Chapter Six #2
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and I imagined my mom’s face as she processed what I was saying. Anytime I mentioned doing something that didn’t seem sufficiently business-y with my time, her expression grew tight, as if she were sucking on a lemon.
“Well, we can talk about it more later.” Mom’s voice was artificially bright. “After all, you can never have too many accolades on your résumé when looking for that first job. Why don’t we focus on applying to college, getting that B up in physics, and working on that SAT prep for now?”
Mom kept talking, but her voice had gone fuzzy. I did not want to talk about SAT prep while I was taking time off school for a work vacation, especially when it felt like I was practicing to go to school for a thing I didn’t actually want to study.
Glancing over at the table where BamBam was sitting, I caught her eye. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I shook my head to indicate that things were not going well.
BamBam nodded once like a Mafia don in a mob movie and then projected her voice. “Jamie, I hate to interrupt but we’ve got to go.”
On the other end of the line, Mom paused, clearly hearing BamBam from across the room. After a moment, she said, “That’s your cue.”
“Yeah, BamBam says it’s time to go.” I tried to keep the relief out of my voice.
“Okay, well, try and sneak in a little homework. Do it by the pool! I saw a picture of you on Cricket’s profile. Where did that swimsuit come from?”
“Tell your mama you love her.” BamBam started again as soon as my eyes got wide at the mention of Cricket’s socials. Called it.
“Okay, Mom, I’ll try to work on physics love you bye.” I said all of this in one fast breath, my finger already hovering over the red End Call button.
“Alright. Love you, too. Have fun.”
I pressed the button as soon as she got that last word out, then chucked my phone toward the other side of the bed.
Leaning back on a stack of pillows, I closed my eyes, the gnawing pit in my stomach opening up wider.
I had to find a way out of Mom and Dad’s plans, or I would spend the next five years of my life doing things I didn’t want to do and living a life that made my parents happy and me miserable.
I was officially desperate to win this contest. They couldn’t say no if I was a winner.
“I’m so sorry, but I’m way too slammed. I have a big branded post coming out next week, and I’m super behind,” Nittha said, sounding genuinely disappointed as she took a massive gulp of the caffeine-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, coffee-ish drink that I’d gotten her from Beginners Luck, the coffee bar in the hotel’s lobby.
I’d hoped to bribe her with an overpriced drink.
Apparently, my idea of a bribe needed some work.
“It’s okay.” I sighed, trying not to look like I was going to cry, which I low-key felt like doing. Instead, I shrugged and focused my gaze on my own coffee-free drink.
“What about you, Gabby? Maybe you two could be partners?” Nittha perked up.
I turned to Gabby and smiled hopefully right as her face fell. “I wish! A couple of other disability and difference creators asked if I wanted to join their group while you were dealing with the whole Buzzy-BamBam-dress snafu. We figured there’d be strength in numbers. Sorry.”
“It totally makes sense for you to team up with them. No big deal,” I lied.
It felt like a very big deal, but slowly melting into a pathetic heap on the highly polished floor of a coffee shop seemed a little dramatic, so pretending it was fine was my only remaining option.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out. ”
Gabby’s brow furrowed. “Is there a reason why you don’t start your own social media account for this?”
“I thought about it, but with the audience voting, I’d basically be a long shot.” I slumped to the side as Nittha nodded in agreement.
“Oh, duh.” Gabby stopped and shook her head to indicate that she knew the question was silly.
“I’m sure we have to know someone with a sizable following who wants to enter but doesn’t have a plan yet.
” The unusual brightness in Gabby’s tone confirmed that I was screwed, even if no one wanted to admit it.
“Who knows, maybe your future husband, Ethan, will want to work with you, and this will be how you fall in love,” Nittha said, her voice sounding dreamy.
“Oh god.” Gabby sighed, clutching her lemon-berry iced latte, which had also been my treat and another useless bribe. “Not that again.”
“Seriously, don’t think about it anymore.
I’ll figure it out,” I said, ignoring the little voice in my head that was almost desperate enough to partner with Ethan or Buzzy at this stage.
Nittha and Gabby exchanged glances like they didn’t entirely believe me, and I jumped to change the subject.
“Are you two gonna go to that go-kart thing?”
“Yes,” Gabby replied too quickly. I had forgotten how much that girl loved fun-complex games. Give her a claw-and-stuffie machine, darts and balloons, or anything that dispensed tickets, and she would be happy for the rest of her days.
“If Gabby wants to, I’ll go, I guess,” Nittha said, with the appropriate amount of enthusiasm for an under-twenty-ones TrendCon activity planned by the convention organizers to keep us out of the casinos and looking like we were having a moderately fun time should anyone decide to post about it. “You?”
“Maybe. It’s right after BamBam’s panel, so I’ll see if she needs me to do anything first.” At this rate, I might have to go go-karting to find some niche creator to step in front of my camera.
Noticing my friends exchanging another set of pitying glances, I changed the subject again before my desperation started to waft off me like a smell in a cartoon.
“Nittha, should we go get those lights? BamBam seems to think she’ll need over an hour to do glam. ”
“Why does she need more than an hour?” Gabby raised an eyebrow as the three of us started to make our way to the elevator bank. “She must be really serious about taking this rivalry to the next level after she and Buzzy showed up in the same outfit.”
I smirked. “Oh, you have no idea.”