“How’s Las Vegas? Are you having fun? Do you like the hotel? I saw pictures online. It looks amazing. I’ll bet it’s fun.” Mom asked and then answered her own questions in rapid succession.
“It’s been fun so far. I’ve mostly been working, so I’ve only been to the pool once. But Nittha and Gabby are here, whichhas been cool.” Immediately, I regretted telling her they were here. I loved my mom, but if there was an annual prize for helicopter parents, she and Dad would win every year. The internet was her greatest tool, and the fact that I didn’t have my own social media was probably killing her. Not because she wanted me to document my life per se, but it meant that she couldn’t watch my social life and make sure it was on track for the future she and Dad had planned for me. As it was, without social media, she had to stick to refreshing my grade portal at school and watching my phone’s shared location dot not move all day.
To my parents, my future was to attend a well-respected, affordable college—ideally studying for a degree with good practical application, like economics or business. While there, I’d meet my husband, so I could be married by twenty-seven with a house close to them. Also, I would join Mom’s sorority, as my sister had, or my dad’s community service organization, like my brother. And above all else, I would do this without embarrassing them.
“Working, huh?” Mom said, sounding half distracted. She was likely making her way over to one of Cricket’s pages so she could stalk me. After a beat, she added, “What’s on the docket for tonight? Something fun, I hope.”
“I’m gonna go to dinner with Gabby and Nittha, since BamBam is going on her mystery adventure with Gregory.” I grinned over at BamBam, who was watching me from the mirror over the desk as she organized her lipsticks.
“Well, that seems nice. If you find out where BamBam is going, be sure to text the family chat.” Mom’s tone sounded likeshe thought it was about as nice as a trip to a crowdedsupermarket. “Listen, I don’t want to keep you long since I know you’ve got plans, but I happened to check the SAT practice test portal, and it looks like you haven’t logged in yet, so I wanted to remind you. If you have free time, check in there. Fifteen minutes of practice is better than no minutes. Also, I talked to Dad, and he said you still hadn’t sent him your essay for SISU.”
“I’ll get to it.” My heart slammed around in my rib cage as I tried to think of a way to wiggle out of her plan. “Actually, I meant to talk to you. I was thinking I might try something else this summer instead of the internship at your office.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“Maybe something film related, like seeing if I could work on-set for a commercial filming company. You know, to try something new.”
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, Icaught 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.
