I was flipping the last pancake as Dad came back downstairs. He poked his head around the corner of the dining room. “Is it safe to come in now?”
I laughed as I placed the not-so-tall stack of pancakes on the table. “Yeah. And sorry about that.”
My father waved away my apology. “These things happen,” he said as he took his seat. “Failure is all part of learning and moving forward.”
That was the cool thing about being a second-generation inventor. My father was very understanding when one of my projects went haywire. He has told me plenty of times that he wouldn’t be where he was today if he hadn’t learned from the occasional failed invention.
As we ate, I explained my robot design, and he helped me troubleshoot what could’ve gone wrong. As always, he had some great suggestions on how to tighten up the robot’s movements.
“Are you going to show off your robot in the upcoming Olympics?” he asked.
“You heard about that, huh?” I asked between bites.
“Of course,” my dad said. “Holly Jensen works for me, after all. Plus, she was very excited to tell me about both of her ideas.”
“The reality show thing?” I asked. “You’re okay with that?”
My father shrugged. “I don’t see why not, as long as classes aren’t disrupted, and I can’t see Mr. Davenport letting that happen.” He looked at me over the rims of his glasses. “Let me guess.… You’re not so happy about it.” He closed his eyes and put a finger to his temple. “I’m getting a vision,” he said, swaying in his seat. “It’s getting clearer.… You’re—you’re worried about being the focus of that show because of your name.”
I rolled my eyes. “How did you guess?”
“Oh, I’ve heard this story before,” he replied. “Look, Tom. You can’t change who you are. But have you ever thought that the harder you try to make things not about you, the more you’re making things all about you?”
I opened my mouth to object but caught myself. My dad had a point. Maybe I was making too big a deal out of the whole attention thing. If the other kids at school wanted to be a part of a new reality show, why should I grumble about it?
“You’re probably right,” I finally said. “I know that Noah is sick of hearing me complain about not wanting special treatment. He always says he wouldn’t feel the same way if it were him in my place.”
My dad pointed his fork at me. “There you go. Maybe this show will give him a turn to be in the spotlight.”
“Oh yeah,” I said with a smile. “I think it will.” Then I told Dad about how Ms. Jensen wanted to feature Noah’s augmented reality app.
“Sounds good to me. From what you’ve told me, his app brings the whole school together, involving everyone.” He finished his last bite of pancake. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s what the Swift Academy is all about.”
4 The Production Introduction
THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL, the Swift Academy students were all about getting on camera. As I entered through the front doors, I saw tons of students crowded around, chattering excitedly. Moving closer, I could make out a young man and woman, each with a video camera, recording the mob. Two other men held large microphones over the assembled students, and another man with a thick beard pointed at different people, instructing the camera operators where to shoot. Meanwhile, my classmates were mugging for the cameras. From my angle, it looked more like a zombie movie than a reality show.
I edged away from the group, making my way toward my locker.
“All right, people,” Mr. Davenport said as he squeezed through the crowd. “Time to go to class.” His face and bald head were flushed with anger.
His instruction was answered with moans of disappointment, but even so, the students quickly dispersed.
“Mr. Stewart,” said Mr. Davenport as he approached the bearded man. “I was assured this wasn’t going to be a disruption.”
Mr. Stewart chuckled. “Please call me Joey. This always happens at first. The kids needed to get it out of their systems, and we’ll be able to use the footage down the line.”
“Okay… Joey,” said Mr. Davenport. “I’m trying to run a school here and—”
Joey Stewart put a hand on the principal’s shoulder. “Ronald… Ron. Can I call you Ron?” He didn’t wait for a reply. “How about Sean and I go back to your office and get some shots of you at your desk.” He held out his other hand, fingers spread wide. “The captain at the helm, that sort of thing.”
Mr. Davenport nervously ran a hand over what little hair he had left. “Well, I suppose that would be all right.”
“Good,” Joey said as he led the man away from the group. “We’ll make an announcement too, so this won’t happen again.” The male camera operator and one of the mic guys followed the pair as they moved toward the main office.
As I dialed in the combination to my locker, Noah slid up beside me. “How cool was that?”
“Pretty cool, I guess. It kind of looked like a flash mob.”
Noah laughed. “Yeah. I think I got on camera a couple of times!” He brushed imaginary debris from one of his shoulders. “I’m going to be a star.”
I pulled a folder out of my locker and waved it in front of him. “Then you won’t have to worry about your algebra assignment. I’m sure your folks will be so proud.”
Noah’s eyes went wide. “Uh… see you in class.” I laughed as my best friend darted through the busy hallway, trying to get to his locker.
When I walked into class, Amy and Sam were already there. I guess they hadn’t been caught up in the reality TV traffic jam.
I slid into my seat and spun to face my friends. “Did you see the big…” My voice trailed off when I saw Amy. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and she was fidgeting her hands more than usual.
“Amy’s parents signed the release form and made her promise to give the show a try,” Sam explained.
Amy took in a deep breath, then sighed it out. “They didn’t exactly make me promise,” she said. “You remember that ‘get out of my comfort zone’ thing I mentioned?”
