Don't Be a Drag by Skye Quinlan

Author:Skye Quinlan [Quinlan, Skye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Page Street Publishing
Published: 2024-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

fourteen

The multicolored stage lights that are bathing the runway in flashing shades of purple and pink are blinding.

I feel nauseous as we stand underneath them, my skin prickling with beads of sweat because the lights are warm and I’m drowning from the heat of the crowd. My flannel feels heavy on my shoulders, the collar restricting as I try to breathe in through my nose, then exhale slowly through my mouth.

Maybe Spencer was right, and I don’t have what it takes to do drag.

Bow is tampering with her microphone, slamming the bedazzled device against the palm of her hand because she can’t get it to feed into the speakers. “Maybe we should just … get this over with?” I suggest, stealing a glance at my supposed enemy because the crowd is beginning to grow restless, and I’m worried he’s going to get crushed.

But Spencer isn’t standing where I left him.

He’s vacated the dance floor entirely, and it takes me a moment of vigilant searching to find him near the back of the room, glaring down a sound tech who is frantically fiddling with a speaker. Did he ask them to cut the power to Bow’s microphone? Is he determined to keep Bow from introducing me to the crowd? I’m tempted to tell Bow that Spencer is trying to sabotage our performance when I see him bend and retrieve an unplugged wire. He stuffs it somewhere into the sound system, and Bow’s microphone thuds to life against her fingers.

“There we go!” Bow spins on her heels to face the crowd, smiling as they cheer at her and wave dollar bills in the air. “Sorry about that—we’re having some technical issues tonight.” She grabs the sleeve of my dampening flannel and pulls me closer to her side. I stumble, but Bow keeps smiling and gives me a wink of encouragement. “Anyway, there’s someone special I wanted to introduce y’all to. Is that okay?”

The crowd goes absolutely wild. Bow grins.

“This, theydies and gentlethems, is my beloved baby sister, Briar!” She nudges my hip with her elbow, a silent plea to do something that won’t embarrass her, but all I can manage is to stand up a little straighter and wave. “But apparently, drag runs in the family, so I want y’all to meet my brand spankin’ new drag brother: Edgar Allan Foe!”

The Gallery descends into madness. I’m trapped in the thrall of it from the stage, and despite my best efforts, I find myself searching for Spencer again. It’s harder to find him now, but I manage to spot him near the back of the bar where he’s watching me with Enzo and Achilles. They both must have taken their breaks, because Enzo is sitting on the barstool where Spencer had found me, and Achilles is jumping beside him, waving frantically.

“Go, Edgar!” they shout across the room.

Enzo raises his empty left hand to give me a quick thumbs-up, a small reassurance as he sips from the rim of a green glow-in-the-dark solo cup.

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