“But that’s not all. Halloween is right around the corner, and I’m sending one of the show’s producers, Tim, to all the best haunted houses in California!” Cheers. As though anyone actually cared who Tim was.
“And we’ll also have a chance to meet the internet’s biggest sensation. I swear, you will never be able to look at an order of french fries the same way again. Put your hands together for Kyle Bonham!”
They flashed the picture on the screen. I dug my nails into my palms. My heart felt like it was squeezing tighter and tighter, so tight I thought it might pop, exploding through my chest in a splatter of gore, like some grisly water balloon.
I leaned forward, mesmerized. Any minute now, Kyle would walk out there and fully transform from a regular (if exceptionally adorable) kid at my school into something else, something big and dense with its own impenetrable orbit.
The minute he set foot on that stage, he’d be legitimately famous.
And I’d be left behind forever.
chapter twenty
KYLE
FRIDAY, 4:24 P.M.
The van shuddered to a stop along the curb. I couldn’t tell exactly where we were. It didn’t have any windows in back. This van model: choice of kidnappers everywhere. When I stuck my head between the front seats and looked out the passenger door, I could just see a black SUV parked in the driveway of an unremarkable house.
“Don’t wrinkle your tux,” a voice behind me said. It was the producer I’d met at the show, whose name, I’d learned, was Mary. She was even more disheveled after the flight and the hassle of getting all the equipment into the huge white van we’d rented.
I should have felt nervous, but all I felt was vaguely guilty. This was not a good idea. For lots of reasons. And I was the only one who seemed to get that. But Mom was clearly convinced this was what would get me into Princeton with Carter. The school I wasn’t actually good enough for. Mom: very persuasive when she’s set on something.
We’d dropped Mom back at the house after we landed, so it was just Mary; me; the massive, cue-ball-bald, mostly silent cameraman, Eddie; and Charles, an assistant on the show. He hardly looked older than me. It seemed like he was there mainly to do the things no one else wanted to, like taking food orders and driving.
“Is it time yet?” I asked. Mary was bent over a tablet, watching intently.
“Not yet,” she mumbled. “Eddie, get out and set up; we’re about ten minutes away from launching this puppy.”
Eddie unpacked himself from the front seat and went around to the back of the van, cracking open a black plastic case and hoisting a huge camera onto his shoulder. He started fiddling with knobs.
I felt like I might be about to puke. Partly because the whole van smelled like old fast food, but more from everything else.
Would Emma be watching? What would she think about this, the sequel?
chapter twenty-one
RACHEL
FRIDAY, 4:36 P.M.
“I can’t believe they’re bringing him back after the commercials,” I said, twisting around to look at Mo. “Laura must have loved him.”
“Mm-hmm,” she said tightly, staring at her phone. I could hear movement overhead. It sounded like Mom’s step—deliberate and heavier than you’d expect—but she wasn’t home. Jonathan must have tripped over himself trying to walk and organize his Pokémon collection at the same time.
I bit the inside of my lip. Mo had been this way the entire show, hardly paying attention, focused on texts, apparently annoyed about something. What the heck?
The theme song started playing again, and Laura appeared onstage with Kyle.
“Hey, folks. We’re back with Kyle Bonham, the overnight internet french fry sensation—give me credit if you paint that on your bus, Kyle.” The audience laughed indulgently. “And over the break, I got to thinking. Now that the world is swooning over Kyle, he needs a new look, don’t you think?”
Kyle smiled broadly into the camera as the audience cheered their approval.
“He needs to up his game!”
“I definitely do,” Kyle said, grinning harder.
They cheered louder.
“That’s what I thought you’d say. That’s why we’re going to take Kyle backstage, spruce him up, and send him on a very important mission. We’ll show you what happens on Monday’s show! Kyle, good luck,” she said, leaning toward him, feigning fear.
He stood. “I know it’ll be a tough job, but I’m ready.” He opened his eyes wide and mouthed, “Help me!” Then he laughed, waved to the crowd one last time, and jogged off.
God, he was so good at this. It was almost exasperating. How could someone be so comfortable putting himself out there in front of thousands of people?
“Next up, we’re going to get you in the holiday spirit . . .” Laura said. Apparently they were done with Kyle for now.
“What do you think they’ll do Monday?”
“Don’t know,” Monique said vaguely.
“Probably he’ll go serve fries at some red carpet event or something. They love stuff like that.”