“Yeah?” I tilted my head.
“This TV thing falls into that category.”
Sam rolled her eyes.
“It’ll be fine, Amy,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “From what I saw, a lot of students are trying to get on camera. Maybe you can just blend into the background.”
“You think so?” Amy asked, perking up a little.
Sam’s eyes widened. “You could make a game of it. See a camera, keep your head down.”
Amy shrugged and a small smile pulled at her lips. “I kind of do that anyway.”
Sam and I laughed, and Amy joined in.
Just then, Noah rushed into the classroom and slid into his seat. The bell rang a moment after he hit the chair. Amy must have been really upset, otherwise, her near-perfect internal clock would have let us know he was about to be tardy.
Noah waved a folder triumphantly. “That’s right.” His brow wrinkled when he saw our smiles. “What did I miss?”
None of us had the chance to answer before Mr. Jenkins rose from his desk and moved to the smartboard. “All right, sports fans. If you’ll pull out yesterday’s assignments—”
“Pardon the interruption, faculty and students,” came Mr. Davenport’s voice over the intercom system.
Mr. Jenkins sighed and returned to his desk.
“After this morning’s… introduction to the camera crew,” our principal continued, “I think it’s best we lay down some ground rules.”
“Maybe it’d be better if you let me explain,” said another voice in the background.
“Oh, uh… okay,” said Mr. Davenport.
There was some shuffling. “Hello, Swift Academy students,” said the second voice, much louder this time. “My name is Joey Stewart, and I’m the producer for this little program we’ll be shooting at your school.”
All the kids in Mr. Jenkins’s class glanced around the room, grinning. It seemed
that everyone except Amy, Sam, and I was thrilled with the idea of being on television.
“Now, we really enjoyed the warm welcome this morning, and we got a lot of great footage,” Mr. Stewart continued. “But from now on, it’s extremely important that none of you look directly at any of the cameras. We can’t use that kind of footage for the show.”
Noah crossed his arms. “ ’Nuff said. There’s no way they’re gonna cut my footage.”
The students closest to us snickered. Sam just rolled her eyes.
“I know it’s going to be difficult,” Mr. Stewart said, “but please try to ignore the crew while we’re here. Thank you.”
“All right, then,” said Mr. Davenport. “You heard the man. Please continue your studies as usual.”
When it was clear that the announcements were over, Mr. Jenkins stood once more, approaching the smartboard. “Okay, future reality stars. Let’s get to those assignments, shall we?”
The classroom chatter faded and we went back to algebra as usual. I had almost completely forgotten about the camera crew when class ended. As we all filed out of the room, Mr. Stewart and Ms. Lane were waiting in the hallway. Luckily, none of the camera operators were around, so I didn’t have to worry about where not to look.
Ms. Lane pointed first to Noah and then to me before walking away. Mr. Stewart marched toward us. “Ah! Noah and Tom, right?”
“That’s us!” Noah said enthusiastically.
“Yes, sir,” I replied.
The man shook our hands. “No sirs, and Mr. Stewart is my dad. Call me Joey.”
“Okay, Joey,” Noah said.
Joey crossed his arms and studied us. “Holly tells me that you two have an augmented reality app that has the whole school buzzing.”
I pointed at my best friend. “Actually, it’s Noah’s app.”
“Right,” Joey replied, “but you’re the one who’s going to help our camera see everything, right?”
With everything going on, I had completely forgotten about agreeing to build the special lens filter. “Uh, yeah. But I haven’t built it yet.”
Joey moved between us and put a hand on each of our shoulders. “No worries. Plenty of time for that.” He guided us down the hallway. “While I’ve got you boys, let me show you your school’s new editing suite.”
“Uh, we’re going to be late for class,” I said.
Joey grinned and reached into his back pocket. “No worries on that, either.” He pulled out a small pink pad. “Your principal gave me a bunch of signed hall passes.”
“Cool,” Noah said.
I could see the wheels turning in my friend’s mind. If the academy had a black market, that pad would be worth a fortune.
We followed Joey up to the second floor to the workroom next to the computer lab. Normally, the room stored several components and spare computer parts. Now, however, the place looked like a gamer’s paradise. A huge workstation was set up on one end of the room with not one, but three, computer monitors. And a giant flat-screen television was mounted on the wall above it all. The computer screens were filled with the virtual dials and knobs of a professional editing software package. A thin man with glasses sat at the workstation while a video clip of the crowd of students from earlier played on the large TV screen.
“This is Danny, our editor,” Joey said as we entered the room. “He’s going to be editing our show on-site, as we film it.”
Danny didn’t look up from the screens, but he raised a hand and waved.
“Whoa,” Noah said. “This is sick!”
“Oh yeah,” I agreed. I was with my friend on this one. If the reality show was going to donate this setup to the school, it might actually be worth it. “I can’t wait to tell Amy about this.”
“Who’s Amy?” asked Joey.
“She’s a friend of ours,” replied Noah. “She’s an excellent editor and animator.”
“Is that right?” Joey put a hand on the editor’s shoulder. This guy sure was the touchy-feely type. “Think you could use an assistant, Dan?”
