Page 15 of My Best Friend Prince Charming

Honestly, it hurt that Ryker had made plans with Gabi and Mr. Christopher instead of hanging out with me. He’d told me when his schedule came out that he had to work on his birthday. Maybe I just needed to get used to the fact that Ryker was moving on to a better life that didn’t include me.

Ava answered the door and invited Stephen Christopher and Gabi inside just as Ryker came down the hallway.

He greeted them like he’d already been working with them for years. How was he not intimidated? Gabi was so brilliantly beautiful that I was left speechless. Her makeup was flawless. But someone like Gabi could afford the best skincare. I was lucky if I had enough money set aside for the cheapest drugstore foundation. And most of the time, I skipped makeup altogether.

“This is Shannon,” Ryker said, turning to me. “She’s my best friend. We’ve lived next door to each other since third grade.”

“It’s great to meet you, Shannon,” Gabi said graciously, a sweet smile spreading across her face, revealing perfect white teeth.

Mr. Christopher shook my hand. “Thanks for letting us have Ryker for a while.”

“This is my sister Ava. She’s thirteen.”

“Nice to meet you, Ava,” Mr. Christopher said.

“If you decide you need anyone else in one of your movies, I’m your girl,” Ava said, a pair of dimples appearing as she smiled.

Mr. Christopher laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’d introduce you to my dad and my brother, but my dad is working, and my brother is at a friend’s house helping them move. They both really want to meet you, though.”

“I’m sure we’ll get another chance,” Gabi said.

“Well,” Ryker said. “Should we head out?”

“Absolutely,” Mr. Christopher said.

They waved goodbye to Ava and me and exited through the front door. I went into the kitchen for a glass of water and spotted Ryker helping Gabi into the limo before climbing in himself. A flood of bitter emotions threatened to encompass me, but I pushed them all down and embraced the emptiness instead.

That was when it hit me. Maybe I did have something to write about on my own. What if I wrote a story about a girl with a best guy friend who gets sucked into a Hollywood career? That was a story worth writing about. I’d change around some of the facts, so it didn’t resemble reality too closely, but it would be a good way to process what I was feeling. Because right now, I was wallowing, and that was never a good thing.

I went home and opened my laptop to a blank document and began typing. It looked like I had a story for Mrs. Drake, after all.

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