Boy Queen

by George Lester

  ‘While we’re being open,’ she says. ‘Anything else you want to tell me? Any more secret boys or second lives?’

  ‘No. I swear that was it. You know everything now. Connor, Mae Bee, all of it.’

  ‘Not quite everything,’ she says, wiggling her eyebrows. ‘I need to know more about Seth.’

  ‘Oh, is that the time?’ I say, checking my bare wrist. ‘Shouldn’t you be going?’

  ‘Robin—’

  ‘Mum, I will fill you in tomorrow, I swear,’ I say. ‘But he’s nice. Like, really nice, and when we’ve been officially a thing for longer than twenty-four hours you can meet him properly. And not a moment before, because you’ll probably say or do something embarrassing.’

  She considers this. ‘Well, that does sound like something I’d do,’ she says. There is a car horn outside and she jumps, looking towards the window, smoothing her hair. ‘OK, deal. But you are right – I do need to go.’

  She hurries to the hallway and grabs her bag off the hook. She gives me one last twirl, smiling. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘You look beautiful,’ I say. ‘Now, don’t drink too much, don’t do drugs and be home by midnight.’

  ‘If you’re about to lecture me about being home by midnight, we really are going to have to have a talk, Mr Stayed Out All Night, Still Has Glitter On Their Face.’ She raises an eyebrow and smirks at me. ‘See you later. There’s money in the kitchen.’

  ‘Love you.’

  ‘Love you too.’

  She hurries out of the door and bundles herself into a car, waving at me through the window as it pulls away.

  I grab my phone and call Natalie, not expecting her to answer so quickly.

  ‘What’s happened? Have you already messed things up with Seth?’ she groans. She’s doing something else; I can tell from her tone of voice.

  ‘Good morning to you too.’

  ‘Good afternoon, you dirty stop-out,’ she says. ‘So, did it go well? Do I need to buy a hat?’

  ‘You don’t suit hats.’

  ‘I do suit hats – how dare you!’ she snaps. ‘It’s a turn of phrase and would have been a funny joke, but now you’ve wrecked it. What do you want?’

  ‘Mum has run out of the house for a girls’ day and I thought you might want to come over for trashy films, takeout and a girls’ night,’ I say. ‘I am fully yours.’

  I hear her shuffling on the end of the phone, possibly putting down whatever she is doing. ‘You have a house to yourself and you’re inviting me over instead of Seth,’ she says. ‘Are you out of your mind?’

  ‘No,’ I say. ‘Nat, I’ve been an awful friend and we haven’t had a film night in . . .’ I try to think of how long it’s been but an actual figure escapes me. ‘I can’t even remember, so come over.’

  ‘Invite Seth,’ she says.

  ‘Natalie, I—’

  ‘Invite! Seth!’

  ‘Natalie,’ I say firmly. ‘I’m trying to do a nice thing here and you’re ruining it. Come over tonight. I’ll queue up the worst films I can find on Netflix and we’ll eat pizza and talk shit about them. It’ll be fun.’

  ‘Fine,’ she says. ‘But you should invite Seth, Greg and Priya over too. We need to assess if this boy is good enough for you.’

  ‘You know him as well as I do.’

  ‘We do not. You’ve been galivanting off to drag clubs with him for the last few weeks. I need to make sure he’s not another Connor. Your track record with boys speaks volumes.’

  ‘Natalie—’

  ‘See you in a while. I have work to finish. Text me a time, love you bye.’

  I sigh. ‘Love you bye.’

  She hangs up the phone and I text Seth and Greg, giving Natalie a time of 5 p.m. and everyone else a time of 7 p.m. so I get some alone time with her. And as I get ready for them coming over I feel calm.

  It’s that same calmness that I felt when I was walking around with Seth last night, that feeling that things are going to be all right for the first time since all the rejection. Things have evened out. It’s not a mess any more.

  And I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, or the day after that; all I can count on is today, and today is a good day. One day at a time, I’ll figure it out. Whatever the future holds, it is enough to just try. And maybe that’s not so scary after all.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  George Lester is a freelance editor, musical-theatre lover and drag nerd who lives with his wonderful partner in Twickenham. He semi-regularly posts videos online talking about books and writing (mostly). He is also a drag-queen under the name That Gurrrl.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I can’t believe I am actually getting to do this thing. I’m writing this during the lockdown in March 2020. I hope that whoever is reading this is looking back on that time and thinking ‘wow, that was weird, thank God everything is fine now and Donald Trump isn’t the president anymore!’ I have dreams kids, I hope I’m right.

  Having a book published is a dream that I have had since I was, like, ten years old. I love books and I love telling stories. I was a bookseller and loved selling stories to people, and I was an editor and loved helping other writers hone their own stories. So the fact that I am sat here writing the acknowledgements for a book baby of my own is really special and I know I am going to forget somebody in this line up, for which I apologise. I promise you’ll be in the next one. (Nudge nudge, wink wink.)

