Page 64 of Fan Favorite

Edie floated into theKeymansion on a cloud of dopamine.

How many of her thirty-five years had she wasted feeling not good enough? Not pretty enough, not thin enough, not cute and sweet and adorable enough? But after tonight, Edie Pepper wasdonewith all that. Suddenlyanythingwas possible. She was beautiful! Gorgeous! Sexy! The star of her very own romcom! She wasmagic. Everything seemed to sparkle as Edie twirled around the foyer on numb toes—so what if the fairy-tale stilettosweresort of excruciating? An entire night spent in Bennett’s arms!

And then, strangely…Peter’s?

Edie was too exhausted to think about that now. She was determined to stay in her dreamy haze for as long as possible. It didn’t matter if teams of people had orchestrated every single romantic moment. Or that she was supposed to call Charlie “Bennett.” Or that absolutely nothing like this had ever—or would ever—happen to her again. Because right now Edie understood why girls all over the world were obsessed with Cinderella. Going to the ball felt fucking great.

Edie skipped up the stairs on her maimed feet to the room she’d been sharing with Max since they’d become besties after the volleyball game. Max’s previous roommate, Kimberlee, had been eliminated the night Edie arrived. It felt so long ago now, like everything had changed and would change again. Edie opened the bedroom door and a dart whizzed past her head.

“Oh, shit, sorry!” Max called from her bed.

The weirdest thing about theKeymansion was that it was actually somebody’s home, leased to production twice a year—a sort of showbiz Airbnb. Max and Edie had the tween boy room, sports themed, with Lakers bedding, beanbag chairs in the shape of baseballs, framed jerseys, and a dartboard on the back of the door. Max loved shooting darts from her bed and kept a cup of missiles on her nightstand.

Edie pulled the dart out of the carpet. “What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Max said, taking the dart from Edie. “Probably because I was too excited to hear about your super-special-fantasy-one-on-one date! Squee!”

“Liar.” Edie laughed. She shut the door and flopped onto her bed. One of her extensions stabbed her skull. She wriggled a pillow underneath her head. “But I’m thrilled you’re up because obviously I’m dying to talk about it.”

“Obviously.” Max turned on her side to give Edie her full attention. “So, let’s hear it. Was it everything you ever wanted?”

“And more,” Edie said dreamily. And then she launched into a no-detail-too-small play by play—the Goo Goo Dolls, the dancing, the portraits, the champagne, thekissing. But as she described Bennett Charles on his knees, holding her face in his hands, kissing her until she thought she might rip his clothes off right then and there, suddenly Edie realized she was being insensitive. “Max, my god. I’m being an asshole.” Edie satup. “I’ve never dated the same guy as my friends before—do you even want to hear this?”

“Edie,” Max said, shaking her head. “It’s fine. Obviously, I’m a lesbian.”

“Wait,what?” Edie jumped up. She grabbed her pillow and hit Max with it. “You’re a lesbian? This whole time? My best friend in the whole entire world is a lesbian! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

But Max was laughing too hard to speak. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes as she fended off Edie’s pillow assault.

“That’s the first time I’ve said it out loud!” Max marveled. “I thought I was bi. Or pan. Or sapio. But Bennett’s sealed the deal. I’ve been thinking about it all night. I’m definitely a lesbian.”

“Oh my god.” Edie dropped the pillow and enveloped Max in a hug. “I’m so happy for you.”

Luckily Max had a bottle of cocktail party pinot squirreled away in the closet. They sat on the floor between their beds and passed it back and forth while Max revealed everything. Her mom, an ardent Christian and die-hardKeyfan, had nominated her for the show.

“At first, I was annoyed. But then I figured, why not? I’d torn my meniscus and couldn’t compete for six months. And it seemed like maybe Bennett and I had a lot in common—sports, camping, whatever—so why not give it a shot? It felt like a win-win: Sharon gets to tell her friends I’m straight; I give men one last shot. But I have to tell you, and I’ve thought about ita lot.” Max took Edie’s hands in hers and gave her a serious look. “Men areawful.”

Edie nodded vigorously. “Theyareawful!”

“Have you listened to Bennett talk?” Max continued. “Like really listened? I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard him sayanythingthat wasn’t directly about him.”

“He’s not that bad,” Edie protested. “I think he’s cute. And the way he talks about the world—I never thought I wanted to ride a camel across the Sahara. But now, maybe I do!”

“I should’ve doneThe Challenge.” Max took a swig of the wine. “I would’ve killed onThe Challenge.”

This night was truly wild. Edie couldn’t get over it. Max was a lesbian and Edie was a full-grown woman dating her high school boyfriend on TV. But, ugh, now that Max pointed it out, itwassort of impossible to ignore just how much Bennett talked about himself—about his travels, his wellness, his future plans—and just how little he asked her about herself, her life, her goals. Her plan had been to ignore it! Focus on the green flags, not the red ones. But as the glow began to fade, Edie wondered about its origins. Was the euphoria she was experiencing because of Bennett? Or something else? And then there was that other thing she was trying to avoid. That inexplicable moment at Taco Bell where—just for a second—Peter had looked like he might kiss her. She didn’t want to think about it because if shedidthink about it, she’d have to wonder if she’d done the absolute stupidest thing she could ever do and developed a crush on theshowrunner, a man so far out of her league he might as well be Idris Elba while she was, well,herself, Edie Pepper, a normal person. But whatwasthat? His hands on the small of her back, Edie gazing up into his face and finding a relaxed, happy version of Peter, pulling her closer, the length of their bodies touching.

“Max, can I tell you the weirdest thing? You have to promise that you won’t tell anyone.”

“Pinky swear.”

“Okay, look, I know I can be delusional,” Edie began as they joined pinkies, “but after the prom, Peter was there. With a limo. To drive me home.”

“By himself?” she asked, curious.

Edie nodded. “And then we went to Taco Bell and ate nachos and sort of had the best time? It’s so weird. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“I do.” Max scoffed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “He likes you.”

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