Again, the editor didn’t look up from his work. “It’s what I’ve been telling you for three shows now.”
Joey laughed, then moved toward the other end of the room. A thick black curtain had been hung to divide the space. He pulled the fabric back to reveal a small camera on a tripod flanked by two large lights. The camera was aimed at a folding chair positioned in front of a blue curtain. A large microphone was attached to a stand that boomed out over the chair.
“This is our confessional,” Joey said.
I raised an eyebrow. “Confessional?”
“Oh yeah,” Noah said. “It’s where the people talk about what’s happening on the show. I’ve seen that on a bunch of reality shows.”
“There you go,” Joey said. He turned to me and gestured toward the chair. “And I want you two to be the first to try it out.”
I looked at Noah. He should really go first since he was the one who was excited about the show. I was about to say as much, but my best friend just grinned and nodded. I think he was giddy to see how a reality show worked.
I reluctantly took the seat in front of the lights, my stomach somersaulting with nerves.
Joey sat in a folding chair on the other side of the camera. “Okay, now I just want you to look into the camera lens and answer a few questions for me,” Joey said. “Relax. No big deal.”
I raised a finger. “I thought we weren’t supposed to look at the cameras.”
Joey waved away my concern. “That’s just out there. In here, you always look into the camera.”
I let out a long breath, trying to settle my stomach. “Okay.”
Joey pressed a button and a small red light blinked above the lens. “All right, Tom Swift… how does it feel to share a name with your school?”
So much for avoiding special treatment.
I glanced up at Noah for help, but my best friend simply nodded back at me with that same big stupid grin on his face.
5 The Disputation Observation
“ALL RIGHT,” JOEY SAID. “LAST question… What are some of the inventions that you’re most proud of?”
I breathed a little easier. He was finally asking a question that wasn’t about my father, or the Swift Academy, or what it was like being the son of the man who created the entire school. I was so surprised by this turn in the interview that my mind went blank for a moment.
“Oh, uh—” I stammered. “There’s the—oh yeah. I invented an alarm clock where you have to answer different math equations before the alarm shuts off.”
Joey nodded. “Interesting…”
“Tell him about our cloud seeding project,” Noah chimed in.
“That’s right,” I said, sitting up straighter. “Noah and I actually made it rain using model rockets.” I went on to explain how each rocket had shot into a low cloud and dumped a payload of chemicals that made water droplets form. People had been doing that for years, but Noah and I created the same effect with a dozen two-stage model rockets.
“That’s great,” Joey said. “But aren’t you forgetting something?” He tapped his temple with his index finger.
I cocked my head, trying to figure out what he meant. But then I reached up and felt the pair of augmented reality glasses resting on my forehead. My face warmed as I let out a long sigh. I can’t believe I had them on my head the entire time. I must’ve looked like such a nerd.
I pulled the glasses off my head. “These special glasses let me see elements of Noah’s augmented reality app without using my phone.”
Joey grinned. “Excellent.”
“Uh, and they also let me operate this rudimentary robot I created,” I quickly added. “I can see what it sees and operate its hands using the controllers from my console.”
Joey reached over and paused the camera. “I think that’s all we need for now.” He pulled out the pad of hall passes, tore off the top sheet, and handed it to me. “Let’s give Noah a turn.”
“Yea
h, okay,” I said as I got to my feet. I had to admit, I was a little disappointed. The questions were just getting interesting.
I moved out of the way so Noah could take the seat in front of the camera. He patted down his hair, looking at his reflection in the lens. I wish I had thought of that. If I had, I might’ve noticed the glasses sitting on my head.
“Want me to stick around?” I asked. Maybe I could jog Noah’s memory the way he’d helped with mine.
“That’s all right,” Joey answered. “I don’t want to keep you from class any longer than necessary.” He gave a quick wink. “I might get in trouble again with your principal.”
“Oh… all right,” I said as I pulled the curtain aside. “I’ll see you later,” I told Noah.
“Yeah, man,” Noah replied without looking up. He continued to check his reflection.
I left the editing suite feeling relieved the encounter was over, but oddly unwelcome at the same time. It was weird. I’d never felt so subtly dismissed before.
I swung by my locker and then headed toward my second-period class. Luckily, Joey’s hall pass did the trick.
Noah didn’t show up for the rest of the period. And even though I didn’t have every class with him, I didn’t spot him in the halls for the rest of the morning. Joey must’ve kept him busy showing off his augmented reality app.
I was happy for my friend. After all, he seemed to be the most excited about being on television. But I was also worried about him. I hoped that all the time on the show wouldn’t affect his schoolwork. Then again, we’d worked on side projects and special inventions that took our attention away from our homework a bunch of times. The thought came to mind because it was one of those things my father warned me about repeatedly: spreading myself too thin. In the end, we always caught up. Neither Noah nor I were ever going to be in the running for top of the class, but we always managed to keep our grades up no matter what else we had going on.
Come lunchtime, Noah was still a no-show. That surprised me a little, but not as much as Sam and Amy being AWOL too. The four of us almost always had lunch together.
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