I was getting the feeling that we were all just about done with car rides by the time we arrived. We got stuck in two big traffic jams, so the trip ended up being a hair over ten hours. Megan had to catch up on some schoolwork, and like an academic standout, she used that precious time to make silly faces at Abigail and Lizzy’s team in the other car. We were side-by-side plenty of times during the traffic jams and over the empty stretches of road. That gave us a little bit of entertainment to break up the monotony of the drive.
Our hotel was pretty nice, and it still did little to help alleviate the burnout I’d been feeling since our trip out to Missouri and the Tomb. I just wanted to have my own bed again. When I plopped myself down and landed with a thud on the mattress, it did almost pull me into a deep sleep. It wasn’t home, but I had to admit that it didn’t do too shabby a job at pretending to be. I heard Rebecca set her suitcase down on the hotel-required lonely corner chair right before she joined me on the bed.
“Way better than anything we had back in the day.” Her voice was muffled from the comforter, making it so I could barely understand what she was saying. Her hand patted my shoulder blade and I could hear her sigh. “You know we just have to get back up again, right?”
I knew she was right, and after so much time on the road, I refused to acknowledge it. Nearly half a day on the road and we had to go scout out the first night of the yacht party. I was pretty pissed at whoever planned the travel to be on the same day as the first party. Complaining wasn’t going to change anything, so I got up and dug out my least interesting outfit. Even though being noticed wasn’t necessarily a concern, I didn’t want to wear anything that would draw any extra attention to me. I slipped into the bathroom to change, leaving Rebecca the entire main room to do the same.
The lodging was close to Lake Granby, and thank goodness for that. It didn’t take but a few minutes to arrive where people were already boarding the yacht. The sun was starting to go down, so both teams tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. For someone like Lizzy, that looked easy. For someone like Lori, she was having a hard time looking like she was up to nothing. That girl was never going to be a spy. Shelly, Megan, and Abigail all opted to stay behind in the hotel, leaving us to figure out how to proceed on our own. As long as we didn’t blow anything up, no one expected a problem from just observing a boat sitting at a dock. For all anyone knew, we were a bunch of stupid kids getting ready to get wasted.
The yacht was way bigger than I was expecting. Cruise liners were colossal creations, almost resembling floating cities. The yacht wasn’t in that family, though it was bigger than any boat I’d ever seen. I was used to the little kayaks and small motorboats people would bring to the lakes over my summers in Oregon. Maybe a cushy one that could seat four people would be on the lake every so often. Those couldn’t dream of holding a candle to the yacht we were looking at. If the yacht had been any bigger, it would have been able to have its own helipad.
“I’m not really noticing a theme or other connecting elements with tonight’s costumes.” Lori was looking through a pair of binoculars that we brought. Again, something that looked totally normal. The girl would never be a spy. I watched her stare at two girls in bikinis as they slowly made their way up the little ramp to the boat before getting turned away for not being in proper costumes. I had to refrain from laughing and jokingly calling her a perv, but she must have sensed something was up. She threw me a grin and a sideways glance. “What’s got you about to burst out laughing?”
“Nothing,” I lied, “just enjoying the weather.”
The part about the weather was true. It was a gorgeous early evening with just the slightest chill stubbornly hanging on in the air as spring tried to push through.
“Most of the time, the theme is defined by the first night’s costumes,” Lizzy said, taking the binoculars. I didn’t know why we needed them, since I could see a ripped guy without a shirt walking up to security with no problems. Like the girls before him, he was turned away. She looked through them and sighed. “These horny university kids better find some real costumes soon. It’s too damn cold for a swimsuit.”
“You couldn’t pay me to wear that.” Rebecca didn’t look revolted by the swimwear or anything. It just wasn’t something she’d ever be comfortable wearing in public, and yeah, I couldn’t even see her trying a bikini on.
A few more people went in, all around our general age group, and all of them were in similar states of undress. No one was quite naked, a small gift for my eyes. I could see that the first night of the yacht party was just a giant wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. The sun dipped farther out of sight and the chill kicked up a bit. Rebecca shivered and started rubbing her arms, so I gave her my jacket. I didn’t think it was that cold, and even with my jacket on, she still gently leaned against me.
“Have I told you guys that I think you’re really cute together?” Lizzy asked, still observing the dock through the binoculars. “Have you guys even fought yet?”
