling my insides.

  I found something else to rattle my insides as I made my way down the convention corridor though. I looked up and saw a familiar face coming towards me. Jake. And he didn’t look happy. He stopped in front of me and looked me up and down with obvious displeasure and my cheeks burned with shame.

  I didn’t think he’d be coming out here tonight. I didn’t think I’d run into him. Now he knew I’d been lying when I told him I wasn’t going out.