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my name over and over again. Sophie patiently waited off camera with my publicist, Sheila Marie.
    Sophie and I had only been dating a couple months, but she’d been nothing but supportive of everything. In fact, she made me want to go out and do this sort of thing more. It’s a lot less lonely when you have someone to go with … who isn’t your mom.
REPORTER: Carter! Over here!
    I headed over to a petite blond reporter for an entertainment program, flashing a smile.
REPORTER: Great to see you here, Carter. How have you enjoyed the transition from child star to high school student? What year are you now?
ME: I’m in the first semester of my sophomore year at the New York City High School of the Creative and Performing Arts. It’s been a really great learning experience not to mention being a ton of fun.
REPORTER: That’s great. Tell us, how do you feel about the recent Gossip Guru article about the Kavalier Kids curse?
    I stared at her blankly. I had no idea what she was talking about. I generally ignore those tabloid rags.
REPORTER: Did you really go to school because the roles dried up?
    What?
ME: I’m on Our Lives …
REPORTER: Yes, but that’s a soap.
    Sheila Marie quickly grabbed me by the arm.
SHEILA MARIE: Interview’s over. He’s got to be inside.
    Sheila Marie guided Sophie and me inside to a private corner.
ME: What’s going on? What is she talking about?
SHEILA MARIE: I told them not to bring up that vile article.
ME: What article? What’s going on?
SHEILA MARIE: Your mother thought it would be best if you didn’t see it, but there was this ridiculous article that came out that featured the kids from the series. And, well, not everything has turned out well for you guys. And honestly, you do come off the best, but they …
ME: What did it say?
    I felt sick to my stomach. This definitely wasn’t the first time I’d had a negative article about me in the press. It had started after I’d had my first box office dud — I was eleven and being told that my career was over. I was “box office poison” simply because a comedy about me and a talking dog bombed. It wasn’t like I wrote or directed it, but it was my face on the poster, so the studio decided to blame the kid.
    But this was different. These were my choices. Yes, I knew that I’d get made fun of for being on a soap, but that was the only thing I could think of that would allow me to still work and go to school.
    Sheila Marie pulled up the article on her phone. I started reading about the other actors that I’d worked with — guys I grew up with — who’d been kicked out of school, busted for DUI, arrested for stealing, or had run away. Of course, they didn’t mention the other three guys, who were now just normal high school students.
    And then there was me. I got my own box, where they dissected my meteoric rise in one paragraph and then spent the next dozen recounting every small role I’d taken since. They belittled my choice to go to CPA, calling it “desperate,” my “last chance to redeem” myself.
    I didn’t believe my own press when I was called the next big thing, but it’s harder when they’re calling you a failure.
SHEILA MARIE: I’m going to call your mom. I’m so sorry — we should’ve told you.
ME: It’s okay. It’s not like I haven’t heard it before.
    I walked into the theater and did my best to smile at the other attendees. We were guided to our seats and Sophie offered to sit on the aisle so nobody could bother me. Sheila Marie went off to make a phone call. I knew she didn’t have control over what they said. I wasn’t mad at her. Strangely, I was more mad at myself. Because some of the article rang true. And I could imagine my fellow students reading the article and believing every word.
    I may be a former child star and have millions in my bank account, but I’m still a human being.
SOPHIE: Carter …
    She took my hand and leaned in so nobody could hear her.
SOPHIE: I know this isn’t the same, but