Page 22 of Drama Queens Don't Fall For Charming Boys

“I snuck out with a supply convoy,” I choke out.

“Why?”

“Because I was curious about The World Above.”

Declan stares at me like he has no idea what to make of my words.

“Officer!” Miss Lane yells, taking on the role of one of the officers who hasn’t been assigned yet. “Officer, what did you find?”

Since Declan is distracted, I bite his hand—well, I obviously pretend to—which causes him to cry out and roll away from me. With the speed of light, I dash off the stage.

“End scene!” Miss Lane claps. “That was marvelous!”

Every single person in the room claps and cheers. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so into a scene before. It was like…magic. Declan and I vibed off each other so well. How can that be when we were so bad together in The Beat of My Heart?

“Wonderful, wonderful,” Miss Lane says, and I swear I see tears in her eyes. “You guys can take your seats.”

As she calls on other students to perform another scene, Declan and I walk off the stage together. There are only a few inches separating us. It doesn’t look like he wants to say anything to me, and I have no idea what I could possibly say to him.

“You were amazing,” Gianna gushes as I sit down.

“Thanks. Um, how was our chemistry?”

“Off the charts!”

“Seriously?” I frown. How could we have good chemistry now when we were terrible in the movie?

I glance at Declan and find his eyes on me. I quickly twist around and focus on the actors on stage.

Chapter Nine

Mia

Sometimes when my friends and I are together, we get so caught up chatting that we forget to do our homework. Which is why my mom insists I finish my homework before our sleepover at Rylee’s tonight.

So after a few hours, Mom finally drives me to the Barringtons. She walks up to the house with me because she wants to say hi to Kara. Our moms don’t see each other that often anymore because it’s past football season and they no longer meet up at games on Friday nights.

As soon as the door opens and Kara comes into view, she squeals and pulls Mom in for a super hug. Rylee’s mom works for The Edenbury Press, and she’s always writing amazing articles about issues going on in our small town or important news.

“Mia, you’re more beautiful every time I see you,” she says as she flings her arms around me. “And your mom told me you’re starring in the school play again? I can’t wait to watch it. You were so amazing in your last performance.”

“Thanks. And thanks for the article you wrote. Although, you praised me too much.”

“As you know, I write the truth and only the truth.” As she hugs me again, she says to Mom, “Can you believe she, Rylee, and Zoey are juniors? My gosh, it won’t be long before they’ll be going off to college. I get so upset just thinking about it.” Her voice chokes up. Both Kara and Brayden tend to get emotional when they think about their kids flying the nest.

“Please don’t remind me,” Mom says. “I’ll miss my little drama queen.”

“We all will,” Kara says with a laugh as she plays with my hair. “Can you, Rylee, and Zoey please not grow up so fast? Our hearts can’t take it.”

“Uh…we’ll try.”

Once all the hugging is done, I make my way toward the stairs, passing Brayden on the way. He’s currently sitting on the couch watching a game.

“Hey, Mia. Running up to Rylee’s room, I see,” he calls after me. “It’s good to see you moving your muscles for a change.”

“Haha,” I say as I rush up the stairs.

When I walk into Rylee’s room, Zoey is already there, on her bed. “Hey, guys!” I greet as I make my way to my bed and drop my backpack. Rylee’s parents added two extra beds into her room when we were in elementary school because we were always having sleepovers.

---