Don't Cosplay with My Heart, page 18
“We did it,” I say.
“I fought to hold on to these wristbands like Green Guarder holding on to the time stream,” he says.
“You are a fan,” the woman says. “Glad this ticket went to someone who will appreciate it more than just being something free.”
We go back to the convention hall to help finish selling things for the day. We have a plan to help out until the last minute and then run over to the Embarcadero to see the film. We don’t really care that it means we’ll get crappy seats. At least we’ll be there.
Emboldened, I text Kasumi and tell her that Kirk and I got seats. She doesn’t respond and I figure that maybe she was just being polite.
I’ve changed into my Gargantua costume and we’re about to leave when Kirk’s mom says, “Wait.”
“We have to go,” Kirk says.
“You can wait a few minutes,” she says.
His mom hands me a bag and I open it. Inside is the dress from the mannequin. The beautiful one stitched with the Team Tomorrow fabric.
“For you,” she says.
I hug it to myself. Loving it so much. Knowing that it is something that Kirk’s mom made and that I will wear.
“Give me a second,” I say. And even though I’ve waited all year to wear my Gargantua costume, I know that it’s not the right thing to wear tonight. Kirk nods and I slip behind the dressing curtain and put it on. It needs a little altering, but it will do for now.
I step out and do a little twirl.
“You look really nice,” Kirk says. I notice that he’s changed out of his Green Guarder outfit into a button-down shirt with a suit coat that has the Team Tomorrow logo embroidered all over it. He sticks his elbow out and I loop my arm through his. It is nice to be dressed up and going to a premiere.
“Wait,” his mom says before we head out. “Let me take a picture.”
She pulls out her phone and takes our picture.
“Now you,” I say. I take some pictures of Kirk and his mom and I know, the way that you know that a moment is important, that this will be a treasured memory.
There is a line to pick up our tickets at will call. The woman checks our wristband, makes a big mark on each, and then gives us an envelope.
“Great outfits,” she says.
“His mom’s company makes them,” I say. “Booth G41.”
“I’ll come by. OK, there are box lunch tickets in there,” she explains. “Also a ticket for a seat cushion. And your wristband serves as your swag bag ticket, so don’t forget to pick it up after the movie.”
“Are we late?” I ask.
“Oh, no,” she says. “The actors are just getting to the red carpet, and there is a pre-show show. Actually, you should go line up with all the cosplayers and fans doing the fan red carpet. They’re doing a contest.”
“But we’re not cosplaying,” I say. “We’re bounding.”
She shrugs. “You still look great.”
We have a choice, to try to scramble for seats in the bleachers or join the line of cosplayers who are being interviewed by an emcee as part of the preview. The whole thing is being projected onto the giant bubble screen.
“Is it OK if we go on the fan red carpet line?” I say. “I don’t think it’s going to change where we sit in the bleachers.”
“You’re reading my mind,” Kirk says.
We stand in line with people taking pictures in front of the step and repeat and a bunch of the cosplayers who are trying to win the walk-on part for the contest. I compliment every single person.
“I never would have won this,” I say to Kirk. “They all are such professionals here.”
“Not all of them,” he says, pointing to a little kid and a dude in a store-bought Lady Bird and Figment outfit.
After we take a picture or two, making Team Tomorrow poses, we try to ditch the line, but the emcee and camera crew stop us.
“Well, what do we have here?” he says. “A beautiful couple in Team Tomorrow fancy dress. Let’s give a round of applause for on-point premiere fashion.”
“Did you make these?” he asks, pointing the microphone at us. I am aware that we are being projected on the screen for the whole audience to see.
“His mom did,” I say. “Booth G41.”
“Really wonderful,” the emcee says. “Now, I don’t think this gives you an entry into the official contest, but how about we give this gorgeous couple a prize.”
We look out and the whole crowd is applauding.
“Who’s your favorite character?” he asks.
“Gargantua,” I say.
“And Green Guarder,” Kirk says.
He motions to a production assistant, who goes and grabs something from the side of the stage.
“Here is a collectible Green Guarder bus stop poster. Can’t get one of these unless you steal it. And a limited edition Gargantua mask made from the mold of the mask that was actually used in the movie.”
I hold the mask in my hand. It’s heavy, sleek, and beautiful. It’s better than a walk-on. It’s a walk toward. It’s a walk into.
The emcee moves on to the next people in line, and Kirk and I look at each other and let out a dorky squeal. I notice that there is a message on my phone, so when I get through, it’s Kasumi.
