Page 135 of Drama Queens Don't Fall For Charming Boys

She laughs lightly. “But back to my crush….I think the reason the kiss sucked was because I was embarrassed and awkward around you. And everyone was there, watching me kiss a boy for the first time in my life. I don’t know. It was just bad. I thought you were a terrible kisser, but the way we kissed on Wednesday…geez, dude.”

I laugh, pushing my fingers through my hair. “I thought I was a terrible kisser, too. I had no clue what I was doing or anything. I was embarrassed and felt so weird about the whole thing, too.”

“What do you mean? Declan Hart has kissed many girls in his life. You’re practically an expert.”

I lift both brows. “Where did you hear that?”

She shrugs. “I guess I just assumed. Why?”

“You were my first kiss.”

Her mouth falls open. “What?

I nod.

She holds up her hand, scooting closer to me on the couch. “You’re saying you hadn’t kissed anyone before me?”

“Yeah.”

“But you’re so…I mean, you never had a girlfriend?”

I shake my head.

“How can that be?” she wonders.

I hold up my hands like I have no clue. “Wasn’t in the stars, I guess.”

She stares at me like I told her I have an invisible eye in the center of my forehead. “So it was your first kiss, too...” she says, like she’s talking to herself. “Is that why it sucked? Both of us had no idea what we were doing, and having an audience didn’t exactly help. And we had no chemistry.”

I bend close. “Seems to me that we have loads and loads of chemistry during rehearsal for the play.”

“It makes no sense! We had no chemistry in the movie, but our chemistry in the play is over the top.”

I shrug. “Maybe it just wasn’t the right time.”

“And my crush turned me into a moron. Everything is my fault.”

“Don’t say that. We both messed up. Things just went wrong.” I force a smile. “But at least you were asked to return for the sequel. I’m happy for you.”

She takes my hands, giving them a squeeze. “They’re jerks for not asking you to return.”

I nod slowly. “Yeah, I guess.” I puff out my cheeks. “Everything went south for me after that announcement.”

“What do you mean went south?”

I inhale, then release it. “I haven’t been able to get any roles since then.”

“None?”

I shake my head. “Remember when you came over the other day and Chase was on the phone? He was talking to my agent. We thought he’d tell us good news about an offer, but they chose someone else.”

She holds up her hands. “Hold on. You’re saying no one wants to hire you because you weren’t asked back for the sequel?”

“I mean, I don’t know. I guess I can’t only blame them. My auditions sucked. I can’t seem to focus. I get so nervous that I’m not good enough. Being fired from the sequel has been messing with my head. Makes me second-guess everything. Which affects my auditions. Like I ask myself, what am I doing? Who do I think I am to be good enough to be a movie star?” I sigh. “I don’t know. Everything just got messed up.”

Scooting closer, she stretches her arms around me. “I didn’t know you’re going through this. I’m so sorry.”

I shake my head. “It’s not your fault. I just…” I force a smile. “I’ll just hope to get the next one.”

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