Cosplayed: A Sweet Lesbian Romance Read online

  All good things must come to an end though. Eventually the lights started flashing. I looked up and was surprised to see that the place had mostly cleared out. A bored looking person in a T-shirt with the bar logo on it stood at the entrance to the room not looking at us with such intensity that it was obvious she was avoiding us.

  I looked at Hailey as she blushed and looked over to the girl.

  “Guess we got a little carried away there,” she said.

  “So much for date night,” I said. “We should’ve stuck with the making out back at your place.”

  I let that hang in the air between us for a moment, wondering if she would take the bait. If she wanted to invite me back to her place then I’d be very interested in joining her, but instead she leaned forward and pecked me on the lips.

  “I know what you’re doing there, and I don’t think that’s a good idea tonight,” she said. “I did have a lot of fun with you though. We really need to do this again sometime.”

  “Yeah, we do,” I said, and then a genius idea hit me. “Y’know we’re having a costume build day over at Cassie’s place on Sunday. What would you think about joining us?”

  “A build day?” Hailey asked.

  “Yeah, we fire up the old vacuum forming machine and make costume parts. Usually we do replacements, but if we have a new member or something then we work on a new one. Stuff like that.”

  Hailey thought about it for a moment. I held my breath and waited, wondering if she was going to turn me down even after everything seemed to be going so damn well tonight. I suppose there’s always that worry that things aren’t going nearly as well on a date as you think they are.

  Then she grinned and I forgot all about my worries. Tension released from my shoulders and I let out a small relieved breath that wasn’t quite a sigh.

  “That sounds like a good time,” she said. “And I’d like to meet the other girls.”

  She frowned as though something had just occurred to her. “Natalie’s not going to be there, right? You were serious when you said she was kicked out of the group?”

  “Trust me, she’s definitely not going to be there,” I said. “If she does show up then we’re going to call the cops, because she’s definitely not welcome. That’s assuming the cops can get there before Cassie has a chance to get at her.”

  The girl near the front of the room cleared her throat. I gave her an irritated glare. We were paying customers here, and if we wanted to sit and chat for a minute setting up our next date then she could stand there and wait damn it.

  “I guess if you’re sure she’s not going to be around then I’ll go,” Hailey said. “Sounds like a good time! Now we probably ought to get going before that girl over there drags us out.”

  Hailey leaned in and kissed me one more time, though this time the kiss was more than a simple peck on the cheek. I found myself getting lost once more in the sublime experience that was making out with Hailey, and the only thing that pulled me out of that experience was another throat clear from the girl at the front.

  Reluctantly I pulled away. I could’ve stayed here all night long, but it didn’t look like the good people who ran this place would be too happy about that.

  “We should probably get out of here before they get really annoyed with us,” I said.

  “Good idea,” Hailey said.

  “Can I walk you back to your place?”

  Hailey wagged a finger at me. Damn. I guess I was way more transparent than I thought. Still, you couldn’t blame a girl for trying.

  “I want that more than anything,” Hailey said. I felt hope rising and then it was dashed. “And wanting it more than anything is probably a good reason why you shouldn’t walk me home.”

  “Damn,” I said.

  “Text me the info and I’ll see you on Sunday,” she said as she stood and walked towards the exit. I reluctantly got up and followed, though at least when I followed her I was treated to the glorious view that was her walking away from me in a pair of tight shorts. That was almost worth it.

  I stepped out of the bar and we kissed one final time before we parted ways. That lasted all of one minute before I realized the problem with us parting at the bar. My car was parked in front of her apartment building.

  Whoops.

  I rushed to catch up with her. It looked like I was going back to her place after all, but I’d behave myself. Things were going so great that I didn’t want to screw this up. I couldn’t get enough of this girl. She was everything I’d ever wanted from Natalie and so much more, and that was wonderful.

  No, I wasn’t doing anything to ruin that.

  21: Build Day

  Hailey:

  I pulled up to a house in a cul-de-sac in the suburbs that was a world removed from everything I’d known since going off to college. The place reminded me of my own house where I grew up, though everything here was bigger and nicer than anything I knew growing up.

  In short it was pretty obvious that I was in the swankier part of the suburbs. The sort of place where the soccer moms drove around in the expensive minivan. The kind that cost as much as an expensive sports car.

  Yeah, those really existed.

  “Okay Hailey,” I muttered to myself. “You can do this. It’s not a big deal.”

  I felt out of place here. My car was an old beater. It was reliable, but it wasn’t exactly the nicest old junker. I didn’t fit in with all the expensive wheels I saw in the driveways. Heck, I felt weird about parking in the street.

  I put the car into park and double checked the address on my phone. Yeah, I was in the right place. Both doors on the three car garage were open, and there was a table of some sort behind the smaller garage opening where a car should be. I didn’t see anyone out there.

  Well there was nothing for it but to go up there and introduce myself. I wondered if Zoey was here yet. I wasn’t sure what these girls would think of me. I’d only seen them from a distance at the convention, after all, and they had to know I was the reason there was a big blow up and there was no more Natalie coming to these things.

