Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Nora

“Won't this ferry just hurry the hell up and get to Seattle already?” I asked my friends sitting next to me. “I’m crazy tired of getting stared at by creeps.”

“You know if you were not wearing tight black pleather, people wouldn’t be staring so much,” said my best friend Miranda who was dressed as Sailor Moon. “I bet the real Catwoman doesn’t have to deal with this shit. She would have just walked up and whipped that guy for looking at her.” I said making the whiplash sound with my mouth staring down a dude across from me. “Yeah well the real Catwoman also has a real whip and doesn’t have to make the sounds with her mouth,” she said pushing me away playfully.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m still really pissed that Amazon sent it to the wrong house. I feel naked without my whip.” I said with a mocked little kid voice. “I’m sure others are picturing you naked as well.” She nods her head at a bunch of guys also dressed in costume looking at me from across the boat. I hissed at them and they scattered. We all laughed pretty hard.

“I really love your costumes guys. Did your mom make them?” I asked my twin friends, Mary and Marie, who were dressed as Chi from the anime Chobits. They had matching dresses, one black, one white. Their hair was done the same way and they had really cute ear headbands on. “Yeah she helped but Marie did most of it. She found the design online and just worked really hard on it. We are hoping to enter the costume contest and get the word out that we are starting a business” said Mary handing me a piece of white cardstock. “Wow, you even have business cards already. Pretty impressive indeed girls.” I winked at them and gave the card to Miranda.

“Everyone has their phones? Badges? Marie pulled the short straw and has to carry the backpack, right?” I heard Marie sigh from the bathroom. We got in line for the Con and stood in amazement at all the wicked cool costumes. It only took about twenty minutes to usher us all in. I have been to this Con a few times but my favorite part of every year is the long escalator ride from the ground floor to the top.

Once we got to the main floor we tried hard to stay together but it didn’t take long for us to split in three ways. There is just so much to see and it’s hard to do it as a group. I danced around the floor for about an hour hopping into any Bat-Family picture I could. I really love being a character and having people recognize me and want to take a picture with me. I saw a group of young kids pointed and whispering at me with big smiles on their faces so I gave them my best growl and gnashed my teeth in their direction. They laughed and ran to their parents. I could see them explaining what happened but they were way too excited to form sentences.

This place is really my home. I just feel like these are my people and they get me. I never feel out of place or like people are staring because they don’t understand. They are staring because they love my costume and that makes me feel so empowered. This is one of my favorite times of the year and I am glad that people are ok with nerdy girls.

I remember being the girl in school who wore Spock ears and got made fun of. I hated being judged for who I was and wanted to be. I hid the things I liked as much as I could all through school until I got to college. They never tell you how much changes going from high school to college. I was so freaked out that it was going to be the same thing and I would never get to express myself but I was utterly shocked. I should have known that going to an art school would be different but when I met Miranda on move-in day I was stunned.

Miranda had come the day before and decorated her half of the room. I looked at my pale white walls and felt weird. You would be hard-pressed to find a speck of white paint behind her collection of band swag and hundreds of her own drawings. Miranda was astoundingly good at creepy girl portraits.

She has that type of style that you see online in hundreds of places. It has a kind of eerily surreal feeling that inspires and creeps you out all at the same time. I spent two years having all of them stare at me night and day and they still make me uneasy when I flip through her portfolio.

I owe her so much and I would do pretty much anything for her. Miranda was the first person to look at my art and tell me I had something special. She was also the first one to dress up with me on a whim and go for a walk around town without a care in the world. She is pretty much my hero.

As I walked around completely in my head I heard a group of people shouting “Catwoman, over here!” at me. I look over to find almost all of the Batman villains looking at me and waving. I couldn’t help but smile at them as I walked over. They were all really nice and totally into their respective characters but we were missing a Penguin and a Riddler.

We were just getting ready to pose when I look up and see a super good Riddler standing just behind the crowd. He was almost a foot taller than me and crazily good-looking. Without thinking I reached out with my claws and grabbed his question mark cane and pulled him into the picture. He seemed shocked and excited all at once and that made me feel good. We posed for a bunch of shots and after the flashes stopped I pulled him off to the side.

I just said the first thing that popped into my brain and I hoped he had a sense of humor. “What’s green and handsome and hasn’t told me his name?” He thought for a second and said “Edward Nigma?” I thought it was a cute answer but I wanted to play hard to get so I walked away without saying anything. “What should I call you? Kitten?” he shouted at me. “Selina” I said sending him a wink as well. I kept walking but I couldn’t get the smile off my face. He was just so cute and quick, I like that in a guy. Should I have stayed and made more small talk? Would I ever see him again?

comment 1 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY