Read Online Reel Life Starring Us by Lisa Greenwald - Free Book Online

laughing in the background, and then it turns into a shot of Dina at her lunch table. No one’stalking, and Dina’s eating a bag of mini-carrots, crunching and crunching, staring into space. Then the video ends, and I hand Molly back her phone.
    â€œWhat do you think?” Molly asks.
    I say, “Um … it’s a video of Dina eating carrots?”
    Molly’s mom stays silent during this whole thing, clicking her nails on her fancy wooden steering wheel.
    â€œIsn’t it funny?” Kendall screeches. “See, we can take videos, too!”
    Molly and Kendall crack up, and I guess it is kind of funny, actually, and it’s not really mean or anything—it’s just a video of her eating carrots. Everyone eats carrots.
    â€œWe’re so putting it on Facebook,” Molly says. “It’ll be really funny.”
    â€œNo, come on,” I say. “Really?”
    â€œDon’t be lame, Chelsea,” Molly says. “Or I’m telling Ross.”
    I don’t know what to say, so I just say nothing and hope that they forget about this.

Video tip: Avoid talking heads. Shoot a lot of
B-roll so you don’t bore your audience.
    Nathan is so lucky to be in fourth grade. It’s not even a big deal for fourth graders to start a new school, and they obviously don’t have to worry about chipping.
    Also, all the third and fourth graders in Rockwood Hills are on soccer teams. It’s a coed league, and it’s a huge deal. So of course my parents had to sign him up for one. They made sure to do that before we even moved here.
    My mom is always on top of this stuff.
    So Nathan has built-in plans on Saturdays. He’s getting ready to leave for his soccer game, all geared up in his cleats and his shin guards. All I want at this minute is to be a fourth-grade boy. Seriously.
    Because right now my mom is doing that thing that shedoes. She asks me what my plans are for the day when she knows I don’t have any. It didn’t used to be like this. She didn’t used to have to ask because I always had plans.
    â€œYou could call someone,” she says, all casual.
    â€œWho should I call, Mom?” I don’t look up from my laptop when I talk to her. Making eye contact would only make things worse.
    â€œWhat about that girl that you’re working with on that project? You said she was very nice, and popular, too. And didn’t you say she lives in the Pine section of the neighborhood?”
    Our neighborhood is divided into four sections. Each of them has a tree name. So Chelsea lives in the Pine section and we live in the Elm section. Everyone knows the Pine section is the fanciest and the Spruce section is the least fancy, mostly because it backs the expressway. The Elm section is one step above Spruce because it doesn’t back the expressway and the houses are bigger, plus that’s where the neighborhood pool is. People in the Pine section have their own pools. Some of them, anyway. The Maple section is right below the Pine section, and some of the houses are actually bigger, just not as new or fancy.
    â€œYeah, she does. I’m not calling her, though, Mom. So please don’t even think about it.”
    â€œDina,” she says in that tone that leads me to believe that whatever comes next is going to be impossible to say no to.“You have to make an effort. You’re the new one. Please just call her.”
    â€œShe has a million friends, Mom,” I say, ending the round of the computer version of Connect Four. “She doesn’t need me. We’re just working on the project together, and she doesn’t even want to be working on it, really. We’re not BFFs.” I pause and wait for her to say something, but she doesn’t. “It’s different here,” I say under my breath.
    My mom sits next to me on the couch and closes the laptop. “First of all, it’s very rude to be on the computer when