  Talk about an awkward introduction to the group.

  I stepped out of the car and paused for a moment to take everything in. There was the slightest hint of a chill in the air. It wasn’t quite fall yet, but the weather was getting there. I could hear kids shouting in the distance playing somewhere in the neighborhood, but this cul-de-sac was deserted.

  I walked up to the garage and took a look at the odd table. The thing was big, and it didn’t look like the kind of table that could be easily moved. Whoever put this thing here didn’t have any plans on parking a car in this part of the garage. That was for sure.

  “What the…” I muttered as I looked at what was on the table. It looked like wood carvings in the shape of bikini parts.

  Right. That was what they used to make the molds for the plastic pieces. As I looked at the table I could sort of get an idea of how it worked.

  “Hey!” someone shouted from behind me. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

  I jumped. I couldn’t help myself. I wasn’t expecting someone to sneak up behind me and shout at me. Then again I was the one who was walking into someone’s house without permission. Sort of without permission.

  I wheeled around and recognized one of the girls from the convention booth, though I didn’t know her name. As soon as she got a good look at me she smiled.

  “Oh, it’s you,” she said. “Sorry. Would’ve been nice if Zoey told us she invited you.”

  “Um, I’m sorry?” I said. “Inviting me was sort of a last minute thing. I think.”

  “No worries,” the girl said. She stepped down a couple of steps from the house into the garage and stuck her hand out. I took it and she gave mine a shake. “I’m Cassie. This is my place.”

  “I’m Hailey,” I said.

  “Oh yeah. I totally know who you are,” she said. “And I have to say I’m glad to see you here. Zoey deserves something good happening to her for a cha
nge.”

  I wasn’t sure how to react to that so I stood there looking all awkward and didn’t say anything. I hated that I didn’t say anything, but then again that’s pretty much what I did when things got good and awkward. Good old Hailey running from the awkward.

  “Sorry for yelling at you, by the way,” Cassie said. “Sometimes the neighbors come up and get nosy acting like it’s a violation of the HOA rules to have the vacuum machine running. Of course it isn’t, but that doesn’t stop some of them from trying to get all up in my business.”

  “That sounds pretty annoying,” I said. “I wouldn’t know. I live in an apartment so all I can do is pound on the walls when the neighbors get too loud.”

  “I remember those days,” Cassie said. She sighed and looked off in the distance as a smile spread across her face. “Man, to be back in an apartment with my friends hanging out. Those were the days.”

  “Um, sure,” I said.

  Something told me she was looking at the past through rose tinted glasses. I was living the reality of what she was remembering and it wasn’t all that fun living it. I couldn’t imagine looking back fondly, for that matter.

  “Enough about the old bats sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong though,” Cassie said. “I saw you were taking a look at the machine. You ever seen one of these before?”

  “I’ve seen videos of them online before, but I’ve never actually seen one in person,” I said, running a hand along the edge of the machine. It was a beautiful piece of work. I couldn’t stop thinking of the beautiful things I’d do with a prop table like this.

  “Awesome. The whole thing is pretty cool,” she said. “You take the wood carvings we have here and…”

  “Oh yeah, wood carvings because anything softer will cave in when you vacuum it,” I said. I walked over to the other side of the table where there was a frame that was attached to hinges. “I’m guessing this metal thing below this frame is the heating element, and you attach sheets of plastic to the frame then pull them over to the other side against the wood molds.”

  “Exactly,” Cassie said. “You really do know your stuff. We flip the vacuum on and it pulls the plastic down over the wood blocks and boom. We have plastic props that are ready to be cut out and painted once they cool down.”

  “Amazing,” I said. “I’ve always wanted to make something like this, but I live in the apartment so it was impossible. That’s why I worked with foam for my costume.”

  “Well we do know how to work,” Cassie said. “It also helps to have a three car garage and only two cars that I need to park.”

  I picked up one of the wood “molds” they were using. Basically a carved front piece for a bikini top. “This is so far beyond anything I could do with foam.”

  “Join us and you’ll have access to this thing whenever you want,” Cassie said. “Your costume was already pretty kickass though.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “But having something solid an plastic like this would be amazing. I spent half the convention worrying that the foam would break or something.”

  “You still get to worry about that with these plastic getups, but it’s not as bad. You should seriously think about joining. We’re pretty good about making sure people get their costume set up, and there is an opening,” Cassie said.

  And there we were. Back to the thing that had been bothering me ever since I decided to come out here. I knew how I felt about Natalie. I was pretty sure I knew how Zoey felt about her even if she did seem a little conflicted. The real question was: how did the rest of the group feel about her and were they pissed off that she was gone?

  I couldn’t tell from the way Cassie was looking at me, so I decided to go for apologetic. God I was such a spineless wimp sometimes, but it didn’t stop that kneejerk people pleasing reaction from shining through.

  “Yeah, about that. I’m so sorry about everything that happened. I swear I had no idea what she was really after when she invited me up to that hotel room,” I said.

  Cassie arched an eyebrow and let out a long and low whistle. “Which one invited you up to a hotel room?”

  I got the feeling that maybe Cassie didn’t know about that part of this whole drama. I really should’ve asked Zoey what she told her friends before I came out here to meet her friends, damn it. Too late now to backpedal though.

  “Natalie?”

  Cassie shook her head and the hint of a smile turned up the corners of her lips. “I knew all about everything. I just wanted to see if the version of events in your head was different than the version of events Zoey gave us. Guess not.”

  I’d been had. I wasn’t sure what to think about that. I was relieved at her next words.

  “You don’t need to worry about anyone being upset about Natalie not being here anymore either. The way I see it you did all of us one hell of a big favor by finally giving Zoey the courage to get rid of her. I don’t think you’ll find anyone in the group who’s sad to see Natalie go.”

  “That’s a relief,” I said. “I was convinced some of you were going to hate me or something.”

  “I mean we do hate you,” Cassie said.

  This was like a roller coaster of emotion. One moment I thought I was in the clear and the next moment she was pulling the rug out from under me with a totally serious delivery of a line like that. What was with this girl? The panic that had been ebbing away as I talked with Cassie came roaring back with a vengeance.

  “You hate me? Why?”

  “Because you did such a good job with those wings. I’m super jealous of anyone who can put something together like that. You’re totally staying in the group long enough to teach me how you did that,” she said.

  Just like that the panic was replaced with relief again. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.

  “Um, sure,” I muttered.

  “You need to stick around anyways. I’m pretty sure Zoey likes you. A lot,” Cassie said.

  I felt a thrill at that. Sure we’d had that intense makeout session a couple of nights ago and we’d been flirting back and forth via messages ever since then, but there was something about having an outside observer confirm everything I thought was going on that somehow made it more real. If someone else saw what was happening and thought things were going well then to my anxiety-riddled brain that was confirmation that it wasn’t just my mind playing tricks on me and telling me things were going well.

  “It’d be good for her to have something good in her life for a change. She’s been dealing with way too much crap.”

  The swing went right back to anxiety. Why was I such a freak about this sort of thing? But thinking about something good happening to Zoey for a change left me wondering if that something good happening to her was a rebound or if there was the potential for something more. Was I setting myself up for nothing but heartache and heartbreak because I was jumping headfirst into a rebound fling when I really wanted much more than that?

  Cassie seemed to pick up on something bothering me. I was doing the usual thing. Arms crossed under my chest. Looking away from the source of my anxiety which, in this case, was Cassie and all her talk about how happy I was going to make Zoey and the worry about whether I could live up to something like that. I wasn’t magic, after all.

  “Hey, you really don’t have to worry,” she said. “I promise Natalie isn’t going to be here. She isn’t going to be around ever again.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said, playing it off like that was what was worrying me. Going into everything else would be way too much. Especially since I was just meeting this girl for the first time.

  The sound of a car pulling up behind us pulled me away from the awkward moment. I turned around and recognized the sensible lower end but still new sedan that Zoey drove to my apartment a couple of nights ago. I found myself looking at the car with almost as much desire as I looked at Zoey. As a poor grad student I didn’t expect to replace my old beater any time soon, and the idea of being able to afford any sort of new car was a
pipe dream.

  Then Zoey stepped out of the car and all thoughts of transportation fled my mind. She was in a simple T-shirt and a pair of shorts, but damn was she rocking that T-shirt and shorts. The shirt had an old Battle Gear Angel Squad poster on it. The one from the ‘80s movie that was brought over back when they still called it “Japanese animation” and turned into a surprise hit that spawned a pop culture empire. I’d worn out an old DVD of that movie when I was a kid.

  Zoey waved and jogged up the driveway. When she reached me she gave me a hug and a kiss that I returned with interest. Having Zoey right here in front of me chased away all those worries I had about this just being a rebound thing. That wasn’t the sort of kiss a girl gave someone who was just a rebound.

  “I see you met Cassie,” Zoey said.

  “Oh yeah, we’ve been talking about you,” Cassie said.

  “All good things I hope?” Zoey asked, a hint of worry entering into her voice. It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one beset by anxiety when it came to this whole new relationship thing.

  “Of course not!” Cassie said. She glanced down at her watch. “Now as soon as Heather gets her lazy butt over here we can get started.”

  “Can’t we get started without her?” Zoey asked.

  “No dice. I’m out of plastic sheets after our last run and she was the one bringing us more,” Cassie said. “We’re going to have to wait until she gets here.”

  They continued talking shop and I forgot all about my worries and anxiety as I lost myself in a world of costuming that was way beyond anything I’d ever done myself. I figured that anxiety would rear its ugly head again soon enough, but for now I was going to enjoy myself.

  22: Get It Right

  Zoey:

  “So what are we putting together today anyways?” Cassie asked. “I don’t think we have anyone that needs any repairs.”