Page 95 of Drama Queens Don't Fall For Charming Boys

“I doubt it.”

“There was this annoying kid in my elementary class called Louis. He thought he was the king of staring contests. But then he had to deal with me. And I wiped the floor with him.”

“You’re right,” he says. “He thought he was the king of staring contests. Because he never met Declan Hart.”

“What a cocky dude this Declan Hart is.”

“And handsome,” he reminds me. “Don’t forget handsome.”

“Oh my gosh,” I mutter.

“And Mia Park is the most gorgeous person on the planet.”

I blink and stare at him. What did he just say? He called me beautiful before and now he called me gorgeous?

Declan cheers. “Woo-hoo! The challenger blinked and lost! The king of staring contests is victorious again!”

I can’t help but continue staring at him. Why did he casually throw those words out like that?

I shake my head. He just said that to throw me off and win the staring contest. It didn’t mean anything.

“What do I win?” he asks with a cheeky grin. “Tell me it’s something good.”

“A lifetime supply of severed gummy worms?”

He bursts out laughing. “Good one.” He holds out a fist and I bump it.

We continue eating our worms, with me pushing away his words because they didn’t mean anything. When we’re done, I say, “Ready to game?”

“Heck yeah.”

We go up to my room, and I stop in my tracks when I find all the books on the bottom shelf of my bookshelf gone. WillowBot has them in piles and seems to be sorting through them.

“What are you doing with my books, WillowBot?” I ask.

She turns around and is about to respond, but then she notices Declan standing next to me and rolls over. “Hello, Declan Hart! I wondered if you would visit here again. How are you?”

“Hey, WillowBot. Long time no see,” he jokes. “I’m great, thanks. How are you?”

“All my systems are functioning perfectly.”

“Nice.” He holds out his fist for a bump. Her robotic hand curls into a fist and bumps it.

I shake my head, hiding a smile. “And the charm just continues.”

“Hmm?” Declan turns his head to me.

“WillowBot, what are you doing with my books?” I ask her again.

“I wished to clean the bookshelf, for it is very dusty, but I’m afraid I could only reach the bottom shelf. I have asked Willow repeatedly to install an extension in me so I could reach higher places, but it seems it is not an important item on her to-do list. Mia, would you like me to place the books on the bottom shelf in a specific order? I can stack them alphabetically, by author name, by genre…”

“Um…alphabetical is fine.”

As she wheels to one of the stacks of books, Declan smiles at me. “I have to admit, I’m jealous of your little friend. It must be nice to have someone to talk to if you ever feel lonely.”

“When she’s not driving me insane,” I joke. “And it’s so handy to have someone who can find an answer to a question in an instant.”

“As long as you are not trying to cheat on your homework,” she says.

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