Hidden Birthday Surprise

The hotel room smells like cheap air freshener and the candy I smuggled in my bag. Skittles. Sour Patch Kids. The stuff Mari grabbed from the convenience store while I was trying on the America Chavez costume for the fifth time. She said I looked perfect. She always says that.

I’m still in it. The blue leather jacket with the stars. The red shorts. The boots that pinch my toes but make me feel like I could punch a hole through reality. Mari thinks I’m shy. She’s right. Most of the time. But tonight I turned nineteen and something in my chest feels different. Unlocked.

She’s on the bed. Green Lantern. Her costume is all black and green, skin-tight, with those muscle lines painted on that make her look like she could lift a car. She’s laughing at something on her phone, but she’s watching me. She’s always watching me.

“Come here,” she says.

I don’t walk. I crawl. Up the foot of the bed, the cheap polyester comforter rough under my knees. She sets the phone down and her hands find my waist. Pulls me on top of her. The ring on her finger glows plastic green in the dim lamp light.

“Happy birthday, baby.”

Her mouth is warm. She tastes like the cherry lip gloss she reapplied in the elevator. I kiss her and my brain goes quiet. That’s the thing about Mari. She turns down the volume on everything else. The voices that tell me I’m too quiet, too weird, too much of a girl who used to be something else. She doesn’t care. She just kisses me harder.

Her fingers slide under my jacket. Traces the line of my spine. I shiver.

“You nervous?” she whispers.

“No.”

“Liar.”

She’s right. I’m always nervous. But it’s a good nervous. The kind that sits in my stomach like I’m at the top of a drop. Waiting to fall.

I pull the zipper of her costume down. Just a little. Just enough to see the curve of her collarbone. She’s so beautiful it makes me angry. How does she just walk around looking like that? Like she owns the world.

“You’re thinking too loud,” she says.

“I’m not thinking at all.”

She laughs. That low, dirty laugh she does when she knows I’m lying. “Good. Don’t start.”

Her hand cups my jaw. Pulls me back down. I let myself fall.

The knock comes out of nowhere.

Loud. Three sharp raps against the door.

I freeze. Mari’s hands keep moving for a second, then stop. She sighs.

“Ignore it,” I say.

“Luna.”

“Seriously. They’ll go away.”

Another knock. Harder this time. The person on the other side isn’t going anywhere.

I groan. Roll off her. My boots hit the carpet and I stomp to the door, already pulling the jacket closed. I’m going to tell whoever it is to fuck off. Politely. I’m not good at being mean.

I open the door.

Demi stands in the hallway.

She’s still in costume. Laura Kinney’s Wolverine. The yellow and blue suit. The claws. The short, messy hair. She’s tall. Broader than me. Her jaw is sharp and her eyes are dark and she’s looking at me like she knows something I don’t.

“Hi,” she says.

Her voice is low. Australian. It curls around the word.

“Hi.”

I’m staring. I can’t stop. We met her at the con earlier. She bought me a drink. A soda, because I’m nineteen and the bartender didn’t card. She called me a badass for the costume. I felt my face go red.

“Happy birthday, little one.”

She holds out a hand. In her palm is a key card. Room 412.

I take it. My fingers brush hers. Static jumps between us.

“What is this?”

“Your present.”

I turn around. Mari is sitting up on the bed. She’s smiling. That smile she does when she’s proud of herself. When she’s done something she knows I’ll love but I’m too scared to ask for.

“You did this?” I say.

“I called her. After you passed out last night.”

“I didn’t pass out. I fell asleep.”

“Same thing.”

I look at the key card. Back at Demi. She’s leaning against the doorframe. Arms crossed. Patient. Like she has all night.

“You want to come in?” I say.

“Only if you want me to.”

My heart is doing something stupid. Pounding against my ribs like it’s trying to get out. I’m shy. I’m timid. I’m the girl who looks at the floor when people talk to her. But Mari knows the other me. The one that comes out when the lights are low and there’s nothing left to hide behind.

I step aside.

Demi walks in. She moves like she owns the space. Like she’s been here before. She looks around the room, takes in the rumpled bed, the scattered candy, the half-empty bottle of water on the nightstand. Then she looks at me.

“Nice costume.”

“Thanks.”

“America Chavez. Can punch holes between dimensions.”

“Yeah.”

“What dimension did you punch to get here?”

I don’t know how to answer that. Mari laughs from the bed. “She punched through a lot of them.”

Demi turns to her. Something passes between them. A look I can’t read. Mari nods. Just once.

“Come here,” Demi says.

She’s looking at me.

I walk. My boots feel heavy. The carpet is rough. I stop in front of her. Close enough to smell her. Soap. Leather. Something sharp underneath.

She reaches out. Touches the collar of my jacket. Traces the star on the front.

“You’re shaking.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

She’s right. I am. But it’s not fear. It’s the drop in my stomach. The moment before the fall.

Mari gets up. Comes to stand behind me. Her hands settle on my shoulders. Warm. Grounding.

“You okay?” she whispers.

I nod.

“Use your words.”

“I’m okay.”

“Good.”

She kisses my neck. Soft. Just below my ear. I close my eyes.

Demi’s hand moves from my collar to my chin. Tilts my face up. I open my eyes and she’s right there. So close I can see the flecks of gold in her irises.

“You tell me if you want to stop,” she says. “Any time. No questions.”

“Okay.”

“Say it like you mean it.”

“I mean it.”

She smiles. It’s not a nice smile. It’s a promise.

Mari’s hands slide down my arms. Lace her fingers through mine. She pulls my hands behind my back. Holds them there.

“You trust me?” she says.

“Always.”

“Then let go.”

I take a breath. The air is thick. Smells like three different perfumes and the heat of bodies.

I let go.

Demi’s other hand finds my waist. Pulls me closer. Her mouth is an inch from mine.

“Happy birthday, Luna.”

She kisses me.