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I hear Xander expel a relieved breath.
“Callie,” I say, feeling this deep in my bones. “Let’s leave and go see the actress who plays her.”
“You sure?” Donnelly asks me.
He’s a Callie stan, and I’m clinging onto the hope that one day I’ll remember how I was too. This hope feels more like sand slipping between my fingers. “Yeah, I’m sure,” I nod resolutely.
Because if I stay here, it feels like admitting Original Luna is gone for good. And she’s not. She’s not.
She can’t be.
The line for actress Willa Holmes is much, much shorter, and I almost feel guilty for not supporting Callie sooner. She needs it more.
We’ll likely reach the front in fifteen minutes tops.
While we wait, I’m doing my best to not be recognized for Xander’s sake. I have my face buried in my phone, reading another writer’s sci-fi romance short story on Fictitious.
My cell pings with a new text.
UNKNOWN
Hey, Luna. Miss you. You free soon? Want to meet up again? ??
My pulse spikes, and I flush with anxious heat. Who is this? I scroll up in the text thread, but there aren’t any preexisting messages. Did I delete them? Or is this person just texting for the first time and messing with me?
No one knows I’ve lost my memories. Just my family, security, and doctors. So it can’t be an elaborate prank.
The wet emoji means sex. This person is likely a he, and he wants to hook up? Maybe he’s from OG Luna’s casual sex days.
I look up and see the back of Donnelly.
Why am I so drawn to him? Out of. Every. Single. Person.
Him.
Too many emotions rush into me at once, and I end up sending a quick reply:
Sry. I’m busy.
With that, I shove my phone in my pocket and step forward. I tap Donnelly’s shoulder, my heart flip-flopping.
Donnelly turns a fraction, and his blue eyes meet mine so suddenly that I’m hypnotized by their depths.
“Um,” I swallow a lump. “What would she say to Callie?”
He skims me. “You’d say, ‘I’m your biggest fan and those that hate your character just don’t know how to love flawed things.’” He says it without hesitation and with so much admiration. I’m blown back for a second. My lips part.
He loves her.
Like really loves Original Luna.
I want to believe that he could also love this version of me too. He must see me processing deeper because he takes a step closer to me. “Luna—”
“Sir, you’re up next,” a line coordinator tells him.
“You can go up with Luna,” Xander says beside him. “I’ll wait with her bodyguards.”
Donnelly motions to Frog and Quinn, and silently they all shift methodically around us until Donnelly takes my hand. He pulls me to Callie’s table.
My heart thumps hard in my chest. The most photogenic human I’ve ever seen is beaming while she sits at the signing table in front of me. All thoughts zoom out of my brain.
“Hi,” Willa Holmes greets with a bright smile, her lips a Marylin Monroe red. She points up at Donnelly. “You look a little familiar. Where have I seen you before?” She reaches for his travel mug he wants signed.
“Maybe TikTok,” Donnelly grins more at me.
“He has a huge following,” I say, which is very true. His shirtless videos have millions of views and thousands of comments. I spent one night underneath my covers scrolling through all of them. I’m betting his DMs look a lot like those comment sections—with girls asking him to fuck them.
Jealousy prickled and insecurities rose. Because it’s not like I’ve had sex with him either—or at least I can’t remember having sex with him. Maybe he’ll never want to unless I have my memories.
It’s not the first time I’ve thought it.
It won’t be the last.
“Might be,” Willa says to us.
I pass her my Bass poster, and I open my mouth to repeat what Donnelly told me. But he speaks first.
“She’s not the biggest Callie fan yet, but we still love your work.” Donnelly hooks a comforting arm around my shoulder, and I’m thunderstruck that he told her my opinion on the show over OG Luna’s.
It’s a small reminder that he’s not upset I’m not her. He’s okay with who I am today.
I try to hang on to that thought, even if my positivity feels a lot like dandelion seeds. One strong gust of wind towards a dandelion, and poof all the seeds get swept away and disappear.
I smile at Willa and tell her truthfully, “You’re in some of my favorite scenes.”
“I appreciate that, and thank you so much for watching the show. You’ve helped keep it alive.” She signs the rest of our merch and even snaps pics with us. Even a goofy selfie where the three of us stick out our tongues.
All in all, it’s a happy experience that leaves me and Donnelly grinning. His arm stays around my shoulders until we’re reunited with Xander, Frog, and Quinn on the escalator.