“That’s a bit personal,” I said, wrapping my arms around Rebecca, just below her neck. I placed my chin on the top of her head and looked up toward the stars that were beginning to blink into existence in the darkening sky. “Thinking back on it, there was just the time where I tried to drink soda through my nose using two straws. She said I was dumb as a brick, or something along those lines.”
“Well, you are!” I could feel her sigh more than I could hear it. “I can’t even drink that stuff normally. Feels like my throat’s on fire, and you just took it in right through the nose. That’s the last time I let Megan dare you to do anything.”
“I hate boys.” Lizzy couldn’t keep her grin hidden no matter how much as she wanted to. “If you dare him to take a bite out of a bar of soap, he’ll do it. I guarantee he’ll do it.”
“I think him doing that adds a certain je ne sais quoi to their relationship,” Braden said. He’d been pretty silent most of the time, so I was glad he chipped in. I was more glad he chipped in to join my side.
“I don’t know who Jenna is or what she’s saying about our relationship, but I don’t approve.” I shook my head in mock anger. Braden and Julio laughed at my joke, and even Alex chuckled, but the others were less impressed.
“It’s unreal how much I hate boys.” Lizzy shoved the binoculars in my face. “All right, funny guy, it’s your turn. Je ne sais quoi your way to figuring out a pattern for what they’re wearing. I’ll probably stab you if you don’t get any info. I might stab you if you do, we’ll see.”
For a while, there wasn’t any info to get. Lots of shirtless dudes and girls in tiny bikinis flirting with each other and the security checking people in. There weren’t many costumes at that point. It looked like it was just an excuse for every young adult to show off their bodies, which really weirded me out. Almost all of them got turned away. Some of the half-naked hopefuls did get the greenlight to waltz in, so they must’ve had some connection, or maybe their swimsuits were some kind of costume. I wasn’t much of a party guy, so I didn’t know exactly how the entrance process went.
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I was running out of hope and trying to figure out a way to get ripped in two days when I finally saw a group of ten people arrive in costumes together, breaking a long string of disappointed girls in bikinis who got the boot. Truthfully, they weren’t much of a step up from everyone entering before. The girl in the group was wearing one of those revealing bunny costumes and the boys were all wearing matching togas. So, the goal was still to be a bit bold with the attire while making it look more dignified than just a beach party you and your buddies got hammered at.
After that, more costumed attendees started slowly trickling in. Dotted among them were people wearing less skimpy costumes, which was a relief for me and my noodle arms. A few of those guys and gals got turned away, but they didn’t seem to be getting turned away at a higher rate than the others. That gave me some hope that we could all make it inside. I did notice that the people being turned away weren’t the most conventionally attractive, which was another thing that weirded me out. Some were a little pudgy, some had frizzy hair, and more than a couple had acne that I noticed with the binoculars. It frustrated me to the point that I had to hand the binoculars over to Alex.
“Notice anything?” Lizzy made her way over to me and crossed her arms.
“You know, I’m not really sure what to tell you. It’s like when that first big group came in with costumes, more did, and they got progressively more modest.” I paused to take one more look to see if I could spot anything new. Zilch on that front. “It looks like they’re turning away people that have pimples or unkempt hair, but other than that, no real pattern beyond what we knew. It’s a costume party, so you can’t count on getting in just because you show up in a swimsuit.”
“Well, I can take care of hair and pimples for everyone.” Lizzy frowned at my scarred arm. “You might need some sleeves. I won’t have enough time to cover that up.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to try and use your powers to get this scar?” I wasn’t bitter, just unsure if Lizzy may have forgotten the whole thing.
“I know, I’m sorry. The guy who creates my makeup stuff is dealing with his own life issues right now. He had to move to North Carolina, and it’s been a mess for the guy.” The sincerity in her voice and the sad look in her eyes told me that she definitely didn’t just forget about it. “I really am sorry. As soon as I think I can help, you’ll be the first to know. Promise.”
I wasn’t embarrassed about anyone in the group seeing my gross scarring or anything. They knew where all my wounds came from. Mentioning it as I had did bring quite a few glances toward it, which made me feel a little shy. I refrained from asking Rebecca for my jacket back. There was no way I could make it look like I couldn’t handle people looking at a scar right before I was supposed to ask them to trust me on a boat with a bunch of strangers with superpowers.
I would need to get it covered up somehow before it was our turn to get on the boat.
