Page 9 of Drama Queens Don't Fall For Charming Boys

“Yes!” I take a slice of pizza, dessert, and a drink, and once all five of us have our lunch, we make our way to our lunch table. The famous invisible table. We’ve been eating here since freshman year, but it’s still nuts to think our moms and sisters ate at this table, too. There’s so much history here.

We call it the invisible table because no one pays attention to it. It’s at the corner of the cafeteria, practically invisible. We prefer it that way because we like keeping to ourselves. Even though I’ve done movies and TV roles and am pretty well known, no one at school gives me the time of day. Probably because we all grew up together and they see me as any other kid here.

As soon as I’m seated and take a bite of my pizza, my body nearly falls over in delight.

We talk about different topics as we eat. Mason enlightens us about the kid he’s currently tutoring. A senior girl who won’t graduate unless she pulls up her grades.

“It’s kind of tough,” he continues after taking a sip of Coke. “All she wants to do is party and scroll through social media. I was tempted to threaten to take her phone away. Like I’m a teacher. But…she kind of scares me a little.”

Rylee’s eyes widen. “Did she hurt you?”

“No, no. Of course not. But her boyfriend is that guy.” He points his thumb to a table a few feet away from us, where a group of seniors are eating and chatting. The guy with the tattoos and perpetual scowl. “I heard he was left back. Anyway, I figured that if she doesn’t want to fix her grades or graduate, that really isn’t my problem. I’m tasked with helping her and if she doesn’t want to be helped, there’s not much I can do.”

Rylee slides her hand in his. “Exactly.”

As we continue eating, I spot Zoey and Kade giving each other secret smiles. When I peer under the table, I see them playing footsie. Those two can’t get enough of each other, which is crazy because they couldn’t stand each other only a few months ago.

My gaze roams around the cafeteria. There must be something in the air because most kids are either huddled with someone or cuddling. It’s like the Universe is taunting me. I kind of wish I had my sister Willow’s matching app to help me find my special guy. Too bad she killed it and changed it to a friend making app instead. It would have been nice to know if my soulmate goes to this school.

My friends and I talk about other topics, like when the Junior Musketeers came home for winter break and we spent as much time with them as we could. I missed Willow so much. She only stayed for about two weeks before she had to go back. Before she left, she made some improvements and repairs on WillowBot.

Alas, my amazing pizza comes to an end just as the bell rings. My friends and I gather our stuff and separate to our classrooms.

***

When I walk into the auditorium after school, I find most of the theater kids already seated in the front rows. Miss Lane sits in the center with a list of the latest sign-ups. From what I can tell, there are about four names scribbled there.

A guy on stage is in the middle of reading from the script. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be doing the best job.

I choose a seat next to my friend, Gianna, and take out my script. I have a lot of friends from theater, but we don’t hang out much outside of theater. Leaning closer to Gianna, I whisper, “Please tell me he’s not as bad as he sounds.”

Gianna sighs. “The other guy was even worse.”

My eyes bug out. “Seriously? Has Miss Lane been auditioning guys all day?”

“I think for the past hour.”

I try not to release my own sigh as I open my script. I have two scenes to get through first before I start memorizing my lines. Miss Lane said she wants us off-book by the end of next week, and considering I have many tests and lots of homework lined up, I have my work cut out for me. I’m pretty fast at memorizing lines, though.

This play, called The World Above, is actually pretty incredible. In this post-apocalyptic world, men live above ground and patrol while the women live underground. Men are told that women are evil and manipulative while women are told that men are wicked, selfish, and abusive. They breed babies in labs. The main male character, William, is a soldier who patrols above ground, and the female character, Scarlett, who lives underground, is extremely curious about the world above. One day, she sneaks out and is about to get attacked by a bear and guess who saves her? None other than William. Yeah, predicable, but ooh.

These two characters have never seen a member of the opposite gender before, so they’re both very surprised and confused. But then he holds a gun to her head and threatens to kill her, since he was taught to basically hate women. But of course he can’t bring himself to do it and lets her go. Ever since that moment, the two of them meet in secret and get to know each other and learn about each other’s worlds. It’s not long before they fall in love. Eventually, they’re caught and are separated, and as punishment, they order William to kill Scarlett. He declares he would sooner be killed than hurt the girl he loves. Once everyone sees the intense, deep, and unconditional love they have for one another—a love so strong they’d die for it—they realize how wrong their societies are. And they decide to start over and build a much better society.

I’m so freakin’ excited to bring Scarlett to life. I already know the perfect way to portray her.

“Thank you, uh, Bryce,” Miss Lane says as she crosses his name off the list. “I’ll let you know if you got the part. Next, can I have Lionel on the stage?”

“Another one bites the dust,” I mutter.

Gianna sighs again. “I don’t know if this thing will ever take off.”

“I’ll be right back.”

I walk over to Miss Lane and sit down in the seat next to her. She turns to me and gives me a small smile. “Hi, Mia. Have you finished your first read-through of the script?”

“I have two scenes left. I really love it and can’t wait to bring it to life.”

She beams. “I’m glad to hear that.” She focuses on Lionel as he reads the line. He actually does a pretty good job. When I glance at Miss Lane, she doesn’t seem as impressed as me. She, like before, looks extremely frustrated. After another minute, she crosses his name off the list.

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