Page 22 of The Sitcom Star
What do you think is going to happen, Maddie?
They sat down, and she felt more nervous than she usually would before an audition.Before she’d been on a late-night show last month.
But today had been going well, and she wanted more with Adrian, didn’t she?She’d been in “wait and see” mode before, after her conversation with Jen, but the more time they spent together, the more she liked him—and he was nothing like her ex.
She could say something, right?
But when Adrian’s phone buzzed a bunch of times, she lost her nerve.
The Most Awesomest Group Chat
SYDNEY:Adrian, I just noticed something.You said you had fried chicken with Maddie Ng the other weekend, am I right?And you didn’t post any pictures of your food??
NOAH:Interesting you forgot.
SYDNEY: Shocking, to be honest.
Yep, Adrian’s friends were teasing him again.
He didn’t need to reply now.He slid his phone back in his pocket.
“If it’s important, you can answer.I don’t mind,” Maddie said.
It was still slightly surreal that he was hanging out with Maddie Ng.He thought he’d done a good job of acting normal around her, though.Even if she was wearing a tank top and jean shorts today that…well.
She looked more thangoodin them.His throat had gone completely dry when she’d been walking in front of him and he’d gotten a tempting view of her ass.
“Nah, it’s not important,” he said.“My friends were just asking why I didn’t post pictures from the time we had fried chicken and bubble tea together.”
Maddie looked slightly alarmed.
“Not pictures of you,” he rushed to clarify, “but the fried chicken.Since I have a fried chicken Instagram account.”He took out his phone again and showed her his Instagram, to prove he wasn’t just making shit up.
He had two thousand followers, and he only posted photos of fried chicken.Or, occasionally, him eating fried chicken, all from restaurants in the Toronto area.Someday, he hoped to post pictures from other cities, but he hadn’t traveled since 2019, and he’d started the account in the summer of 2020.
As he handed over his phone to Maddie, he felt a bit embarrassed.She had an Instagram account with pictures of her on set, on magazine covers, etc.Even a photo of her onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert.She had over three hundred thousand followers.
He had an account about fried chicken.
“This is amazing,” she said.
He managed a smile but still felt slightly weird about it.He wouldn’t in front of anyone else, but…
Okay, he needed to stop thinking like that.She was here with him, right?It wasn’t like any of his thirteen-year-old self’s fantasies were going to come true, but she liked hanging out with him as a friend.He didn’t usually feel so self-conscious in front of another person, but Maddie Ng was different.Had always been different.
The other day, he’d been wasting time online, and he’d come across some people arguing about whether she was attractive.People said she wasn’t as thin and fair-skinned as most C-drama stars, and there had been an irritating argument about the shape of her eyes, which were apparently not large enough.One person thought she should get double eyelid surgery.
Adrian wasn’t normally quick to anger, but those forum posts had nearly done him in.The way people were picking her apart when she was so talented—that body-swap episode, for example—and beautiful and sexy.He couldn’t help recalling when she’d slid a spoonful of purple ice cream into her mouth and…
He snapped his attention back to his phone.
“Is this a fried chicken sandwich with vanilla ice cream?”she asked.
“It is.”He was impressed with himself for managing two coherent syllables.
“I can’t decide whether that’s amazing or horrifying.I kind of want to try it.”
“We could go now if you want.”
