Another Con

By Melanie E.

It's con time again! Another short adventure with Josie and Greg.

While this story can stand on its own, check out my stories "The Con" and "The Next Con" for more of Josie's adventures -- all conveniently bite-sized, of course.

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"Where is he?" Josie mumbled under her breath as she stood on her toes, scanning the crowd for the form of her long-time con partner Greg. "There he is! GREG, OVER HERE!"

"Coming!" His voice echoed from across the crowd. Josie bounced up and down while she waited for him to finish cutting through the many attendees to reach her, anxious to get started. At last he reached her, a triumphant look on his face. "Our room's on the third floor this year. Ready to go up and change?"

Josie nodded, and together they made their way towards the elevators. It was a short ride to the third floor, and soon they were in their room. "Finally, time to change into my costume!" Josie exclaimed excitedly as she pulled the schoolgirl outfit from the garment bag she had brought. This year she had chosen Tenma from "School Rumble" as her character to cosplay, and she hoped desperately that the little motors she had rigged would work right when she wanted to twitch her pigtails. Across from her, she could see Greg busy pulling out the flight suit and helmet for his "Gundam Seed" Zaft forces pilot outfit. He looked up and grinned when he caught her eyes.

"I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate you looking at me like that," he teased her, laying out the suit and giving it a final check to make sure everything was in order.

Josie blushed. "Well, we both know she's not got anything to worry about," she whispered. "I'm just happy to be here."

Greg nodded. "You look nice," he added, before grabbing his outfit and heading for the bathroom. "I'll change in here, you can have the room."

"Thanks," she said as the door closed behind him. With a sigh, Josie gave herself one final glance. The girl's jeans and baggy button down shirt had been boyish enough to slip past her parents in, but once at Greg's house it had taken only moments for her to pull on her bra and do a quick dash of makeup. Jeremy had disappeared, and for the next two days Josie would have free reign to be herself. Sneaking the rest of her stash of clothes past her parents had been a bit more difficult -- they tended to watch her a lot more closely now than they had before they found everything the last time -- but the payoff of not having to be in costume for the entire convention would be worth it, she had no doubt.

Once in her costume, however, the doubts began to settle in again. What if someone saw through her disguise? What if someone they knew were to show up? What if Greg accidentally said her old name, or someone tried to look up her skirt, of her voice slipped or--

"Hey! Stop worrying!" Greg's voice cut through her thoughts, breaking her downhill slide. "You'll be fine. You've done this before, now's no different." He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, comforting her as best he could.

"I know, but this time... it's not just a costume any more," she said through her sniffling. "I'm going to be Josie all weekend, nonstop, and what if somebody sees me?"

Greg grinned. "Lots of people will see you. And all they'll see is a cute girl with weird pigtails." He flicked one of the pigtails in question with the tip of his finger. "Do they work?"

Josie tapped a button on the small radio controller strapped to her wrist, and felt the pull as the pigtail on her left bounced twice. She tapped it again, and both bounced in unison, causing Greg to laugh. "I think they'll work okay." After all the hours she had spent figuring out how to wrap her hair around the plastic rods they had better work, she didn't add.

"Nice. And once they hear how badly you sing, they'll really know you're Tenma."

"Hey!" Josie shrieked as she pounded Greg in his well-padded shoulder. "Seriously, though, I mean... what if we see someone we know when I'm out of costume? I'll get picked on enough if they find out I did cosplay as a girl, but if they see me in my normal clothes, I don't know what to do."

"It'll be fine," Greg said, wiping the tears she hadn't even realized had been falling from her cheeks. "Tell them I dared you to or something. Or, don't say anything at all." He took her hand. "If you can't handle it now, you'll never be able to do it."

"Well it's not like I'm ever going to be a girl all the time."

"Why not?"

"It's just for fun," Josie said defensively, but inside she wondered. It was just for fun... wasn't it?

Greg shrugged again, but said nothing.

"Okay," Josie sighed and straightened her skirt. "Give me a second to fix my makeup and we can go, alright?"

"Sure thing," Greg agreed. "And, Josie?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time, you change in the bathroom, I nearly fell in the tub three times trying to put this thing on."

They both laughed, and with a lighter heart Josie made sure she was ready to face the world. Was it really just a game to her? Or was it something more? She couldn't be sure, but she knew that at the very least Greg would support her.

And maybe, for the moment, that was enough.