Eliza appeared and pushed plastic cups into our hands. “Someone bought us a bottle of sparkling cider!” she exclaimed, then started to pour from a bottle. We let her, nobody speaking a word, and then she moved away.
I stared at the popping bubbles in my cup, the mist of fizz they created, until Kendall knocked her cup against mine.
“To surviving the Tri-State SuperCon,” she said.
“In more ways than one,” I said, and we both drank.
“I’m starving,” she said. “Should we go find the hors d’oeuvres?”
“You lead, I’ll follow,” I said. We started to make our way through the crowd, which had gotten denser and louder.
“Satina Galt!” said a guy stepping in front of me. His T-shirt said GOT GEEK? “It makes me so happy to see young people who know the Original Silver Arrow.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling yet also trying to keep a visual lock on Kendall.
“Have to say, I got a little emotional, seeing you guys up there at the contest. That show got me through some hardcore personal shit.” His voice cracked. Maybe he’d been drinking, maybe he was just a weirdo. Either way, he was clearly sincere, and that cut through all the unease.
“It got my mom through her depression,” I said suddenly, and realized I’d never said that out loud.
I took a step backward and found myself against a wall. The guy smiled, bowed his head to me, then moved away. I’d lost Kendall in the crowd.
I was sort of trapped there. Which actually felt good and safe, and made me think of Maeve Armstrong watching her own party while also being apart from it. Maybe it was okay to want all this, to love it even, but just need a break.
“Hey,” said someone close to me, and it took me a second to realize it was Camden. He held out a soda.
“My savior,” I said.
The crowd pushed us, pressed Camden into my body.
“Sorry,” he said, looking uncomfortable.
I reached up and put my hand on his cheek. It was Camden right there, I knew that for sure. I felt balanced.
“Woot woot!” some girl shrieked. “Satina and Azor getting busy!”
I yanked my hand back and looked down into my drink.
“Ignore them,” said Camden.
“Uh, impossible,” I replied. “Besides, didn’t we ask for it?”
“I guess we did,” he said, searching my face. “I wouldn’t ask for it back.”
Camden touched my hair and then drew away, realizing it wasn’t really my hair.
“I wish I could kiss you right now without it feeling . . .”
“I know.” This party would end, and we would leave, and go back to real life, and maybe even the weirdness of this whole day would end up being a good part of the memory.
“Should we find the others?” asked Camden.
I nodded, then scanned the crowd and saw Max’s head towering over it. Thank God for Max’s head.
“Come on, I see Max.” I took Camden’s hand and we pushed into the crowd. People gave us high fives and smiles and nods along the way.
When we found Max, he was leaning against the bar, sweat dripping down his face. He looked terrible.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m just . . . really, really hot. This jumpsuit material does not breathe.”
“Take off your wig for a few minutes, that’ll help,” I suggested.
He pulled off the wig and grabbed a cocktail napkin, wiped his drenched hair with it.
“That’s pretty gross,” said Camden.
“I don’t care. It feels amazing. How are you guys holding up? It’s like you’re the prom couple.”
Camden just made a face, which made Max and me laugh.
Eliza appeared. I wasn’t even sure where she’d come from or how she’d broken into our little triangle.
“Where’s your wig?” she asked Max. Not asked, really. Yipped, like a terrier. She had a neon orange frozen drink in her hand.
“It’s right here,” he replied, indicating the wig, which looked like an alien pet, sitting by itself on the bar.
“Put it back on,” she said, and took a sip of her drink.
“I’m dying of heat. I’ll put it back on when I’ve cooled down.”
“It’s embarrassing if you’re not wearing it,” said Eliza, glancing around. “Everyone’s hot, but nobody else is stripping off their costumes. It looks lame.”
“Why the fuck should I care how it looks?” said Max with a frown. I’d never heard him swear before. He was always so good-natured. If Eliza was the terrier, Max was the golden retriever. But now he was baring his fangs.
“Because I care,” said Eliza slowly. “Isn’t that enough?”
Eliza picked up the wig and tried to put it back on Max, but she couldn’t reach. Max snatched it out of her hand.
“Back off, Eliza,” he said.
Camden and I exchanged an awkward glance.
“Please, please, please,” she said in a tone that totally did not match the word please. “Don’t do this to me. Keep it on so everyone can see it.”