“Hey Katie, you finished with that Black Butler yet?”
“Keep your shirt on Natalie, I want to enjoy this. Ah, Sebastian, you naughty demon butler you,” she replied sighing happily.
Natalie’s sigh wasn’t so happy, though she knew very well where that sentiment came from. It didn’t help her own boredom though. She grabbed her Edward Elric plush and flopped down on the bed. She’d already read through all the other manga that she and her friends had bought the weekend before at AnimeCon, their local yearly convention.
“So have you guys thought about what we want to go to AnimeCon as next year?”
“It’s only been a week since the convention ended, of course not. Besides, what’s to think about anyway? We do Lolita every year, why change it now?” answered Amy.
Natalie sighed again as she hugged her plush close. “But I’m tired of doing that every year. It’s been four years now that we’ve done that tired outfit. That and I’m tired of the creepy older guys staring at me like some piece of meat in a weird sexual fantasy…”
Katie put her book down and looked at Natalie. “What would you do then? And please, whatever you do, don’t tell me you want to dress up as Ed…”
Natalie laughed. “As awesome as I think Edward is, no. I was thinking Sailor Moon characters.”
Amy and Katie just looked at each other and sighed heavily. “Really? Of the dozens of more recent mangas and animes you have around here, you pick that one??? No way…” Amy replied. “If you had said Bleach or maybe Negima that MIGHT have been a different story. The school uniforms wouldn’t be so hard to do and they do look cute, but Sailor Moon? No one even does that anymore anyway, it’s too old.”
“Fine, if you don’t want to do it then don’t,” Natalie said, pouting. “I’m going to do it anyway. And for your information it’s not as unpopular as you think. I saw at least six Sailor Moon cosplays each day this year so I know people still do it.”
“They were probably the same six each day,” Katie mumbled trying to keep it quiet enough that Natalie wouldn’t hear her. Thankfully she didn’t but Amy did and shot her a ‘You’re not helping’ look. Katie just shrugged it off and went back to reading.
Amy, being Natalie’s best friend, decided that it was just better to humor her for the sake of keeping the peace at this point. Once Natalie had locked onto something there was no making her give up on it.
“Ok, ok, so who are you thinking you’re going to do?”
Natalie’s face lit up. Finally, someone was taking her seriously. “I was thinking Sailor Pluto. She gets so ignored when it comes to cosplay but she’s one of the most awesome scouts. Everyone wants to be Sailor Moon or one of the inners scouts. That and having that staff would just be awesome too. My hair’s already long enough too; I just have to figure out how to dye it the right shade of green…”
When she mentioned dying her hair green, Amy looked at her as if she had three heads. “Dye your hair? Why? I mean, wouldn’t it just be easier to get a wig instead?”
Natalie shook her head. “No, I’d never be able to get my hair tied up enough to fit under a wig. The only way is to dye it because I refuse to cut it.”
“And you’re going to have time to get this done over the next year? I mean we are going into our senior year and you know how crazy that’s going to be… Extra work, prom, college visits, and…”
“Amy, you and I both know that I’m not going to college…” Natalie interrupted her voice low and hinting on sad. “It’s not like my mom has enough money to send me, she barely makes ends meet as it is. I mean come on, the only reason I can support my anime and manga addiction is because I have a part time job.”
“What about your dad?” Katie asked. Amy looked over at her wide eyed knowing that Natalie usually went off when anyone mentioned her father. Then she remembered Katie didn’t know what had happened with Natalie’s dad, she just knew that he wasn’t around.
Natalie snapped a bit, “That dead beat is only my father on the piece of paper they call my birth certificate. He’s useless. I haven’t seen or heard from him since I was five…” Natalie took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Her father had run off and left Natalie and her mother alone. Natalie had never forgiven him for that, making her mother suffer every day of her life ever since. It took her a moment but she managed to compose herself. “So anyway, my grades are average at best so there’s no way I’ll get any scholarships.”
“What about loans?” Amy asked.
Natalie shook her head. “I can’t put my mom through that. I’ll just work after graduation and see what happens from there. I might be able to find a way to do community college or something eventually.” Putting the plush down, Natalie went over to her window, staring out like she was looking for something or waiting for something that was just out of sight. “Someday things will be different,” she said softly.
Amy couldn’t help smiling at her friend. For Natalie’s sake, she hoped she was right. She hated seeing Natalie so sad.
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