Page 63 of Drama Queens Don't Fall For Charming Boys

I think back to yesterday. “She was just happy to see me.”

“Because you’re Declan Hart. Charmer extraordinaire.” She holds up her hands. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, you know. If you have the charm, then good for you. But my parents always told me never to use my talents for bad or to take advantage of anyone. Not that you use your charm to take advantage or anything.”

“Right.”

We’re quiet.

“I still don’t understand exactly what you mean,” I say. “When I talk to people, I’m just being myself.”

She’s quiet as she mulls it over. We both finished our ice cream, and I’m happy to say it was the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten in my life.

“Are you being yourself or are you just acting?” she asks. “I mean, it’s hard to know sometimes.”

“Do I look like I’m acting right now?”

She watches me for a bit. “No. You actually seem very genuine right now.”

I rub the back of my neck. “Sometimes, especially when I’m with my fans, I don’t know how to not be DH, you know? I transform into this person and I don’t know where he ends and where I begin.”

But it’s different with her. I don’t feel like Declan Hart when I’m around her. I just feel like me. Maybe because she’s not afraid to be blunt with me. She’s the only one in the entire school who treats me like a normal person.

“Well, I guess it’s something you have to figure out,” she says.

I bend close. “What about you? You don’t seem to have that problem. Everyone at school treats you like you’re—”

“Invisible.”

“What?”

She shrugs. “It’s true. I’m a nobody at school.”

“But you’re such a phenomenal actor and so beautiful. Why aren’t you popular there?”

Her eyes widen. “Did you just call me beautiful?”

“I…uh…” I shift in my seat. “Well, yeah. You are. Beautiful, I mean. Anyway, uh…I mean, I know it’s been a while since I was in public school, but I would assume your fellow students would be crazy obsessed with you. How can they not be when you’re so funny and fun?”

“Funny and fun?” She glances around. “There aren’t any cameras around, you know.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to pretend to be nice to me and compliment me. No one’s going to post a video of this on Spill It!.”

My eyebrows furrow. “I’m being totally honest with you. You’re fun to be around and you keep me on my toes. You’re not afraid to be real with me.”

She stares at me for a while. “Well…I mean…I guess I get that from my mom.”

I bend close. “You’re nice and fun, and an amazing actor. Heck, you star in most of the school plays. But you’re not popular. What am I missing here, Mia?”

She pushes some hair over her face. “Well, it kind of started with my mom’s friend Dani. She called it the Invisible Curse. I don’t know if I believe in it, but…”

“The Invisible Curse?”

“Yeah. My friends and I have been cursed to be invisible, just as our moms and sisters were. Like I said, I don’t know if I believe in that sort of thing. But what makes the most sense is that I’ve been going to school with the same kids since kindergarten. We know everything there is to know about each other and have been through it all together—bathroom accidents in the classroom, disgusting puke episodes, the awkward early teen years…”

I contemplate her words for a few seconds. “I guess I can see that. You’re like one big happy family.”

“More like the middle kid who’s always overlooked and forgotten, but sure. They see me as a person, which actually makes me really lucky.”

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