Page 39 of Foes & Cons
“This stuff happens to you a lot, right?” he asks, sitting down, a book tucked under his arm.
“Only when Charlie Chamberlain is around to witness it, apparently.”
“The hero guy?”
“Yeah,” I sigh.
“Damon sure likes him.” I frown at the casual address. Is it just me who full-names Damon Van Schwartz? “I mean, he’s kind of looked after him this weekend, right? Since he did CPR or whatever.”
I roll my eyes.
“Can we talk about something else?”
“You brought him up, but sure,” he says.
“I didn’t bring him up.” Fake McKinley raises his eyebrows at me, and I slump forwards on the chair. “Fine, I brought him up, but only because he and his red-headed sidekick are ruining my life, so I have him in my peripherals to anticipate his next move. It’s bad enough that he swans around at school like he’s the king of swans, or whatever, but now he’s here swanning around. At my sanctuary.”
“You really like all this that much?” he asks, running a finger around the neck of his costume.
“This?”
“The convention. The show?”
“I don’t just like it, I love it.Usually.” My soul normally swells with affection when I talk aboutVampire Falls, but it just feels limp, like a deflated balloon, punctured by a sharp fingernail. “But yeah, it’s my heart. You must get that?”
“I guess,” he says.
“Sorry, this is obviously your first convention,” I say, remembering he’s new to the show. “Are you loving it?”
“It’s a lot to take in. There aresomany people and you’re all, like, really,reallybig fans.”
“Guilty. But that’s kind of the idea.”
“I know. I know, it’s just . . .” he watches a couple of succubus (succubi?) squeal at their latest autographs over flat whites. “It’s kind of intense.”
“It can be, for a first-timer, but we were all newbies once. You just have to let yourself lean into it. There’s no judgement here. This entire group, wherever they’re from, whatever they’re going through, is connected by a shared love. It’s more than a fandom; it’s a family. We look out for each other.” I look at my watch. “Most of the time. I can’t believe Roxy left me for a phone call.”
“Maybe it was an emergency?” he offers.
“More of an emergency thanthis?” I say. He looks around, biting his lip as he watches everyone rush through the foyer. “You don’t have to sit with me if you want to go.”
“I’m fine,” he says. “I think I’ve had my crowded room quota for the day.”
He puts the paperback on the table and leans back. I pull the book towards me. I’d recognise the cover upside down and back to front, stuck in any type of household furniture.
“I love theLock Keepertrilogy,” I say, looking at the crackedcover. “I read it every summer. What do you think of it?”
“I’m actually enjoying it,” he says, nodding. “The characterisation is excellent.”
“Gloria Hannigan’s the best,” I say, running my finger over the scratched letters of her name. “She was actually a writer on the show for the first few seasons, but she’s a full-time author now. She’s Irish and moved back there from Hollywood.”
“How do you know all this stuff?” he asks.
“I’m aVampire Fallsfan: I make it my business to know,” I say, raising an eyebrow. He smiles at me. “I follow her on Instagram. She runs this writing fiction course once a year, and her best students get to do a residential at the Penrose Hackett Library in Ireland. It’s where she got the inspiration for the Draíleabh Athenaeum in season two. It looks incredible.”
“Sounds really cool, Eliza,” he says.
He smiles tightly and clears his throat, then there’s the tiniest moment of awkward silence across the table until I remember it’s his birthday.
