“You did a GREAT job,” I whisper. “Now it’s time for your reward.”
I empty what’s left of the bag of worms on the table and watch Frank scramble to eat them. If I’d thought about it longer, I would’ve taken my phone with me to get this on film.
“You deserve every one of those.” I rub the top of his head then put him in the crate.
Upstairs, my parents are still in the hall. Mom’s balancing in the doorway, taking off her shoes. “I couldn’t wait to get these off.” She turns to Dad. “Some yoga before bed?”
Dad agrees and takes off his shoes too. They say goodnight and head to their room.
The thought of mealworms squishing between my parents’ toes during downward dog makes me want to gag.
I hope they’re using yoga mats.
YES!!!!!
The treadmill clip of Monkey Love Hot Sauce brings me over nine thousand views in the first twenty-four hours! Watching the number of views grow every few minutes makes me happier than the day we first got Frank.
Suddenly my number of views puts me in Umberto and Tyler’s league. With only one class left, the chances of us knocking Carly out of first place are slim, but second place is still something to aim for.
A few of the comments are negative—“you’re abusing that poor animal!”—but most people say they like it. The popularity of this clip must be carrying over to the others on my playlist because ALL my videos increased overnight; my subscribers are way up too.
At school, I feel like a quarterback who just made the winning touchdown.
“Dude!” Matt says. “That video is killer!”
“The sound effects and song really make it,” Umberto says. “I laughed the whole way through.”
So many pieces of music that I wanted to use were copyright-protected; Mr. Ennis talked about only using royalty-free music many times, so I knew he’d go nutty if I illegally downloaded a piece of music instead of buying it. In the end, I found a great piece of free music that sounds like the circus and really works.
When we get to class, Mr. Ennis and Carly are huddled at his desk. Wait—are they planning a surprise to celebrate my smash hit?
Mr. Ennis waits for us to take our seats. He must not have liked being bald because his scalp is now covered in stubble where his hair is growing out.
“We’ve got some big news.” He bows toward Carly and asks if she wants to tell us.
Carly stands in front of the room and takes a deep breath. “Remember how I told you that I had one viewer who wrote to me every day? Power73? Well, it turns out her mom is a producer on Ellen.”
Natalie and Bridget actually scream.
“And they’re doing a segment on youtuber kids and they want me to come on the show!”
The rest of the class goes ballistic along with Natalie and Bridget. Ellen has a HUGE fanbase for her show as well as online viewers. Being on her show will launch Carly’s vlog into the stratosphere!
I’m happy for Carly—that’s GIGANTIC news—but can’t we take ONE SECOND to acknowledge my big accomplishment? Am I doomed to follow in Carly’s footsteps forever? Still, seeing how thrilled she is makes me realize I’m being petty and so I let out a hoot to celebrate Carly’s windfall.
“There will be six of us and they’re looking for one more kid to replace the Fine Brothers who had to cancel. Since I live locally, they asked if I had any recommendations on such short notice.”
I’m Carly’s best friend! This is a slam dunk!
Carly runs her tongue along the front of her teeth, a new habit since getting her braces. “I wanted to talk to Mr. Ennis first because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.” She opens her arms to encompass everyone in the room. “I love all your work but I only get to pick one.”
I’m gonna dance with Ellen! I’m gonna dance with Ellen!
“Umberto, do you want to join me on the Ellen show?”
Wait, what?
Umberto lets out a Tarzan yell. “Absolutely!”
Carly addresses the rest of the room, but she’s mostly looking at me. “I think Umberto’s vlog is really important and can make a lot of people aware of what people with disabilities go through every day. Millions of people watch Ellen’s show—Umberto’s videos can really have an impact.”
I obviously can’t argue with Carly’s thinking—it makes complete sense to choose Umberto. However …
“Maybe you can talk about some of OUR channels too while you’re on,” I suggest.
Mr. Ennis interrupts before Carly can answer. “The focus will be on their two channels,” he says. “But two out of six kids are from this school? That’s incredible! You should all be proud of yourselves! It’s also important to note that their channels weren’t chosen because they had millions of views but because they connected with people.” He turns to Carly and praises her again.
Matt leans over and whispers to me. “Aren’t you used to swimming in Carly’s wake by now? I am.”
He’s right. But at least this time, Umberto will get some well-deserved recognition too.
After class, I’m halfway down the hall when Carly catches up to me. “I LOVE your channel,” she says. “You know that. It was a really hard decision.”
“I know it was.”
She spins around to face me. “As funny as your channel is, I just couldn’t waste the chance to make a difference.”
Carly stands in front of me, waiting. I know she wants a smile and it only takes a few seconds before I give her one.
“I’m proud of you,” I tell her. “You did the right thing.”
She squeezes my arm and runs down the hall.
“When are you filming Ellen?” I call after her.
“Tomorrow!!” she yells back.
There are actually worse places to be than swimming in Carly’s wake.
NO!
My mom’s going to FLIP when
