So Many New Experiences

The whole two-hour drive flew by. John and Susan regaled Mary with stories of past cons. The guests, the exclusive merchandise, the interesting panels. Mary had heard most of the stories before but with the anticipation of her first con just minutes away they seemed to have had new life breathed into them.

It felt as if no time had passed when John pulled up in front of the Downtown Radisson. Immediately bellhops came to unload the car while the valet took the keys while handing John a card he would need to present to the parking office when he was ready to retrieve it. Everything so far seemed a magical to Mary.

"Wait at the elevator with Susan," John told Mary. "I'm going to the front desk and check us in and grab our room keys."

Mary followed Susan to the center of the massive lobby to wait at the bank of elevators. Mary stood, beside Susan and the bellhop, watching all the early arrivals mill about. A few were already in costume. _So many people like me! _Mary leaned over to Susan and whispered. "I feel like I should ask you to pinch me." A mischievous grin shot across Susan's face. Without warning, her hand shot out and pinched Mary on the hip. "Now you don't have to guess if you are dreaming." Both girls burst out into laughter.

At that moment, John reappeared and handed Susan and Mary their room cards. "Glad to see you two are already having fun," John said as he reached between them to push the elevator call button. Wow, John smells nice. Is he wearing cologne? Mary thought as she breathed in deep through her nostrils. He is. I've never known him to wear any before. Maybe it's a con thing. Just then the elevator chimed, and the door opened. They all stepped inside and John pushed button number 7. The doors closed and the elevator whizzed non-stop to the seventh floor. "Don't get used to that Mary. Once everyone starts arriving, you will learn to hate how long these elevator trips take." Susan warned her. Mary put the thought from her mind as the anticipation of what her first hotel room would be like had her positively giddy.

Their room number was 707. It was just down the hall from the elevator bank right before the walkway made a sharp left that led to the next set of rooms. John slid in his key card and opened the door for the bell hop. They all followed in after he had pushed in the luggage rack. The man quickly unloaded all their luggage and John slipped him a five dollar tip. Just like that, he was out the door and gone.

"Well..." Susan said while jumping on one of the two beds landing with enough to bounce "...what do you think?"

The room was what one would call a standard hotel room. You entered into the short hallway that, on the right, contained the closet. The bathroom was on your immediate left. The hall opened up to the room proper which consisted of two queen beds separated by a nightstand. A small round table with a couple of chairs sat against the wall just past the second bed. A small leather recliner lounged in the far corner, and a chest of drawers with a flat screen TV and microwave on top with a small fridge built in finished off the furnishings.

"I would have thought... With John with us... That... there would be more privacy." I said meekly feeling like a prude. Impishly Susan replied "Oh don't worry about John. He's practically your brother too. If he tries anything you don't want him to, I'll tell dad. Then he'll have to sit out next year's con." She stuck her tongue out at John in mock jest but Mary couldn't help but notice Susan had put a bit extra emphasis on the word don't. Does she realize I'm attracted to John? "Worry about me?!? John said in feigned outrage. "I'm not the one you have to share a bed with for the next four days. Best watch out for my sister. She gets a bit handsy when she is tipsy." With that, Susan flung a pillow at John's head smacking him in the face. "You're such a perv. Is that your fantasy? Your sister and your best friend being all naughty just mere feet from you?"

Both of them stopped their performance when they noticed Mary had turned three different shades of Crimson.

John started heading toward the door. "Alright, we had better head over to the Carleson and get in line for registration. If we wait any longer, we will be hours in line." With that, like a perfect gentleman, he held the door open for both his sister and Mary.

It was a two block walk from the Radisson to the Carleson and already the sidewalks were becoming crowded with other con-goers on the same quest. When they got to the Carelson Mary noticed many different colors of tape leading to a variety of different doors.

"Now Mary this is where John and I will have to leave you for a while." Mary's eyes went big at that statement. "Why?" she asked in a quivering voice. "Susan and I are Eternal members. We have to follow the yellow tape to get our badges. You, on the other hand, are buying you badge on site. That means you follow the blue tape. When you get your badge go back to the room, and we'll get some dinner." John replied in his most reassuring big brother voice.

The yellow tape headed toward the closest door, and there was no one that Mary noticed following it besides the Tempest siblings. The Blue tape, on the other hand, went to the farthest door, and the line was already snaking its way outside. I'll be forever. I should have asked dad earlier if I could come. Then I could have would have been able to prebuy my ticket. That's the line with orange tape, and it's not near as long and seems to be moving at a brisk pace. Instead, I'm stuck with the rest of the damned in the line from hell.

With resignation, Mary walked up to stand behind the last person in the blue line.

I need to stay positive maybe I'll meet someone nice and make my first con friend!