The next day at school, there’s still no Danny, and Lauren is furious. She storms up to me at break. I have this terrible feeling that she’s found out about me and Erin. Rumors can flash around school very fast. But it’s not that. The teacher gave her a fail for her essay featuring the bear. He said it was a “trite way to deal with a serious subject.”
“This is everything that is wrong with education!” Lauren rants. “You get punished for having an imagination. There’s too much information available. We can go to places of knowledge not previously explored. Teachers need to realize this. Everything is too interesting. Too distracting.”
As if on cue, my phone pings and Lydia Portancia sends me ANOTHER distracting message.
Hello Millie!
The latest vlog is a triumph! Dave! DAVE! What a natural and as ever you were wonderful! Who is Erin BTW? Don’t change your main brand name. You’re not established enough to do that yet. I’m talking to some key players and media partners and I will have some exciting developments soon! Perhaps we can even get you on with a psychologist! Great news about upping production values.
KV
Lydia x
I manage to swipe the phone away from Lauren’s prying eyes, but she catches the end of the message over my shoulder. “What does KV stand for?”
“Keep Vlogging. She always says that.”
Lauren scrunches her nose up. “That’s a bit … forced.”
I know she’s right, but I feel like I should defend Lydia.
“It’s just the way she is!” I reply. “She is very upbeat. All the time. I don’t want to be like that, though.”
Lauren looks at me. “No, I hate people who are always happy. Especially morning people. They are just plain wrong.”
“No, I don’t mean that,” I say quietly. “It’s something she’s suggested. I don’t want to be a Dr. Phil kind of vlog with clever guests using long words. I don’t think that’s me. I’m not a completely serious thing. This is a truthful and hopefully sometimes helpful to others ‘me’ vlog with a random cat.”
Lauren nods. “Tell Lydia whatsherface that, then!”
I can’t tell Lydia whatsherface this, as she terrifies me and I can’t tell anyone that as I’ll look incredibly tragic.
“Whatever,” Lauren continues. “Can we talk about my fail, please? You heard my idea. It was fantastic, Mills. No one else had anything like it.”
This makes me pull a face. “Could that be, Loz, because it was a bit silly? I mean, just a tiny bit ‘out there.’ Rebel bears? Even for you?”
Lauren smirks. “Well, a bit, but that’s what you should do your next vlog on! How to do decent homework in a world full of other more interesting stuff going on. And not just now, but in the past. The concept of time is trying to catch us out constantly. We are all basically the new Doctor Who! Do it about that!”
This isn’t a bad idea. I really want to talk about Mum, but I can’t talk about Mum (she would go bananas if I shared more of her private life online), and I don’t want to talk about Dad anymore. Perhaps something about school would relate to a lot of people. Also, if I do something that’s about Lauren, it might soften the Erin blow that is coming.
“I’m going to do it, Lauren, and I’m going to dedicate it to you.”
Lauren bursts with pride. “I am happy to be your inspirational figure, Millie, but I must go now as I have to do my history essay again. This time it’s got to feature a human.”
“Just before you go and just so you know,” I say very quickly, “Gary and Mum have split up.”
Lauren’s eyes pop out and her neck attains a giraffelike length.
“What?!” she squeals.
“I know!” I say. “I can’t believe it either. He wanted a baby. She didn’t, and that was it!”
“That’s a pretty huge thing,” Lauren says with a sigh. “Honestly, I think my parents were happier till I came along. They love me. They’ve always loved me, but I don’t think they could juggle romance and a screaming thing.”
I give Lauren a massive hug. “They were never meant to be together, Lauren. It’s one hundred percent NOT your fault. Don’t even think about that.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lauren sniffs. “Anyway now that they’ve split up, things are a lot better. Dad is like a new man! It’s like he’s twenty years younger. He’s playing his guitar a lot again. He’s quite good!”
This reminds me.
“Do you think your dad would be up for doing a few jobs around our house? Mum could do it, but she doesn’t want to. It would be a huge load off her mind!”
“Yeah!” Lauren smiles. “I’ll ask him after school. I need to get on now. See you later, Mills.”
Lauren runs off, and I begin to think about the new vlog.
Lydia is right. If there were ever a time to experiment with things, it’s now. I’ve got real followers who I think won’t mind me looking … I can’t say great, but BETTER.
I send Erin a text. She’s great at what she does and we’ve all made mistakes in life!
Going to vlog after school. Want to come to mine and do my face?
Erin replies with her usual super speed. It’s just a series of thumbs-up and smiley face emojis and the time, 5:00 p.m.?
I reply with another thumbs-up. I hover for a moment over SEND, and then I just go for it. Sometimes you’ve just got to take a risk.
That’s it, then. I’m now a truthful, hopefully helpful vlog with a random diva cat and added makeup.
I don’t know if I want to be that or not. Is this vlog making me like Snow White’s stepmother? Beautiful but all devious and scheming?