Three o'clock arrived with the inevitability of death and taxes.
I found Harlow waiting by the Lexus in the student parking lot, her school bag replaced by an oversized tote decorated with anime pins. She was practically vibrating.
"Ready!"
"I can see that."
"I made a list!"
"You showed me the list."
"I made a BETTER list!" She pulled out her phone and showed me a new document. This one had time estimates next to each item. "See? Craft store, thirty minutes. Post office, fifteen minutes. Hair clips, twenty minutes. Manga store, forty-five minutes because I might need to browse."
"Might?"
"Okay definitely. But efficiently! I'll browse efficiently!"
The craft store was a twenty-minute drive. Harlow spent the entire trip telling me about her cosplay project, which apparently involved recreating an entire magical girl transformation sequence outfit complete with hand-sewn details and LED lights embedded in the fabric.
