“Alright. Now I’m scared. What—”
“I need to play bingo with you. Please let me do the bingo thing with you.”
I consider myself to be a pretty smart person, but I’ve never been more confused in my life. “Why?!”
“I’m guessing your dad set it up so it’ll at least take you a few weeks to get a bingo, and don’t you get like extra prizes or something if you clear the whole board?”
“I mean yeah. If I clear the board, we’re going to Disneyland, but we’re gonna go to Disneyland anyway. It’s more the spirit of the game.” I don’t know how to explain to Saylor that my parents aren’t really good at telling me no. Usually when I ask for something, they just say okay, but that’s not the issue at hand.
“Okay, well, forget about the prizes. It’ll take you most of the summer to clear the whole board. Let me do it with you.”
“Why?” I ask again.
“Did you watch the video? The one my mom posted about me coming out to her.”
My face suddenly gets hot. “Uh, yeah, I saw a part of it, but not the whole thing.”
“Oh, so you missed ten minutes of my mom literally crying about how good of a parent she is and how my gayness makes our family more complete, aka more interesting, for her to talk about online.”
“Uh, no, I didn’t see all that. Geez.”
“Yeah. It’s a lot and I can’t take it anymore,” Saylor says.
“I thought you were really into all your mom’s content stuff and, like, how she goes all out. I thought—” I stop myself from saying what’s on the tip of my tongue.
“You thought what?”
“I mean. I thought you liked all the attention.” I know it doesn’t qualify as the nice thing to say, but it is what I think.
Saylor’s mouth pops open before she closes it again. “When I was little it was fun making hair videos with her, and then when she really started making money, she gave my sisters and me a cut of every post we were in. Well, she still does, but that’s not the point. Heaven, has your mom ever really embarrassed you? Likereallyreally embarrassed you?”
“I wouldn’t say really really, but we’ve had a few close calls.”
“Well, my mom embarrasses me all the time, and it’s only gotten worse this last year. And now, I’m stuck at home with my mom, and if she has her way, we’ll be making contenttogether every day. During school, I’m too busy, but now I got nothing but time. You have to help me.”
I glance over at the dogs, watching this bizarre interaction from their dog beds. Then I look back at the half-empty glass of cool water on the island. I get what she’s saying and what she’s asking me, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
“Saylor, you’re a swell gal and I’m happy you’re gay, but no.”
“Heaven, please.”
I cringe as she struggles to grab something out of her pocket. After a few seconds she pulls out her phone. She steps closer to me and practically shoves the screen in my face, showing me her mom’s Instagram account. “I’ve been home for three days and she’s already made three posts and like ten different stories about my face, my arm, my being gay again, her feeling guilty, but glad I’m home. After we left the store, she asked me if I wanted to film a Get Ready with Me: Broken Arm edition. Why would I want to do that? Have you seen my face!”
I can’t help but snort, but her hysterical reaction doesn’t change my mind. “I—I don’t know. Look. I hear you. This is embarrassing. You should be able to heal your arm and your face in peace. But I have a lot going on.”
“Like what?”
I roll my eyes but give her a quick explanation of how I need to build my online portfolio. “Mrs.Yeun wants me to work on this all year, but I gotta get this started now. So that means I have to somehow turn myself into your mom, basically, and learn how to build a following based on artthat I’ve only shown to like three people. If I don’t, it’s going to be pretty hard to get Mrs.Yeun to take me on as an apprentice.”
“Oh,” Saylor says, a deep frown creasing her eyebrows. “Is that it?”
“Um, yeah.That’s it. I’ll be spending so much time just trying not to barf. I don’t think I’ll be able to save you from your mom.”
“Then let’s make a deal: You let me tag along with you for the summer bingo challenge so I can spend as much time away from home as possible, and I’ll help you launch a very successful social media account. You might not have noticed, but my mom has millions of followers and I’ve been watching her for years. I’ve learned a thing or two about managing a brand. Against my will, but still.”
“What’s the catch? There’s always a catch,” I say.
“I mean you’ll have to spend the summer with me. And—”