Ship It(65)

“We’re just here to get our spicy tuna on,” Harper says, “but, like, did you notice there’s some kind of, what, Comic-Con happening right now?” She gestures around the restaurant, which is packed with con-goers and cosplayers and all kinds of nerds. “Like, hello, I’m trying to walk here, and everyone’s getting up in our way with their fake swords and crap!”

The other friends look around at the room like they can’t even believe their favorite sushi spot has been invaded. I frown at Tess. Her friends have no idea that we’re here for the convention, too. Tess subtly shakes her head at me: Don’t say anything. I roll my eyes.

“You girls want to sit with us? We were just about to start eating,” Tess says.

“Sure!” either Jillian or Augusta says, I’m not sure which one, and they slide into our booth. I really, really don’t want to do this, but Tess shoots me a look full of daggers, so I squeeze in next to Soraya.

“Oh my god, I totally thought that was that Benedict Cumber guy, but it’s a girl,” Harper says, pointing to a pretty good Sherlock cosplayer in the corner.

“Ew, really?” Soraya laughs. They all crane their heads to look. I glare at Tess—I literally can’t believe she’s not saying anything to these people, but she ignores me.

“It’s called cosplay,” I say matter-of-factly. “Hers is pretty good, if you ask me.”

They all gape at me. I can almost hear them saying to themselves, Who are you again? Tess clearly wants out of this conversation.

“It must have taken her a long time to put together a costume that good, don’t you think?” I ask, intently forging on.

“Uh, I guess so,” says Jillian/Augusta.

Harper turns her gaze to me. “So, Claire, how do you and Tess know each other?”

“Claire’s from Idaho, she’s just in town to visit me!” Tess says, wayyy too perky.

“Oh yeah? That’s a long way to come,” Harper says. Augusta and Jillian start grabbing sushi plates off the conveyor belt and setting them down in front of people. I don’t feel like eating a single thing right now. Harper keeps her eyes on me. She can tell I’m not like them.

“And you came to town because…” Harper prods.

Tess is practically begging me with her eyes not to tell them the truth, but it’s so dumb because her friends are clearly terrible. What’s the point of having friends if you’re just going to lie to them to pretend you’re as cool as they are? “I’m here to go to the convention, actually,” I say, watching Tess. “I love the show Demon Heart.”

All the girls glance from me to Harper to see how she’ll react.

“What’s Demon Heart?” Harper asks, all pretty and perky and cute. Tess is full-on glaring at me.

“It’s my favorite show,” I gush. I’m laying it on pretty thick. Tess can lie to her friends if she wants, but I refuse to. “It’s about this guy who hunts demons, and he’s secretly in love with this other guy, who is a demon, but he has a heart, so he’s a good guy. And every week they kill mystical beasts and send them back to hell, and oh my god, you have to watch it, it’s amazing.” Tess is going to kill me, but I don’t care. She should’ve done this a long time ago. “Well, actually, I said they’re in love, but they’re not actually gay on the show. That’s why I have to write fanfiction where they declare their feelings for each other and finally kiss and have sex and stuff.”

Harper’s eyes are wide, loving every minute of this. “Wow, Tess, did you know about all this?” she asks. I can tell she’s cracking up on the inside. I’ve seen that look from kids in my high school. They pretend to be interested in what you’re saying so that later on they can laugh and laugh. Right now Harper is feeling so superior. My lip curls at the way she’s judging me, and at how she would judge Tess if she knew the truth about her. No one should have to feel ashamed of loving a TV show, or reading fanfiction, and I hate that they make her feel this way. She deserves better friends than this.

I know I’m sitting on a social hand grenade and all I have to do is pull the pin and let it fly.

“Of course Tess knows about it,” I say. “She’s obsessed, too. It’s how we met!”

The grenade explodes. All the girls lower their chopsticks and stare at Tess. Harper’s eyes light up like this is the most delightful piece of information she’s heard in a long time.

I did the right thing, I know I did. But my stomach cannot stop turning over at the way Tess is staring, openmouthed, at me. Hurt and betrayed. I’ve never made anyone look at me like that before. But she should feel so free right now. She doesn’t have to lie anymore!

“It’s not like that,” Tess says to her friends.

“What’s it like, then?” Harper asks innocently.

“Claire, can I speak to you outside, please?” Tess says, standing up. All the girls watch her go. I flash them a fake smile and follow Tess outside, ready for whatever’s coming.

“What is your freaking issue?” Tess is practically yelling at me on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. People stream past us, some of them turn to stare.

I walk down the block, away from the windows of the sushi place. I don’t want her friends staring at us if we’re going to do this. “You should have told them a long time ago, Tess. You know that.”