Page 24 of Drama Queens Don't Fall For Charming Boys

“Or maybe…” I puff out my cheeks. “Maybe it’s me. Because I…I was a total moron on set,” I admit.

“What do you mean?” Rylee asks.

I sigh as I look away. “This is why I wanted the sleepover tonight. You guys must suspect that something else happened on set. You really think I hate Declan because of a bad kiss?”

“Honestly, I always thought there was more to the story that you weren’t telling us,” Zoey says. “It’s not like you to be cold to someone just because of a terrible kiss. But I didn’t want to press for details if you didn’t want to tell us.”

“Yeah, we know you’re not shallow like that,” Rylee agrees. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, of course. But you know you can tell us anything. We’re the Musketeer Trio, and we never judge each other.”

“Agreed,” Zoey says. “All of your secrets are safe with us.”

I let out a heavy breath as my eyes move from one of my best friends to the other. Then my shoulders sag. “I…” I sigh overdramatically. “I know I can trust you guys. And of course I feel comfortable telling you anything and everything. It’s just that…I’m embarrassed of myself. I hate myself for feeling that way.”

“Feeling how?” Rylee asks.

“However you feel is okay, Mia,” Zoey tells me. “There’s no right or wrong way to feel.”

I squish Lady Bunny tighter to my chest. “I know. It’s just that…” I sigh overdramatically again. “Okay, I’ll start from the beginning. But ugh, I wish I could suck out the memories…Okay, so on the first day on set, I met him.”

“Declan,” Zoey confirms.

I nod. “And he…” My face flushes. “He was like so cool, you know? So charming and charismatic and so…ugh, he was so darn gorgeous. Have you seen his eyes? They’re like emeralds. Well anyway, I kind of was, um, smitten. Like bam in your face smitten.” I hang my head. “I developed a huge crush on him.”

“So what’s wrong with that?” Rylee asks.

I hold up my hand. “Patience, young Barrington. Yeah, so my crush on him grew over the next few days. I was so weird and awkward around him. Like as soon as the camera rolled, I was totally fine. It was easier to play a character and not myself. But as soon as the camera stopped rolling and I was back to me, I was a complete moron. I kept tripping over my words and sounded like a total loser in front of him. I think he thought I was a snob or something because he never asked me to hang out with him and the other guys. You know, the other two guys in the movie? They were Declan’s character’s friends?”

“Yeah, sure,” Zoey says.

“So I was really upset that he and the other guys didn’t ask me to hang out after work. First I thought it was because I was a girl and they wanted to do guy stuff, but then there was an extra one day, and she was like super pretty. Of course they asked her to hang out.”

“Mia, you’re super pretty,” Rylee tells me.

“Thanks, but it doesn’t matter. I guess I wasn’t cool enough for them.”

“Mia—” Zoey starts, but I hold up my hand.

“Come on, guys. We’re not cool at school. We’re invisible. I was just as invisible on set.”

Rylee and Zoey look at each other like they don’t know what to say.

“Well, anyway, it was the day of the kiss,” I continue. “I was super nervous, but I was also like really excited because…” My cheeks burn. “I might have stayed up some nights imagining kissing Declan Hart…” I shake my head, erasing those memories from my mind. “I thought it was going to be epic, you know? Like in all those romance movies. Fireworks and a symphony, the entire shebang. But as you both know, it was pretty bad. I was so shocked by how bad it was that I stumbled away so fast I accidentally knocked into one of the props. And then the prop knocked into another prop, which knocked into another prop…it was a domino effect. And before I could blink, I…” My cheeks sizzle. “I kind of ruined the entire set.”

“Oh, Mia.” They get up and wrap their arms around me. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” Rylee says.

I shake my head. “It was mortifying. I could see the disappointed look on the director’s face and the entire cast and crew looked at me like…” I sigh as tears prick my eyes. “It was such a disaster.”

“It’s okay, Mia.” Zoey rests her head against mine. “These things happen. Remember when Dani told us at one of our dance classes about the time she accidentally tripped on stage during a performance? She was in the middle of a Broadway show, and she fell flat on her face. But what did she do?”

“She got up and continued dancing like nothing happened,” Rylee finishes with an encouraging smile.

“It wasn’t only the bad kiss and my destroying the set,” I admit with downcast eyes. “It’s what Declan did afterward.”

Both Rylee and Zoey stiffen. “What did he do?” Zoey asks.

I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling some of the tears drip down. “He and the two other guys would make fun of me. Not to my face or anything. I would walk on set and they’d be laughing with each other, then quickly stop when they noticed me. It was so obvious they were laughing at me. And sometimes, I caught them laughing as they watched videos. I bet they have the entire fiasco on video. Maybe one of them bribed one of the camera operators to give them a copy of the footage. I don’t know. But I didn’t care that the other guys laughed at me. It really hurt when Declan did.”

Rylee and Zoey are quiet as they rub my back.

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