Acceptance | ✓

Chapter 10

[ANDREW]

"I just love your The Family collection. Incubus was my favorite book in the series, followed by Lilith. You know, I was a little disappointed that you gave up on fantasy to write mystery and thriller. I'm not really a fan of the genre but I read your books because they're, well... yours," the dark-haired girl in a pink trench coat trailed, giving me a big grin.

"Uh, thank you?" I said, signing the last of the twelve books of The Family series. The convention had started an hour ago, and I hadn't had a break since I got here. Ethel has been trying her best to regulate things but I was still occasionally deafened by the screaming fans, and occasionally pulled into a bone-crushing hug by touchy ones.

Ethan was seating behind me reading a book with a pair of earpiece on. He'd already jumped to my rescue more than once since the start of the convention.

The girl in the trench coat was still smiling when I handed her back her set of books.

"Can I like, hug you?" she asked, laughing awkwardly.

"Sure," I said, glad she'd asked before attacking me. Her smile widened as she walked about the table to give me a hug.

"It was nice meeting you!" she squealed before letting me go. She soon took her books and disappeared into the crowd.

I met a bunch of other people. Some were jumpy about meeting me, and somewhere just plain uncomfortable since they were coming on behalf of others.

I've signed everything from books to body parts and handheld devices.

I sighed in relief when Ethel called for a break. I was badly in need of one and my ankle hurt badly from being pressed against the ground for too long. I tried to reduce the pain by rotating it but it just made things worse.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked, pulling out an earpiece before half closing the book he was reading to give me a worried glance.

"Yes," I lied, getting up only to feel immense pain. "No, not actually," I admitted, turning to meet Ethan's gaze.

He nodded in understanding before dropping the book he was reading to head towards me.

"I'll help," he said, putting his hand over my shoulder in an attempt to help me walk. Some people in the crowd gave me worried glances, probably wondering what was wrong with me. Ethel seemed to be handling things, explaining the situation in the shortest way possible.

Ethan took me to the small first-aid set up within the convention. The attendants were nice and they didn't ask many questions, just attended to me as they saw fit.

Ethan sat on the floor beside my seat, refusing to leave me there on my own. They were soon convinced I was better and asked me to take a break every twenty minutes or so from sitting to avoid the pain.

"Ethel will be mad, don't you think?" I sighed as Ethan helped me out the canopy.

"I doubt," he said as we walked through the crowd. Ethan still had his hand snaked over my shoulder to provide support. People were giving us odd looks, and I suddenly felt the urge to hide behind Ethan. He seemed to notice and pulled me closer to himself, providing an odd sense of relief.

We got to our stand a few minutes later, and the crowd didn't waste time to scream their apologies.

"They're acting as if I'm wounded," I whispered to Ethel as I sat back down.

"Well, it looks like it..." she trailed, making me give her a confused look. "I just guess you're used to it," she said, shrugging before leaving me behind with Ethan.