Page 46 of #Starstruck

I dug through my purse and found two quarters, then handed one to Chase. As I stood at the wishing well, for the first time I hesitated before making my wish. I already had so much, it felt selfish to ask for more.

Including the amazing, hot guy next to me reading the sign attached to the well. “They donate the coins to children’s charities. Very cool.” He casually flipped his quarter in, and I wondered if he’d even made a wish. I finally made mine, settling onI wish I knew whether Chase actually likes me.

“My stepdad sort of proposed to my mom here,” I told him.

“Really?”

“Yep. They were right here at this wishing well, watching the swans in the moat and listening to the Snow White music. Duncan was kind of goofy. He dramatically pointed to the castle and said, ‘Oh, Zerah, will you come live with me in my castle?’ Keep in mind it was only their fourth date. So my mother decided to screw with him and stayed silent for a second, then very seriously answered, ‘Yes, I will.’ Which freaked Duncan out, although he tried to keep his cool. But instead of scaring him off, it changed things between them, and they went from being casual to seriously dating.”

He smiled as he leaned against the well. “So if I ask you to come live with me in my castle, what will you say?”

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And yes.

I didn’t say that, though I was surprised by both the immediacy and the intensity of my internal reaction. Not to mention that if I counted hanging out at my mom’s, this was our fourth date as well. Chase kept talking about signs and what the universe wanted. I wanted so desperately for this to be one of those signs. Instead, I nudged him with my elbow and laughed.

“What do you want to do next?” Chase asked.

“Shouldn’t you pick something?” I didn’t want to dominate the entire day by doing only what I chose.

“Nah. I like seeing all this through your eyes.”

When I mentioned I liked the Mark Twain riverboat, Braden, who had wisely hung back during our exchange, told us to follow him.

“Do you have to be a movie star to get this kind of treatment?” I asked as he led us into an employee-only area to take a shortcut to Frontierland.

“Anybody can hire a VIP tour guide. Some celebrities choose to; some don’t. We recommend that they do because it makes it easier on everyone. A celebrity sighting can really gum up the works for foot traffic in specific areas.” Despite the fact that we’d been walking around for hours, Braden remained relentlessly upbeat and professional and knew more about Disneyland than anyone I’d ever met. Like how the purple-flowered teacup on the Mad Tea Party ride spun the fastest. A fact I could now personally attest to, given that I’d nearly puked afterward.

We got to the steamboat landing just as the old-fashioned white boat pulled in and allowed the onboard passengers to disembark. Once they shouted the all clear, Braden took us on ahead of the other people waiting. Jazz music played through the speakers. “I have a surprise for you.” We went to the second floor to a wooden door with red curtains marked “Private.”

Braden knocked, and a woman wearing a name tag that said “Captain Christy” opened the door. She had on a black vest and pants, a white shirt, and a huge red bow tie. “What have we here?”

“I was told you might be looking for some extra crew members,” Braden responded.

“You heard right. Come on up.” Captain Christy took us inside the captain’s quarters, which was complete with a bed and dresser. She directed us to a set of steps that looked like a ladder, and I followed her up, with Chase right behind me. I tried not to think about the fact that he had a perfect view of my rear end.

“Welcome to the wheelhouse!” the captain said. We were in a tiny white room with windows on every side except the front. “You can sign our guest book, if you’d like.”

While Chase signed, using his real name, Braden told us the guest book dated back to the 1950s. I fought off the urge to flip through it and just signed my name instead.

“Who would like to steer?”

“Zoe would,” Chase offered, flashing me a grin.

“That puts you in charge of the bell and whistle,” the captain told him. She instructed him to ring the bell four times, pull the whistle for five seconds, and then ring the bell again to let the boiler engineer below deck know we were setting off. Chase asked her questions about the other boats in the water, and she told him about their system to slow down or reverse if necessary. I loved how interested he was in everything. Like the whole world just fascinated him. When she mentioned the steamboat being on a track, I realized my steering was largely ceremonial, but I was okay with that.

Finally, it was time for me to “steer,” and I could feel Chase watching me. I turned and saw him smiling, and I couldn’t help but grin back. This was easily the best date I had ever been on.

Which meant I should have expected everything to go wrong.

“The maiden voyage of theMark Twainwas on July 13, 1955. It was four days before the official opening because there was a private party to celebrate Walt and Lillian Disney’s thirtieth wedding anniversary. Story goes that Disneyland’s construction supervisor found Mrs.Disney sweeping the decks before the party, and he helped her out.”

I wondered what would happen if I turned the wheel too hard. “You know so many cool things about this place, Braden. My brain is full of useless information, like which Real Housewives are feuding and which couples fromThe Bachelorare still together.”

“Don’t let her fool you,” Chase interjected. “She knows everything about everything.”

He sounded ... proud of me. Which made my pulse dance. “Obviously not about Disneyland.”

“Not yet. But I expect you to be fully briefed soon.”

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