Queens of Geek

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: TAYLOR

Jamie and I are lying on the bed, a half-eaten cheese pizza next to us and The Breakfast Club playing on the television.

"If you could be any one of the Breakfast Club," he asks. "Who would you be?"

I don't even need to think about my answer. "Secretly, I used to want to be Claire, but I feel more like Allison most of the time. The Basketcase. What about you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He smirks. "With my ruggedly handsome good looks and wicked sense of humor, I'm Bender. The Badass."

I laugh. "Actually, he's the Criminal. Besides, isn't the whole big life lesson they learn in detention that everyone has their baggage and that they're all more similar than they are different?"

Charlie bursts into the room. "Guys! Guys!"

She sees us lying on the bed together and covers her eyes with her hand. "Oh god! Am I interrupting something? We're gonna need a system from now on."

"Charlie!" I say. Jamie and I laugh at her animated reaction. "Relax. We're just watching a movie."

She peeks between her fingers. "Oh, good! What are you watching?" She glances behind her as I start to answer, but then she waves her hands excitedly. "I don't care, because look what I've got!"

She makes a zoom sound and holds up three sparkly pieces of card.

"What's that?" I ask.

"These," she says, staring at them with hungry eyes, "are three VIP passes to—wait for it—the SupaCon Afterparty!"

Jamie and I sit up so fast we get whiplash. "What?"

She grins like the Cheshire Cat and nods rapidly. "Yep! Alyssa surprised me with them. Isn't she awesome? So, my two best friends in the whole wide, awesome world: we are going to rock out with the who's who of SupaCon tonight!"

I stand up on the bed, covering my mouth with my hands. "Do you know what that means?" I squeak. "Skyler will be there! I'll get to meet Skyler!"

Charlie steps up onto the bed and Jamie stands up to join us, and we commence freaking out.

We jump up and down, sending pieces of pizza bouncing all over the place, but we don't care about the mess we're making.

Messes aren't so bad, so long as you have people to share them with.

Wasting no time, we start getting ready.

Jamie throws on a new tee and watches Breaking Bad while Charlie and I take over the bathroom. I sit on the edge of the bathtub while Charlie gently strokes eyeliner over her eyelids.

"So, are you ever going to tell me about Alyssa or are you going to keep me waiting forever?"

She giggles. "I thought you'd never ask. Tay, she's so amazing. I've never met anyone like her."

"How was your date?"

She sighs. "Perfection. She hired out an entire arcade so we could have some privacy and totally nerd out. Then she organised a pretty table for two and we ate pizza and drank coke out of champagne glasses. It was like the perfect blend of romantic and fun."

She lights up when she talks about her, and I smile at how sweet it all is. "I figured it must have been a good date when you didn't come back last night."

Her shoulders lift all the way up to her ears as she blushes and swoons.

I laugh. "That good, huh?"