Page 6 of Foes & Cons
“You know, next time we do this we’ll probably be going straight to Bristol together,” she says, pulling off the driveway. “Did you hear about your accommodation choices yet?”
I shake my head, then, halfway up the road, I gasp and turn to her.
“Did you bring the highlighters!?”
“Yes,” she says, not taking her eyes off the road.
“How many?” I ask.
“Four. Two each in case one runs out.”
I nod.Phew. One time, I lost my highlighter and had to underline the talks and autograph sessions in the schedule using a blue biro, like some kind of savage.
“Get that Haribo open,” Roxy says.
Yes, Haribo for breakfast, another convention road trip ritual.I gleefully pull the pack open, take seven and give Roxy some hearts, then glance down at my t-shirt again.
“Are you sure you can’t see my bra?”
“Surer than I have ever been in my life about anything,” she says without looking at me.
I smile, satisfied that my undergarments aren’t on show. Each of my outfits is planned down to the finest of details. Comfy onesies to roll down to breakfast in, outfits specific to the eye colour of which guests we’re having photos with, and, of course, the cosplay outfits for each of the parties. The party themes for each night are as follows: Masquerade (overdone), Full Moon Diner (yes),Vampire FallsZombie Apocalypse (like it, really a lot) and Ghosts and Gargoyles (meh). Four nights of cosplay, four nights of nerd joy.
“Did you watch the pilot yet?” asks Roxy, tapping the steering wheel along to the music. I look at her. “Midnight in Portland.”
I nod and look out the window.“It was shit.”
“What?” Roxy glances at me and shakes her head. “You haven’t watched it.”
“I have. I mean, I watched the cold open and the credits. The theme was terrible, like, kill me with a cello bow now. Depressing. And the quality wasawful. Most of it was blurry and pixelated.”
“Because it’s not supposed to have been shared yet. It’s a production leak,” she says. “Watch it, babe, honestly. DefiniteVampire Fallsvibes, with a different angle. There’s already fan fiction on Wattpad.”
“I don’t care about fan fiction any more,” I say, bristling a little. I used to carry a spiral-boundVampire Fallsnotepad around at all times, in case inspiration struck, but not for a while now. “And spin-offs are always shit.”
“Reckon this won’t be, from what I saw. I hope it gets picked up. Apparently, one of the main actor guys is in rehab orsomething.”
“Hmmm,” I say, digging a ring out of the Haribo bag.
“Your refusal to try anything remotely new is adorable, Eliza.”
“I don’t need to try it; I haveVampire Fallsto fill my obsession quota, thank you.”
I remember the day said obsession withVampire Fallsstarted like it was my wedding day, and I know that doesn’t make sense as I’m yet to marry or even, like,meetsomeone I can stand being around, but nevertheless, it was a defining moment.
Just like every good story starts, I was skiving school due to (not-that-bad) cramps courtesy of Aunt Flo. Mum came into the living room with a hot water bottle and Marmite on toast, telling me about a new thing on Netflix. The creator was inspired by some vampire show Mum watched back in the dark ages, and she wanted us to watch it together. Too weak from blood loss to resist, I agreed.
At that point in my life, I was still searching for an Eliza-shaped space to slot into, but nothing fit properly. OrIdidn’t fit properly. School was hideous because I didn’t get my peers and they didn’t get me (apart from Roxy, who I believe was sent to me from heaven). Gymnastics wasn’t fun any more because the girls at my club decided I wasn’t worth their effort as I wasn’t competitive enough, and I got kicked out of the school orchestra because Idrummed too enthusiasticallyaccording to the music teacher.
Lila Murphy, played by Megan Nicole Jefferies, who’d isolated herself at her last school because she could speak to dead people, arriving in Vistoria Falls and finding a gang of misfits who became cooler and more attractive with each scene,wasthat Eliza-shaped space I’d been searching for. I swear, I felt my soul sighing with relief.
I was following most of the cast on Instagram before the end credits, got a Lila Murphy cut (but grew it out immediately asbangsonly work if you have cheekbones; I looked like a doughy-faced pre-pubescent boy when I put my hair in a ponytail) and took up stage combat the following month. Roxy also fell hard after I made her watch the first episode, and Mum took us to our first convention that year. I joined Wattpad and started writing fan fiction under the username of FallerForever. I’d always enjoyed scribbling stories in my notepads, but once I discoveredVampire FallsI wrote words for those characters with total focus, respect and passion. Life finally felt like it made sense.
“Give me a cola bottle,” Roxy says, turning into the retail park. “Not a gummy bear.”
I root around the packet and stick a cola bottle in Roxy’s mouth. Charlie Chamberlain’s favourite are the bears. Or they used to be. He’s probably too cool for Haribo now. Not one of his macros.
Urgh. Charlie Chamberlain. He just lurks in the subconscious of my Haribo packet, waiting to annoy me.
