Page 13 of My Best Friend Prince Charming

6

Shannon

I watched Ryker leave the library with a big group of girls, and I packed up my books. I just needed to head to my next class, and then this long, horrible day would be over. I slung my backpack over one shoulder and hurried to my English class. I wanted to be happy for Ryker, but it was starting to get on my nerves that all those girls kept interrupting our conversations. Hopefully, the excitement would die down soon, and we’d be able to get back to our lives. Back to normal.

But Ryker was changing, and our lives would never be the same again. He was going to sign a contract soon, and then it would be set in stone. He had to start filming by the first of June. And then his face would be internationally known. There was no such thing as a Stephen Christopher movie that didn’t do well. I suspected that this Cinderella movie would be better than most.

I should have been happy for Ryker, and I was, but today I’d lost my boyfriend. I was having a hard time, and all these changes were weird. All the girls swarming. I mean, I got it—Ryker was hot. I knew that. It was plain to see. And after snuggling up with him at lunch today, I could feel it through his shirt too. He would make a perfect Prince Charming. He was every high school girl’s dream guy. Witty, charming, hot, sweet, thoughtful . . .

Of course, they were going to swarm him. I was surprised they hadn’t done it before. But I’d had Ryker all to myself back then. Maybe they stayed away from him because I was always there.

Which was ridiculous. I was with Austin.

But now that I wasn’t, they wanted Ryker. It was ironic, but wasn’t life like that anyway?

I slid into my desk in the front row of my English class. The bell rang, and Mrs. Drake pulled out a sheet of paper.

“Before we get started today, I have an opportunity a few of you may be interested in. Tufted Pen Publishing is holding a writing contest for high school seniors. Their goal is to get students writing, and to increase literacy. The requirement is to submit a full-length novel by the middle of May. They are offering a publishing contract and ten thousand dollars to one lucky winner. See me after class if you’re interested, and I’ll give you more information.”

Immediately my ears perked up at the opportunity Mrs. Drake mentioned, but then I remembered Austin and how critical he’d been of my writing. There was no way I’d be able to knock out a novel between now and the middle of May. That was in two months. The only reason I wrote so much of the fan fiction was because I had Ryker to help me. I probably wouldn’t get anything written without him. And it wasn’t like I could ask him to co-author something with me. The contest was for one lucky winner, and Ryker was probably going to be too busy with his new acting job anyway.

When the bell rang, I shouldered my backpack and headed to leave the classroom, but Mrs. Drake stopped me. “Shannon, have you considered the publishing opportunity I mentioned at the start of class?”

“I thought about it a little, but I don’t think it would be worth my time.”

“You’re an excellent writer, regardless of winning, writing a novel would most definitely be worth your time. Think of how much you would learn.”

“I appreciate that. I really do, but I don’t see how it would work. I have too much going on with school and work to fit in a novel between now and mid-May.”

“I understand. If you change your mind, let me know. I’d be happy to help you in any way I can.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Drake,” I said.

* * *

For the next few days,Ryker grew more distant. He found an agent and negotiated terms of payment, whatever that meant. He didn’t share the nitty-gritty details of his contract with me. In fact, whenever I tried to bring up his new film career, he changed the subject. Did he think I couldn’t handle it or something? I felt annoyed that he didn’t trust me enough to share the details of his new life. He was turning into a different person. And it was getting worse every day. His agent moved quickly with him—they had to. Their time was running out.

The publishing house’s writing contest kept coming up in my mind, but every time I thought about it, I pushed the idea away. I had my writing project with Ryker to worry about anyway. Only he hadn’t written for a while, and I was waiting for him to finish his chapter so I could start on mine. I didn’t know what direction I needed to take the story, and Ryker was too busy with his agent to write his chapter, let alone talk about it with me. So instead of writing, I sketched. But I missed writing.

Ryker’s birthday arrived a week after he’d auditioned. I’d been working countless hours on the artwork of his fan fiction original character for his birthday. I’d scrapped about five different versions of it before finally deciding I had a version I liked enough to give to him as a gift. I drew his character standing in a bamboo forest. Dark blue hair fell across his face, obscuring half his fierce expression. He held his katana in a defensive position across his torso.

When I wasn’t at school or working at Toppings, dishing out ice cream, I’d had more time on my hands than I’d realized when I turned down Mrs. Drake’s suggestion of entering the writing contest. Whenever I tried to go over to Ryker’s house to hang out, he was on his computer, video chatting with his agent or Mr. Christopher. He even did a set of virtual interviews with some media companies covering the news of him getting cast. Normally, they would have had him do some appearances in person in Hollywood before filming began, but his dad insisted that Ryker be able to finish his senior year in the most normal way possible.

I woke up the morning of his birthday, determined to finish Ryker’s picture. I sketched all morning and then took a break to work a few hours at Toppings. After work, I came home and quickly put the finishing touches on the picture. I’d run out of time. If I wanted Ryker to get it on his birthday or anytime soon, I had to stop being such a perfectionist.

I stepped back and studied it. A smile crept across my face. It was most definitely my best work yet. Ryker was going to be blown away. I couldn’t wait to show it to him. I lifted a framed picture of the ocean from my wall and took the back of the frame off. I swapped the picture for the sketch I’d drawn for Ryker. I wrapped it up in tissue paper and stuck it in a box, then wrapped the box with a roll of birthday wrapping paper I found in the hall closet.

I pushed open the front door, the gift tucked under my arm. I crossed the grassy area between our houses and knocked on Ryker’s door. His sister Ava opened it.

“Hey! Is Ryker home? I have something for his birthday.”

“Yep, come on in.” She opened the door wider to let me pass her into the front hall. “He’s in his room.”

She went into the living room and settled on the couch, and I walked down the hall that led to the bedrooms. I knocked on the door to the room Ryker shared with Parker.

“Come in,” he called through the door.

I pushed open the door and saw him sitting at his desk, his laptop in front of him with a video chat open. He wore headphones and kept his eyes glued to the screen. He waved me over without even looking at me. He laughed hard, holding his hands over his belly as he leaned back in his chair.

---