Que up for registration.

I am going to miss the entire con! Yep by the time this line snakes up to the badge pick up station the con will be over; Mary thought despairingly as she tried to peer over the never-ending queue. I'll grab my badge and walk outside to see John and Susan parked and waiting for me. Oh, the awesome stories they will have to tell while the only thing I'll be able to talk about is this epic line wait.

"Hey... Hey.... Hey, girl..." Mary was pulled from her melancholy daydream by a hand gently shaking her shoulder. "Wake up. The lines moving now." said the woman who was directly behind Mary.

"Sah Sah... Sorry." Mary stammered as she began walking forward. The line eventually stalled again, and Mary turned to better express her gratitude to the woman who had roused her.

"Thanks for the warning. I guess I zoned out," Mary replied sheepishly.

"It's understandable. This damnable line is the worst part of the con." The lady said as she crossly spied row after row of con goers still queued up ahead of them. "Every year I plan on prebuying next years ticket to avoid it. Then I procrastinate and wind up stuck here again. By the way, I'm Anne." The lady said extending her hand.

"Mary," Mary replied, grasping Anne's outstretched hand, with tinges of barely restrained glee.

Anne was a strikingly beautiful woman who, to Mary's best guess, appeared to be in her early 40's. Her long, rich auburn hair, toned and tanned physique, and well-endowed bust made her the definition of a Cougar. She is gorgeous! And so easy to talk to. If I'm going to be stuck in line, I'm glad it's with her. Mary thought while obviously fawning over making Anne her first con friend.

A seductive grin spread across Anne's face. "So is this your first time Mary?"

"Yeah, my dad wouldn't let me come till I turned 18," Mary answered, blushing at her confession.

"You're a virgin? I knew it!" Anne exclaimed causing a few people in line to turn to see what was causing the commotion. Anne realized her voice had been rising in excitement and began to temper her tone. "Now, Now, no need to blush. Though it does make you look cute. Come here and let Mama Anne give you some pointers." Anne then reached her arm around Mary and hugged her tight.

Whispering in Mary's ear while pointing out a few Bro looking guys Anne intoned. "First thing you need to know is that there are guys, and some girls, who are going to question your fandom simply because you are an attractive young woman."

"Why?" Mary asked astonished that anyone would think her not to be a genuine fan.

Anne shrugged. "Insecurity maybe. Misogyny more than likely. But whatever their reason don't let them ruin your good time. Also, arguing with them is useless, so it's best just to ignore them. Now on to better things. Do you have the Tomorrow Con App downloaded?"

"Yes," Mary stated as she unconsciously pulled out her cell phone.

"Good. It has all the dates, times, and locations of the panels for the entirety of the con as well as the dealer's room layout. It's best to go through it and plan out the stuff you want to see. That way when it's getting close to time for a panel or contest or whatever the app will remind you. Best do that now while you are stuck in this purgatory." With that, Anne pulled out her cell and began fiddling with it.

Mary could not believe how much stuff there was to do and see. There was a panel for all things geeky no matter how obscure. The rest of her wait in line flew by as she filled up her itinerary a few times over. Ugh! Why are there so many things happening at the same time? I would need at least four clones to see and do all I've planned. Best start to pare it down. As Mary was making the hard choices of which panel to delete and which to save she noticed something she didn't understand. Some of the late night panels were marked with an 18+ symbol and required the user to enter their birth date to access their info.

Mary turned back to Anne, who was still busy typing away on her phone. "Anne, can I ask you something?" And then without waiting for Anne's assent "What are these age locked panel's about?"

Suddenly, the cashier called out "Next!" and the line attendant ushered Anne toward the ticket checkout window.

"Oh, those," Anne said a bit impishly. "I tell you what. Hand me your phone, and I'll make us friends on the app. Then you can look me up later, and I'll show you all about them." Anne stuck out her hand waiting for Mary to comply.