There were dozens of boxes scattered about Legends. The convention had taken over my store. Between swag, lanyards, programs, and stickers, I couldn’t keep up. If somebody walked in right now, it looked more like a post office than a comic book store. Menial tasks were a good distraction, especially after the bomb drop yesterday. Or was that a bomb shell drop? Bomb shell, bomb drop?
“I’m driving myself crazy.”
I picked up the closest box, setting it on the counter. Tearing it open, I was delighted to see the lanyards for the convention. I always got excited seeing Legends Comic Store on swag. It didn’t compare to the awesome at the bottom of the box.
“Amanda!” I shouted. “Come down here!”
“I’m actually working!”
I raised an eyebrow and looked toward the loft. Shehadbeen working harder than usual on her comic. I think a looming deadline prompted her to pick up the pace. I should leave her alone… but I wouldn’t. Harassing one another while busy was kind of ourthing.
I grabbed the badges from the bottom of the box and dashed to the back of the store. I took the stairs two at a time before realizing big boys should take them one by one like normal people. By the time I reached the top of the loft, I huffed and puffed.
“Please don’t die,” Amanda said.
She sat at her desk, pen in hand. This had become her home away from home. The platform suspended above the comic store looked as if a bomb had gone off. I understood why she wanted this chaos somewhere other than her apartment.
“You’re working?”
Amanda let out a long sigh before setting her pen down. “You know, I do illustrate once in a while.”
“Do you want me to leave?—”
“Oh God, no. I’ve been working for a whole thirty minutes.”
Once I caught my breath, I sauntered over to her desk. She had been working on a comic about a small-town kid coming out of the closet and getting superpowers. I couldn’t wait until she finished and we could feature it in the store. There would be a big party, and we’d invite every person from Spectrum to attend.
“What has you excited enough to run?”
I dropped a stack of badges on the corner of her desk.Her eyes lit up. She tore the rubber band off and held one up for closer inspection. She glanced from the badge to me and then back. It started as a low purr and twisted into a squeal as her feet thumped against the floorboards.
“I can’t believe it!”
When I asked her to design the graphics for Firefly Con, I had no idea what she might come up with. I grabbed the next badge in the pile. In front of the text, she had turned me into a superhero, cape and all. Under one arm, I had a stack of comics and, in my hand, a bag with the Legends’ logo.
“I had my doubts.”
“Doubts?” She shot me a dirty look. “If I remember, you whined about it.”
“Whine is such a strong word. I voiced a strong opinion.”
“I don’t want to be the face of the convention.” Her impersonation of me bordered on frightening. “It’s going to look dorky. It’s?—”
“Okay, I get it. I whined.”
I walked around the drawing table she put in the middle of the room. She had indeed been busy. I had listened to the story behind her comic a thousand times, but seeing it drawn out bordered on surreal. In the first panel, a boy leaned in for an abrupt kiss with his best friend. Shocked, she had pulled back, leaving him in tears.
“It’s amazing,” I said.
“It’s our first kiss.”
I didn’t have powers like the character in her comic,but it still touched close to home. At an early age, I knew I was different from the other kids. I thought if I did things like everybody else, it’d go away. Amanda didn’t include the panel where she slapped me, shouting, “Consent matters!”
Seeing the boy with his knees drawn to his chest, tears flowing down his cheeks, it was like looking at a memory. She set the page aside and showed me the next one. Amanda hadn’t inked it, but it made my heart sing.
“Did I ever thank you?”
“You didn’t need to,” she said. She held out an arm, beckoning me to stand next to her. Wrapping her arm around my waist, she leaned her head on my stomach. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
