"Joshua, my lad! Glad you could make it! You look wonderful."
"Hey, Marco. You look ..." I'm so unused to seeing him with hair, I'm having trouble forming words. "Elvis-y."
He raises his eyebrows and his glass. "Why, thank you. I hope you're ready for a wonderful night. I'll see you later, yes?"
I give him a chin tip and continue on my way. Standing near a table overflowing with canapés is a guy dressed as Batman talking to a tall, lanky Riddler. As I pass, we all give each other knowing nods.
Finally, I hear a distinct laugh and spot Cassie on the far side of the room. It's only the height of the people she's with that gives them away as Elissa, Liam, and Ethan. I have to admit, they all look amazing.
Ethan is dressed as John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, and Cassie is almost unrecognizable in a black wig, white shirt, and black capris. It's uncanny how much she looks like Uma Thurman's character.
Liam and Elissa look even cooler. Elissa is turning more than just Liam's head in her Black Widow costume, complete with figure-hugging leather jumpsuit and bright red hair. And judging by Liam's sleeveless vest and the bow slung on his back, he's rocking the Hawkeye look.
As I approach, they all glance at me before going back to their conversation. It's Elissa who realizes who I am first and does a double take.
"Holy crap, Josh?!"
Then they all turn, and I've never felt so awkward. It's not bad enough I feel like an imposter in this costume in the first place, now I have two guys who could play this character in a second staring at me. I feel three feet tall.
"You look amazing!" Lissa says as she throws her arms around me. "I've been looking for Captain Kirk all night. Not Superman." She pulls back and looks at my body. "Goddamn, bestie, you got huge. What the hell?"
I shrug as the others smile at me. "You told me to work on my body."
"Yeah, but I didn't expect you to actually do it. Look at you!"
I admit I'm proud of myself. In high school, the most exercise I got was running to the cafeteria on Taco Tuesday, so hitting the gym every day and sticking with it is an achievement for me.
Liam claps a giant hand on my shoulder. "You must have put in some reps to get this big, dude. I feel slack in comparison. I haven't worked out at all while I was away."
Elissa elbows him. "Now, that's not true."
Quinn smirks like the cat who ate the canary. "Babe, bench pressing you hardly counts as a workout."
Cassie steps forward and cringes. "Ew, you two. If that's code for some new, weird sexual position, I don't even want to know." The look on Elissa's face suggests it is. Cassie ignores her and gives me a hug. "Hey, Super Josh. Kind of disappointed you didn't go with the old school Christopher Reeve costume. Those red undies on the outside were hella sexy."
I nod and look down at the dark blue textured suit. I might not be as buff as Henry Cavill, but I fill it out okay. "Yeah, well, couldn't run the risk of you being all up in my business in front of Vinnie there." I point to Ethan. "He might get jealous and shoot me in the face."
Ethan gives his best Vinnie Vega impression. "You shoot one guy in the face, and you never hear the end of it. Typical."
I breathe a sigh of relief that they didn't laugh me out of the party. Not that my friends would do that, but old wounds linger.
When a waiter arrives with a tray of shots, I grab them and pass them around. Then I raise my glass and say, "Okay, so, let's toast." They all hold up their glasses. "To good friends, good times, and an amazing year ahead."
Elissa puts her hand on my shoulder. "And to those loved ones who can't be here tonight."
"To Angel," Liam says with a sympathetic smile.
We all take a moment, and as grateful as I am to be surrounded by my friends, a celebration of any kind feels wrong without Angel. I decide right then that when I get home, I'm booking the first flight to Australia. She may be coming home in a week, but that's a week too long without her.
We all clink glasses. "Cheers."
After downing our shots, we hiss, and there's a little coughing from Cassie as the alcohol goes down.
"Happy New Year’s Eve, you guys," she manages to say through gasps. "Now, let's party our asses off."
THREE
Super Villains and Drama Queens
It's obvious the person who designed this Superman costume didn't count on a dance off. Raising my arms is a challenge, but if I have to go through a little discomfort to wipe the floor with Ethan, then that's what I'm going to do.
"Give it up, Supes," he says, doing some sort of spinning thing that shouldn't be possible considering how much he's had to drink. "You're going down."