“Looks like more costumes going in.” Julio walked next to Lizzy and straightened his back. I was pretty sure he adjusted his posture to make his shoulders look broader. It was kind of adorable watching him try to act all mature and cool for his pretty team leader. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I’m already bored and not learning anything. If Lori wants to, I say we head back to the hotel and check back here again tomorrow. I’ll start thinking of some costume ideas for everyone.” Lizzy rolled her shoulders and jaw, looking like she was prepping for a long night of planning.
Lori wasn’t convinced it was the right plan. “Shouldn’t we be doing what we can to figure out how to blend in?”
Lizzy made a hand gesture toward the yacht. “It’s not going to be hard. Get the right costumes and makeup, which I can do, and just don’t be weird. Which means you cannot just beat up random college girls.” Lizzy paused for a moment and put a finger on her chin. “Don’t do it if you can avoid it, but if you do, let me jump in.”
Horrific visions of Lizzy and Lori teaming up to fight some drunk lady flashed through my mind. It was bad enough when one of them did it. Two of them doing it would blow the whole operation, and maybe the boat, out of the water. I tried to take comfort in the fact that Lori would at least have some girlfriend backup if Lizzy did need to step in. Lizzy was tall and in good shape. If it was a normal fight against a normal girl, I could trust her to keep my friend safe in a scrap.
We continued to watch the party unfold. As more and more people showed up in proper party attire, fewer got turned away. It wasn’t until people started spilling out on the deck that even costumed hopefuls were getting turned away by stern security. The yacht could hold a decent number of people it appeared, which was good. Unless there was some bizarre pocket dimension under the deck—which I wouldn’t dare to rule out—the space wasn’t infinite, so we couldn’t wait too long before we tried to get aboard. That was less good and put more pressure on all of us, mostly Lizzy, to make sure we were as ready as we could be.
Soon after everyone started to migrate to the deck of the boat, we could hear the music. Actually, I was pretty sure we could feel it, even from where we sat on the dock. Apprehension from the idea of being on such a loud, crowded boat filled me. I pulled my girlfriend a little closer, drawing a curious glance from the redhead I held in my arms. Some fears were harder to shake than others, and imagining myself surrounded by loud drunks didn’t do a lot to make me feel better about the plan we had.
Still, despite the nerves I felt at the idea of being surrounded by dancing, sweaty people, there was some appeal to the idea. I hadn’t gone to my prom, so bringing Rebecca along to the yacht party was the closest I was going to get. And it wasn’t like how it was in high school. I didn’t have friends there. I didn’t even have enemies there. Butting heads with people like Lori and Alex was worth it because of how much I cared for them, and knowing they’d be on the boat with me helped ease some of the anxiety that bubbled up in me.
Lizzy groaned and threw herself back onto the dock, not caring about splinters and snapping me out of my worrying fit. Her hair fell around her head like a dark halo. Her chest filled with a dramatic huff she held for a few seconds before slowly letting it out through her mouth. “I haven’t learned anything new! I just want to get into a cute little costume and have fun with my girls. Oh, and Ethan. He’s a good egg.”
“Thanks, I think?” I wasn’t sure what that said about me compared to the other guys. Knowing Lizzy, I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.
“It means you’re like another sister to her,” Lori added.
When I frowned, Lizzy started to laugh, kicking her legs up and down like she was a child. It was so weird to me that she was only a little older than I was.
“The loser boys on my team wouldn’t let me go near them with a foundation brush.” She made sure to glare at Braden and Julio. “Ethan has the balls to let me have my fun. You two? Pathetic excuses for men. No, pathetic excuses for boys.”
Braden and Julio just laughed, showing her little barbs were all good in nature. The glint I could see in her eyes did tell me she wouldn’t hesitate to put all kinds of cosmetics on them given the chance. I couldn’t help but feel a little happy and proud from Lizzy’s praise, even if it joking.
She pointed to me without looking at me. “And, yes, you’re like another sister to me. But you’re like a sister in, like, a cool and manly way.”
I buried my face against Rebecca’s shoulder to keep the laughter from being too loud. She patted the side of my head like Lizzy’s words were the biggest honor she could have seen me receive. Hey, if it wasn’t mean and Rebecca was happy, then I was over the moon.
“You guys talk too much,” Alex said. He was leaning against a tree and staring up at the night sky, looking bored. “If there isn’t anything more to learn, let’s just get out of here. It’s a waste of time to just sit here and...well, waste our time. We’ve been on the road forever. We could all use a nice night of sleep.”
Leaving with Alex seemed to perk Lori up enough that she didn’t make any kind of argument for staying. He made a compelling argument for the rest of us too.