Section B, tenth row. Come find me.
“It’s Kasumi,” I say. “Should we go see?”
Kirk nods and we head down toward the middle front.
“Kasumi!” I call, and she turns her head. She waves and then points to two seats behind her that are covered with two sweaters. Sophie leans back and says something to the person next to the seats, who comes and looks at us and waves.
I point to myself. To say, wait for me? For us?
Kasumi throws her hands in the air and makes a funny face, the kind she always makes that makes me laugh. And waves and points to the seats again. Like she’s my friend. Like she wants me to join her.
Kirk and I make our way down the row and get to the seats. Kasumi is standing up.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Kasumi says. “You looked so cool up there!”
“Isn’t this reserved?” I say.
She shrugs.
“I pulled some strings,” she says. “We got in early and I just figured it would be OK.”
She’s standing up now. And we’re looking at each other. And sometimes you know that an action is really a “let’s just move forward from this moment.” And I know that we are back.
I pull her in for a hug.
We can stand on a stage. Bright lights. Costumes. Dazzle everywhere. But nothing beats being in a real duo, doing heroic things. Or forming your own team.
That’s what my real-life Team Tomorrow is all about.
“Thank you,” I say. “This is amazing.”
“There’s going to be a live orchestra playing the soundtrack,” Sophie says. “And there’s ice cream. I was going to go get some. Do you want chocolate or vanilla?”
“Chocolate,” I say.
“You look nice,” Kasumi says. “That’s a great dress.”
“My mom made it,” Kirk says.
“She’s got gorgeously geeky stuff,” I say. “You should come by the booth tomorrow when I’m working, Kasumi.”
Kirk opens up our lunch boxes and makes a little spread out of the seat cushion while I keep talking with Kasumi.
“Just so you know,” Kasumi says. “We wrote a petition to look into the dues discrepancy.”
“I hoped that was you,” I say. “I gave all the info I have to the principal.”
“I’m sure it will be sorted out. I know that it wasn’t you. I was just so mad.”
“I know,” I say. “I’m sorry. I should have told you what was going on with me. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”
“It’s hard to figure out so many things,” Kasumi says. “But it’s not hard to figure out that you and I are friends.”
“I’m hoping that I can rejoin SEW in the fall,” I say. “And I’ve got some great ideas about volunteer work that we can do.”
I lay out my plan about visiting kids in the hospital and doing school visits. “I love it!” she says.
I sit down and eat my sandwich and hold hands with Kirk and watch the pre-show. The cast and crew come out and give little speeches about Team Tomorrow.
Everything is about to begin.
The lights come down. The orchestra conductor raises his baton. The music starts. The title comes up.
I have goose bumps all over.
Thank you to my wonderful literary champions, my agent Kirby Kim, editor Nancy Mercado, David Levithan, and Scholastic Press.
Thank you to every person I ever nerded out with about something. Like my brother. And Steve Salardino. And the Shamers. And all my friends. And all nerdy girls everywhere.
I would like to acknowledge here and now that if you think you are a nerd or geek or dork, you are and you are a real one. Your enthusiasm shines the way and I love it.
Cecil Castellucci is the author of numerous books and graphic novels for young adults including Boy Proof, The Plain Janes, First Day on Earth, The Year of the Beasts, Tin Star, and Soupy Leaves Home. In 2015 her childhood dream came true when she co-authored Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure in Advance of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Other nerdy bucket list characters she’s written comics for are Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Mera, the cast of Deep Space Nine, and rebooting the character of Rac Shade in the ongoing series Shade, The Changing Girl. Her first comic book boyfriend at age four was Batman. She went to her first comic book convention at age eleven, where she cosplayed Jessica Six from Logan’s Run. She had a band called Nerdy Girl in the mid-nineties and in 1999 she lived in a tent on Hollywood Boulevard for six weeks to wait for tickets for Star Wars: Episode I. She is an honorary member of the 501st Legion. She is very nerdy and lives in Los Angeles.
Text copyright © 2018 by Cecil Castellucci
Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Marcelo Baez
Additional interior imagery: © veleo5/Shutterstock and cajoer/Thinkstock
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
First edition, January 2018
Jacket photography by Michael Frost, © 2018 Scholastic Inc.
Jacket design by Elizabeth B. Parisi, with imagery © veleo5/Shutterstock and cajoer/Thinkstock.
Hand lettering by Baily Crawford
e-ISBN 978-1-338-12550-4
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Cecil Castellucci, Don't Cosplay with My Heart
