Cosplay Means Rebirth

Little did I know that my family life would be filled with problems.

The next week, I had decided that I had enough with just hanging by myself. I was going nowhere fast and everyone had lives outside the house but me. I knew it was time for me to move on and find a life outside my classic world.

I went to my room, collected every Great Classics Illustrated book I owned, packed them into a box and shoved the box into the attic. That being done, I cleaned the room and tossed away everything that was holding me back. I had enough useless junk to fill up five garbage bags, which I was throwing away into the trash bin when Stella pulled up in her car.

"Nicholas!" she cried out. "What are earth are you doing?"

"Throwing out everything I thought that meant something to me, but it didn't," I said. Gone were the silly drawings of a happy family; gone were the cute little clothes I didn't want to see anymore They were nothing more than a memory of a life I had wanted, but could never have.

"Nicholas," Stella said at last. "Let me see some of this stuff. I bet I could get rid of it and send some things to the Goodwill." She took the bags back to the den.

"So, where's everyone?" I asked.

"You father has some conference at work and who knows where the others have gone," said Stella as she went to prepare dinner. At least I didn't have to explain my suddenly clean room and empty bookshelves…yet.

On Monday, Cherry had sent me a script of the play they were doing for the cosplay contest, along with some DVDs of The Teen Rebels and Down in North Central. Both shows weren't very popular in California, as they reinforced many negative stereotypes regarding blacks and disabled people.

For the rest of the week, I returned to a partially empty house and my stepmother folding piles of my old clothes she planned to give to the Goodwill. All of my drawings were in some art portfolio bag. When asked, Stella said, "How can you throw away these drawings, Nicholas? I wish I could enroll you at an art class at the community center. Perhaps manga would be perfect for you." Great, just what I needed. More exposure to Japanese styled art.

On the other hand, that's what I needed in the first place. I was in a cosplay club, remember?

On Friday, at the club meeting, Hector said, "We've got less than a week to prepare for the contest, so let's get the scripts passed out and prepare for the play." I took my scripts and was surprised to learn that the cosplayers picked out their own parts rather than have the part assigned to them. "This isn't a school play, remember?" said Lisa. I wish I could say the same thing.

But my parents were finally home, and Stella was yelling at Bryce, Billy, Brynn, and Bonnie. Lucky me, I thought to myself. I wouldn't dare let myself get into any kind of trouble. Stella was yelling, "Just what were you guys thinking?"

"Dad was in town," said Brynn. "He wanted to see us."

"I thought I told him I didn't want him around you children at all!" Stella snapped.

Dad said, "Don't worry, Stella. I'm sure they didn't mean any harm." To them, he said, "Upstairs to your room; you're all grounded for the weekend."

As the four passed by my room, Bonnie said, "What happened here, Nick?"

"I told you, my name is Nicholas," I snapped. "And this isn't any of your business at all. I just needed to get my room cleaned out, that's all."

"You are strange," Billy laughed as he walked by.

"ROOMS!" shouted Stella.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Like you'll ever know," said Bryce. "And where's my comic?"

"You'll get it back next week," I said. "I'm still reading it."

"Like that's all you'll ever do," said Bonnie. "Nicholas the bookworm. That's all you are."

"I heard that!" yelled Dad.