Page 46 of Drama Queens Don't Fall For Charming Boys

“Ah, I see.”

“I’m sure Declan has better things to do than eat dinner with us,” I say. “We’re so boring.”

His brows shoot up. “Your family is boring? Your dad is Asher Park and your mom freakin’ works for NASA.”

Darn my successful parents…

“We’d be happy to have you,” Mom tells him. I know she’s just trying to be kind, but ugh.

“I wouldn’t want to impose…” Declan starts.

“Of course not,” Mom assures him.

He glances at me like he’s not sure if I’ll gauge his eyes out if he says yes. I don’t want to be a jerk, so with an internal sigh, I say, “Yeah, we’re happy to have you.”

Declan looks extremely relieved and excited about this, maybe more than he realizes.

“All right. I’ll get started on it.” Mom leaves my room.

“I guess we can run more lines?” I say.

We work on the play for about an hour. Dad comes home just when Mom finishes dinner and calls us down.

“Hey, sweetie.” Dad wraps me in his arms and kisses my cheek. “How was school?” His eyes move past me to Declan, and they widen in surprise. “Is Declan Hart in our house?”

“We’re running lines for the play,” I inform him.

“And I invited him for dinner,” Mom says.

“If that’s okay…”

“Why shouldn’t it be okay?” Dad claps him on the back. “Don’t look so scared. The Parks don’t bite.”

Declan seems wary and distrusting around Dad, which is strange because he always looked at him in awe. When he met Dad on the set of The Beat of My Heart, he told him he was a huge fan of his movies. And that he inspired him.

Declan holds out his hand to Dad. “I’m so glad to see you again, Mr. Park.”

“Welcome to our home.” Dad shakes his hand. “And you can call me Asher.”

We make our way into the kitchen.

“It smells really good in here,” Declan says as we settle down at the table. “It makes me miss home and my mom’s cooking.”

“Thanks,” Mom says as she places the vegetable soup bowl on the table. We all dig in and sigh happily.

“This is delicious,” Declan says.

“As always,” Dad adds with a smile.

“Agreed,” I say.

Mom waves her hand. “Thanks. So, Declan. What brought you to Edenbury?”

He tells her that Miss Lane, who is his brother’s friend from high school, offered him to audition for the role of William because she was having a hard time finding her male lead. He had the best audition out of everyone and she asked him if he was willing to enroll in Edenbury High and be part of the play. He’s between projects and figured it would be fun to do it, since he really misses theater, his first love.

As he says this, he shifts in his seat and then puts on a smile. He’s a very good actor, but I can tell he’s putting on an act.

I remember the look on his face when I joked about him not being able to get roles. He seemed…hurt. Is he really having trouble landing jobs?

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