  First of all, I need to thank the wonder and dreamboat that is Rachel Petty. You came to me with an idea, something that I’d never really felt I had the ability to write, and you combined two of my loves into one wonderful thing – I am eternally grateful for that. You also smashed this edit so fast I cannot even cope. You’re a genius and I adore you. Simran Sandhu, your insight on this book has been so incredibly valuable and I am so lucky to have you on Team Boy Queen. And Charlie Selvaggi-Castelletti, you were late to the party, but I’m glad you arrived – you’re incredible. Kat McKenna, thank you for everything you have done for me in life and everything you have done for this book, to Amber Ivatt, girl you are killing it and I am so so excited for all the things we have planned! Jess Rigby, I am SO excited that I get to work with you on this!! No take backs!! THIS IS IT BABES! Rachel Vale, this cover slayed my entire existence. I screamed when it arrived. You are an icon. To Sales, International, Foreign Rights, Production and Art: you made all of this possible and I can’t thank you enough for making this little gayboy’s dream come true. (Also LOL you totally couldn’t get rid of me!)

  Sam Copeland, what a legend you are! It took us a while, but we got there. I don’t know what I did to deserve an agent like you, I really don’t. You always stick by me, no matter what I want to write, and you always push me to try things out. I’m so, so grateful to have you in my corner. This is hopefully just the start of a marvellous journey and I cannot wait!

  Mum and Dave, you have supported me in every venture I have ever had. You have backed me, you have been there for me and (Mum specifically on this one) you will listen to me ramble on about my life on the phone for 45 minutes at a time and offer your wisdom. I cannot thank you enough for all that you do for me. Sam and Oliver, you’re the best siblings a guy could ask for! And to the rest of my family who are always there for me, I know I’m not around a lot, but I love you all immensely!

  Katy, Lani, DL and Marcus, the family. You heard about this before a lot of people and you backed me on it 100%, as you do with all the things that I do. I couldn’t ask for a better collection of friends. You make me feel braver than I actually am and I have no idea what I would be without you. To the rest of my Mountview family, my angels and darling queens who show me nothing but love and support, you are ridiculously talented beans that I am SO DAMN LUCKY TO KNOW. I miss you every damn day and that’s the tea. Keep killing it. Please.

  Joe Parslow, my drag mother (whether you like it or not), I owe a lot of this to you and the knowledge you imparted on me and That Gurrrl. She wouldn’t exist without you, an
d you can either take that as a compliment or not. Our tutorials that descended into general drag chats were eye opening and I can’t thank you enough for the world you have given me by opening my eyes to all the drag in it. Sherrill Gow and Merryn Owen, this is also your fault, which I guess makes you my drag aunt and uncle? How extended can we make this family? I want to thank you for all the love and support you gave me during my time at Mountview. This is a bold choice and I wouldn’t have been able to make it without you guys. I can’t thank you enough.

  To Leejay and Cat (it’s not the front, but this is fine too right?), thank you for all you have done and continue to do for me in my acting life. Your constant support and love means the absolute world!

  I don’t want this to go on forever and ever, which it totally could because I have so much love for so many people so, I’m just going to do a little list if you will allow me; Victoria Walters, Kim Curran, Non Pratt, Lisa Williamson, Sara Barnard, Patrick Ness, Juno Dawson, David Levithan, L. D. Lapinski, the 2020 debuts who gladly listen to my neurosis in the group chat, I have huge amounts of love for each and every one of you for a multitude of reasons. I am so so grateful to know you and to have had your wisdom (and your incredible books) in my life.

  To any drag fan who is reading this, PLEASE go and see some local drag and support your local queens! You will be AMAZED at the incredible performers you can find on your doorstep or, if not on your doorstep, a short bus/train ride away. And if you can’t go and see a show, find them on Instagram! They will blow your mind, just as they did Robin’s and just as they continue to blow mine every time I see a new queen at a show. If you’re a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race, let it be the gateway drug and lead you to more drag, more kinds of drag, it’ll be worth it, I swear! RuPaul’s Drag Race is amazing, but I promise you there is SO MUCH MORE!!

  To every cheerleader I have met either in real life or digitally, every bookish-type human who has already read and reviewed this book, you have no idea just how much your support means to me. Every time I post something book related, I wonder if anyone will care and you always do. It means the absolute world to me to have your support and love through all of this. I appreciate you so damn much. Shantay, you ALL stay.

  And finally, I need to thank Jordan for being my rock, not just during this book, but in my life. Through thick and thicc and thin, you have always been there for me and supported and backed me and I cannot thank you enough for that. You are at the start and the end of this book, because you hold it all together, just like you hold me together. I can hear you making vomiting noises and I don’t care. I love you and that’s that!!

  Until next time,

  George/That Gurrrl xx

  Published 2020 by Macmillan Children’s Books

  This electronic edition published 2020 by Macmillan Children’s Books

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan

  The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-1-5290-4212-2

  Copyright © George Lester 2020

  The right of George Lester to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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