Con Quest!
Page 33
“Thanks.” The girl smiled. “This is my full-time job now, so I’m always happy when people dig it.”
Fi just goggled at the girl. “This is your job?”
“Yeah.” The artist laughed. “I can’t believe it either, most days. But I travel to a lot of shows and put out a lot of new merch all the time. I feel equal parts lucky and exhausted.”
“That’s so cool,” Fi said, and really meant it.
“Seriously, thanks. Find me online!” The girl waved, sitting back down at her table. “We can stay in touch. The best part of the con!”
Fi nodded and tucked the girl’s card into her back jeans pocket. Between that girl and Rowan … Fi was starting to understand what people found so appealing about all this. Just a little bit, anyway. People could really, genuinely celebrate the things they loved. And they could do it together.
Her phone dinged again, bringing Fi back down to Earth. She opened her texts—her mom. Again. Thank goodness she didn’t have read receipts turned on. Fi knew she would have to answer them soon, or they were going to think she’d died somewhere on the con floor.
Mamicka: are you having fun
Mamicka: are the twins having fun
Mamicka: are the twins with you
Mamicka: is Alex engaging
Mamicka: Fiorella answer me
Mamicka: I hope you are in line for something very good right now
Mamicka: we will talk about your phone habits later
Mamicka: I think I just saw Criss Angel
And so on and so forth for hours. She was still going to be toast if she couldn’t find the twins. She was—
“Guess who?!” Fi’s whole world went dark in an instant. Someone was covering her eyes from behind. Was it Cat?! No, she wasn’t that tall yet (thankfully). Fi took a deep breath and her heart sped up—and she grabbed at the hands on her face.
“Rowan!” Fi ducked and spun, keeping her hold on Rowan’s hands. They wrestled for a second before Fi broke free and punched Rowan’s shoulder.
“Ow, you’re strong!” She laughed.
“I’m a jock,” Fi explained.
“Are you also from the eighties?” Rowan laughed even harder.
“Shut up.” Fi punched Rowan again playfully, even though she wanted the exact opposite. “How’d you find me?”
“I just looked for the person who stood out most in the crowd,” Rowan said with a smirk.
Fi, still a little red from her interaction with the cool artist, flushed harder. She spent her whole life trying to fit in. Was she really the weirdo here?
“At least I’m not a big nerd,” Fi said halfheartedly.
“Your loss, dude.” Rowan shrugged. “No luck on the twins front, I take it?”
Fi shook her head. “They’re monsters. It’s hopeless.”
“It’s never hopeless,” Rowan encouraged. “Superhero movies taught me that. You’ve got to keep your chin up.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Fi said. “My parents are going to kill me. I’m totally screwed. Just let me be angry at the twins for five seconds, here.”
“Are you sure you’re angry at the twins?” Rowan asked pointedly.