This wasn’t sustainable, she knew. She knew it couldn’t last.
But in the grand scheme, what was one more con?
When all was said and done, AJ left San Diego with $210,000, and considerable upsides.
Blue Con
September 2, 2012
The day before Blue Con,AJ visited Patrick at Simmons to remind herself why she was doing this. Itwas notto see Noah. It was to help her brother.
While he was now able to lift small objects with his right hand and move his right foot, his left side remained inert. As Patrick spoke of his physical therapy, AJ sprawled on the white epoxy floor with Charlie, playing with a Boba Fett action figure she had brought him from Comic-Con.
“That toy is perfect,” said Elle, passing through. “Aww, you’re going to be such a great mom.”
AJ looked from the action figure to Charlie’s tiny body and thought,Me?
As she watched Elle shuttle an armful of trash into the hall, AJ tried to picture herself in Elle’s place. If Brian had to travel for work, the household drudgery would inevitably fall to her. Maybe one day she’d be ready for it. She’d heard most women had a timer that went off, making them baby crazy. Maybe hers just hadn’t popped yet.
“Last con tomorrow, right?” Patrick asked from the bed.
AJ nodded, stifling a yawn. It was exhausting to affect cheer, to not look on Patrick’s unmoving, propped-up form and screamThis is a lie.
Her brother’s body was one-armed hugs and reaches for the top shelf. It was sweat and freckles and high fives and farts. It was the unbeatable stride, it wastag, you’re it.It was protection and strength and vigor and youth. This was not her brother’s body. This was a broken promise.
“Seriously, Age, I don’t know how to thank you,” Patrick was saying. “It’s really too much. You should be off planning your wedding or something.”
“I’d rather be trapped in a convention center for the next month,” said AJ, distracted.
Patrick laughed. “And how has it been seeing everyone?” he asked. “Seeing Noah?”
Her cheeks colored. “It’s all good.”
At dusk, AJ returned to her car and checked her phone. She had a text from Brian, who was covering the US Open in Queens. AJ sent him an emoji, then refreshed the Blue Coats URL.
Blue Coats Society: Arho\\Summer Cons\\2012
BustASpAceTIme:Cannot wait to see Mom and Dad at #Bluecon tomorrow.
BlueFlower96:I just checked in—this place is gorgeous.
BadRhomance33:Make sure to ask about the reboot at the Q&A.
AJ had been checking the boards with obsessive regularity since Comic-Con. It wasn’t great.
But it helped her feel less…bad. About missing Noah. And about the secondByrontrailer.
It came down to one specific clip, really, an intimate over-the-shoulder shot of Noah looking searingly at Allison Seabring, who played Mary Shelley.
“There’s only one person he’s ever really given a damn about,” said the voice-over.
The second AJ saw Noah gazing at Allison—like she was a brand-new day—she could sense on a gut level that he wasn’t acting. There would be no three-month cutoff this time. This was real.
The internet agreed. It turned out the mainstream media had spent the summer taking bets on when Noah would pop the question. In between the cons, several high-profile events had come and gone without a ring, ratcheting up the conviction that a ring was imminent. And inevitable.
This had sent AJ running headlong into Brian’s embrace and the warm bubble of Arho fan gossip. The dopamine hit she received every time a photo of her and Noah reposted was almost enough to fool her brain into thinking that her pining for him was somehow not totally insane.
Almost.
