Page 79 of Drama Queens Don't Fall For Charming Boys

“Uh huh.”

“Okay! Maybe it was more than a teensy weensy. But I’m so over that. I’m older and wiser and more mature.”

She bursts out laughing.

I glare at her. “I’m not a little kid!”

She holds up her hands. “I know you’re not. Of course you’ve matured. I just love teasing you.”

I grumble under my breath.

“Where’s WillowBot?”

“Downstairs in the living room. She insisted she clean up the place even though I told her Mom, Dad, or I will do it later. Though, it probably would have been me, since Mom and Dad won’t be back from Ji-Ho’s for a while. Want me to get her so you can say hi?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Once I retrieve her, WillowBot and Willow catch up. WillowBot wants to make sure that Willow is getting enough sleep and is eating right and exercising regularly, because a healthy body leads to a healthy mind, which will help her with college. Then WillowBot totally calls me out and informs my big sister that I stay up way too late gaming and eat too much junk food (although she has limited my junk food intake).

Willow laughs. “Sounds like you’re taking care of my little sister, WillowBot. Keep it up.”

I scowl at her. “Why are you encouraging her controlling behavior? You know I have to buy snacks at school or ask my friends to bring me some? The thief stole potato chips right out of my backpack! And when I needed them most.”

“You did not require potato chips, Mia,” WillowBot says.

“Yes I did! Declan and I were trapped in a supply closet and I was going to starve to death. Luckily he had cookies, or else my death would have been on your hands, WillowBot.”

“Negative,” she says. “For you were only in the closet for perhaps an hour or two. One does not die from starvation that quickly. Lack of water, on the other hand—”

“Ugh!”

Willow laughs again. “So you were stuck in a closet with a guy?”

I perk up and smile. “I know, right? It was just like Mom and Dad.”

“You know how that story ended, right?”

I give her a face. “What exactly are you getting at?”

She holds up her hands. “I’m not getting at anything. I was just stating a fact.”

I shake my head with a frown. “Declan and I are just friends. Why do people always assume otherwise?”

“Because you had a crush on him?”

“I didn’t—I mean…Ugh!” I huff again.

“Mia, I’m just teasing you again. The odds of you falling in love with Declan and living happily ever after like Mom and Dad are very slim. Statistically, it’s unlikely that you’ll even meet the person you’re supposed to marry until after high school.”

“But Rylee and Zoey met their soulmates, and so did you and your friends, and Mom and her friends…”

“I know. But that’s rare. It might happen to you, too, but I don’t want you to spend your days hoping and dreaming that it will. Just continue living and enjoying your life, okay? As amazing as it is to be in love, the truth is that there’s more to life. I don’t want you to miss out on anything.”

I slowly nod as her words sink in. “I know you’re right. I still want it, though.”

“Of course you can want it. Just don’t obsess over it, okay? It’ll happen when it’s the right time, and maybe when you least expect it.”

I raise a brow. “Like what happened to you?”

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