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Wish Upon A Streaming Star
Krissi Dallas
(Season 1 Volume 1)
Publication date: July 7th 2024
Genres: Comedy, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
He’s an internet star.
She can’t stand him.
Together they just went viral.
Daisy McEntire might seem like an uptight control freak, but it’s only because she’s trying to graduate high school, support her cancer-fighting mother, and save her family’s riverside campground. The last thing she needs is her obnoxious neighbor, internet star Caz Cortéz, keeping everyone up with his late night video stunts and ridiculous pranks. Forget that they grew up as best friends—that was before he relentlessly obsessed over his hair and stats.
But when Daisy accidentally botches one of Caz’s pranks on livestream, the video goes viral, endangering his sponsorships and throwing her into an unwelcome spotlight. As if the overnight attention isn’t enough, half a million dollars in an unbreakable lockbox mysteriously appears. The key to unlock it? Reenact a series of cliché Hollywood movie scenes together within 48 hours.
The catch? It all has to be done live on the Internet—no rehearsals.
Daisy needs the money. Caz needs the stats. Surely they can work together long enough to complete the challenge, split their earnings, and then get back to ignoring each other from across the property line.
The one challenge they can’t control, though, is the one that could jeopardize it all—falling in love.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” Caz and I asked at the same time. Clearly there had been a breakdown in communication. I had only found time to wash my face, brush my teeth, and throw on a fresh t-shirt before I was supposed to report to his driveway for our first movie scene challenge.
“We’re supposed to look like kick-A action heroes… not middle school girls about to try out for the basketball team.” Frowning at my athletic shorts, he pulled himself up from where EJ was bent over a long, thick PVC pipe hooked up to a contraption I’d never seen before.
“Sorry, all my superhero clothes were at the cleaners, Indiana Jones.” I mean, really. He was wearing a leather jacket and jeans when it was still ninety degrees in the evening. All he needed was the whip and hat. “The challenge just said we have to reenact it, not dress like it. You know this isn’t a real movie, right?”
“Wow, Daisy. Could you stop being so fun?” His sarcasm made my eyes narrow. Being typecast as the party-killer was gonna get old really fast. “Did you at least bring your sunglasses?”
I held them up pointedly, suddenly catching Rocco in my peripheral vision with his camera. “Hey! Are we live already?” I held up a hand to block my face. That kid was sneaky.
“No, I’m collecting behind-the-scenes footage of Caz’s life this summer.” He walked in circles around Caz and me.
“And why would you do that?” I had to know even though I was sure I’d regret asking.
“I’m capturing the master at work. Then I’m going to edit it all together and do a special documentary on my own channel. Hopin’ someday I’ll be an influencer like him.”
Caz seemed extremely satisfied by the look of disgust on my face.
“Will you at least tell me when you’re recording behind the scenes?” I asked.
“Nope. Just treat him how you normally would. Pretend I’m not even here…”
Literally impossible to do, but whatever. I could be on my best behavior for two days. Just. Two. Days.
To demonstrate my self-control, I gave my attention back to Caz and asked nicely, “Would you like me to change?”
“Your clothes or your attitude? Because that is a loaded question—”
“Caz…” I growled. “You said to just be me.”
“That I did, for better or for worse.” He checked his watch. “It’s almost time to go live. Bailey, can you bring the papers for Daisy to sign?”
“Papers for what?”
Bailey shoved some documents and a pen in my face. “Gives us permission to use you in our videos, that we’re not responsible for any damages or injuries, and basically, that you won’t sue us someday.”
“Are you kidding?” An incredulous laugh escaped me. He sounded so business-like. “Sue Caz for what? The twelve dollars in his bank account?”
Bailey smirked and opened his mouth to say something, but Caz interrupted. “It’s just standard procedure, Dais.”
I paused and looked back and forth between the two of them before signing my privacy and life over to—what?—Caz Cortéz Industries? Apparently his ego followed him into his paperwork. Bailey stopped me when I got to the date. “Could you back-date that to Sunday? You know, since that was the first time you appeared live?”
I sighed and did as he asked. He took the papers and addressed Caz. “Ready to go when you are, boss.”
I watched Bailey curiously as he loped away. “How much do you pay your friends to worship you the way they do?”
Caz made a tight-lipped mocking sound. “You ready?”
“Are you gonna explain what we’re doing?”
“On camera, yes.”
In no way did I feel ready for this. I glanced behind me. “Will there be actual fire back there? I mean, how safe is this?”
“Fireworks and an air cannon—nothing too dangerous.”
“A cannon?” I squeaked, thinking back to the papers I just signed giving Caz reckless permission to mess with my life.
“Okay, we’re rolling in three, two, one—” Bailey pointed at Caz.
He took a minute to explain again about the anonymous challenge we received and encouraged his viewers to go back and watch the video he had most recently posted. All the while, he seamlessly guided me and the camera down the driveway. I could hardly see Bailey behind the fuzzy microphone and lightbox attached to the camera’s tripod, which he lifted and shuttled around almost effortlessly.
“Let’s take a look at how we’re going to create our explosion effect tonight. Bailey, show the viewers our air cannon.” I was certainly curious about it myself, so I leaned over EJ to see what they had built. “We’ve got the PVC pipe hooked up to a sprinkler system, repurposed for our effects, of course, and then we’ve attached this 3-liter bottle to it using Stick-Ease Beyond Glue.” Rocco reached out and, suddenly, a tube of Stick-Ease was on display in Caz’s hands. “Let me tell ya, Daisy, this stuff is truly beyond any glue you’ve ever tried. It’s always good practice to use gloves when handling Stick-Ease for all your sticky needs unless you want your fingers glued to your project.”
“Good to know.” I played along, impressed with how fluidly he had given air time to his sponsor’s product. Caz handed the tube back to Rocco, giving me the opportunity to ask, “So, how does the air cannon work exactly?”
“Rocco has a detonator which will trigger a blast containing all the debris we placed inside the bottle.” I peeked into the sliced and glued Dr Pepper bottle where he pointed. “We basically use a lot of flour, some good ol’ Texas dirt for coloring, and—”
“Rocks? Are those rocks I see?” What if they pummeled us? What was he thinking?
“Ah, not rocks. Sponges cut up and painted to look like rocks.” Caz produced a little black plastic ball from his jacket pocket. “We’re going to pretend this is a grenade. I’ll count to three and toss it over my shoulder. That will trigger the explosion and Daisy and I will strut away like the bosses we are. Everybody ready?”
I donned my sunglasses and watched him out of the corner of my eye. “Three… two… one!” Caz casually threw the “grenade” over his shoulder and I started to march forward.
BOOM BOOM BOOM.
I don’t know how it happened, but the explosion behind us was so loud and startling that I somehow ended up tangled against Caz, my heart pounding a rhythm worthy of an electronic dance remix.
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