Don't Cosplay with My Heart by Cecil Castellucci

Author:Cecil Castellucci
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Gargantua’s main color scheme is purple and black with a silver G, so when I get ready on Halloween morning, I put on a pair of purple fishnets and a deep purple dress with black stripes. I put the thick waist belt that I found at Goodwill and spray-painted silver. I take a tiny piece of fabric and tie it to myself like a Victorian capelet and pin a tiny button of Gargantua on it alongside a small vintage pin of the letter G. I do my hair 1950s style with a big pomp in front and an undercurl, just like Gargantua wears her hair in the first run of Team Tomorrow.

I know that it will be annoying to wear high-heeled shoes to school, and we’re not really allowed anything over two inches, so instead, I put on some Doc Marten boots that I always forget to wear. The purple doesn’t quite match, but it’s close enough and they are high enough to look like superhero boots.

I am dress-code compliant but also Gargantua-evident.

“What are you wearing?” Kasumi asks when I meet her in front of school.

“I’m bounding, like we said we would,” I say.

“Did we say that?” she asks. “I don’t remember.”

“Kirk said it,” I say. “On the group text, there was a thread.”

“Oh,” she says. “I guess I missed it.”

But now that I think about it, I remember that he only texted it to me, off-list. On the group, we all just complained. I was the only one who mentioned it deep in the comments on the club board. And Kirk put a thumbs-up on that.

It’s another thing that makes me feel off with her. In the old days I feel like she would have noticed a buried deep comment in a way too long comments thread.

“Are you mad at me?” she asks, looking genuinely concerned that I’m angry.

“No,” I say. I’m just irritated that as we walk into school, I see that no one else from SEW has bounded except Kirk. He’s all in green, and even though he looks like himself, he also somehow completely embodies Green Guarder. He’s even wearing a green buttonier.

“You look great,” he says when he sees me. “But can I just do something?”

“Sure,” I say.

“Not here. We need pins,” he says. “Follow me. We have time before first period.”

“Oh, hey, go,” Kasumi says to me. “There’s Sophie, and I wanted to ask her about our homework before class, so … ”

“OK, I’ll see you later,” I say.

I follow Kirk into the building and we go to the costume room, which is dark and empty.

He grabs my hand and his skin is warm, and I feel a little thrilled when he pulls me to the corner where our rack is, where the bags that hold our materials hang, along with capes and bodysuits and fur things. Kirk grabs some stuff out of one of the bags and spins me to face him.

“Lift,” Kirk says.

I lift my hands over my head. Kirk takes the tape measure and slides it around my waist.

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