At home, I played Molly's hair flip over and over again on my computer. I slowed it down... played it back and forth... added some music to it... Okay, before you start thinking this was kind of creepy, keep in mind that everybody at school knows I'm shooting everything on my HughTube camera. But okay, it was still kind of creepy. Sorry for being 14 and having hormones!
Anyway, right while Molly's hair flip had me in a sort of blissful haze, Simon skyped me, his image instantly replacing Molly's on my computer screen. I almost gagged.
"Hey, how's the editing going?" Simon asked. He was in his bedroom, and fast food logos were all over the wall behind him. Okay, I get it dude, "You want fries with that?" is your mantra.
"HughTube's coming along," I said.
"You're slow-moing Molly's hair flip thing, aren't you?" Simon said with a smirk.
"No!" I retorted, a little too quickly.
"Don't feel bad. My class project is tanking too. Not only can fries and ketchup be considered vegies, the fructose and palm oil in all the candy and chips at the snack bar qualify them as vegetables too. So it seems the eating habits of the North American teenager are great! But now my class project report's gonna be like half a page."
Just then, my phone chirped. It was a text – from Molly! "Whoa."
"What?"
"Molly texted me." I stared at the phone, incredulous. "She wants to get together for a 'strategy session' at the mall."
"'Strategy session'? Dude, you are in!"
"What do you mean?"
"Nobody gets together for a 'strategy session' at a mall. They go there to hang out!"
"She wants to hang out with me?" Okay, maintain...
"We talked about this," Simon explained, a little annoyed. "You really think she joined our team 'cause she's into politics?"
"Jeez," I said, "I've never 'hung out' with a girl before."
Simon calmed down and slumped in his seat. "Me neither. I wonder what it's like."
Just then, Nancy barged into the room, a bundle of energy as usual. "Hugh, I'm campaigning at my school too!"
"Learn to knock!" I snapped. I'm all for positivity, but being pelted with Nancy's happy explosions every day gets exhausting.
"I'm running for Best Super Happy Caring Friend!" she enthused.
My jaw literally dropped. "Really??" I'd made that dopey thing up off the top of my head.
"It's so cool! Everybody says they'll vote for me! Wish me luck!" Nancy bounced out of the room on her built-in pogo stick.
I turned back to Simon onscreen. "Welcome to the funny farm," I told him. Too bad that funny farm was my life.
YOU ARE READING
HughTube
Humor14-year-old Hugh Hollenbeck doesn't get it. What doesn't he get? Just about everything. That's why he walks around with a little camera attached to his glasses that records his entire life. Then he watches it all later to try to figure out the thing...
