Z On Location

by J. J. Howard

  She sounded just a little warmer this morning. I knew she’d forgive me eventually, but I was going to have to work really hard for it to be sooner rather than later. “Okay. Thanks, Mom.”

  “We’ll be back around one thirty, and we’ll go get a late lunch with you.” She handed me my phone back. “Don’t get too excited. This is for safety, in case you have to call us. I’ve enabled the parent control app, and put it on the emergency contacts calls only setting.”

  My heart sunk hearing that Mom thought she needed to do that. But I’d just shown her yesterday that she couldn’t trust me. I knew it was up to me to prove to her, again, that she could.

  “Okay,” I said as I took the phone.

  “We’re going to be just down the block,” Mom continued. “I wrote the address down for you.” She handed me a piece of paper with an address and a hand-drawn map. “But unless there’s an emergency, we’ll see you after the shoot.”

  I nodded and stood on the steps of the RV as they left, loaded down with gear—even more so than usual without me to carry some of it.

  I tried passing the time by making a storyboard for a new stop-motion video, but I just couldn’t concentrate.

  I knew I couldn’t just sit around the RV all morning, though. I tidied up the common area a little and ran across the trip binder that Mom had made—the one that held all the information about the equipment she was using on the project.

  Suddenly, it hit me, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. Mom already knew how to use all this stuff. And at the start, she hadn’t known Nora would be coming along. The only reason Mom had compiled all that info and written all those notes was for me. And when I was supposed to be studying it, I’d been too focused on the world inside my phone, rather than the real world right in front of me, just like Mom had said.

  I’d really messed up—and not just by sharing the VR tech.

  But my parents had always taught me that if you mess up, you keep going. It was time to start the trip over—time to come back from my crash with a full Z reboot.

  I opened the binder to the page about camera setup and pulled out Mom’s backup camera, then practiced getting it on the tripod and adjusting the settings for a typical interview. When it was all set up, I put it away in the bag and started over again. After a few tries, my timing was really improving.

  Before I knew it, Mom and Nora were back. I jumped into action inventorying the equipment, double-checking everything carefully before making a note on the clipboard. Then I used the special lens-cleaning wipes before putting all the lenses back in their cases. Mom saw what I was doing and gave me a small nod.

  Once I’d done everything I could think of with the equipment, I went back to studying the binder. Tomorrow was VidCon. I thought back to the beginning of the trip, when I’d been so excited to go to VidCon, and I’d been sure I’d be interviewing Winter there. Even though I had blown my chance at that, I was still psyched to meet up with Becka, Gigi, and Mari—they always made me feel like I could do anything and no challenge was too big. They were my real-life crew, and exploring VidCon with them was surely going to feel like a real adventure. We had a huge list of panels we wanted to attend and stuff we wanted to see.

  But for now, I had a long while in the RV before we got there. I planned to use the time reading Mom’s binder cover to cover. Maybe I wouldn’t get another chance to be Mom’s assistant on this trip. But at least I could use this time to learn how to use all this stuff. It could be my own mini film camp, which was almost a #summeradventure.

  Mom parked the RV in one of the oversize spaces at the convention center. I had packed up the equipment and put it on the table, ready to go. We all loaded up, but before we headed out, mom held out my phone.

  I looked up at her in surprise. “Are you giving this back?”

  “Phone and text only. Okay?”

  “Okay!” I said, sitting up straighter and accepting the phone from her.

  “I’ve been noticing your behavior,” Mom added. “Just keep it up. I really want to trust you again.”

  “I want you to, too. Can I text Mari, Becka, and Gigi about meeting up?” I asked.

  “Sure, “ Mom replied. “Tell them to meet us at the east entrance.”

  It ended up being a looonnng walk from our parking space. “This is the glamorous side of filmmaking,” Mom joked as she hitched her bag higher on her shoulder.

  I ran ahead a little, anxious to get my first look at VidCon—and my friends. Mari came barreling at me as soon as I entered—and almost knocked me over, since I was holding so much equipment. “Z, you’re finally here—I can’t wait to tell you all about Perry Carstairs and Chasing Wednesday! Can you even believe that he came up onstage with us? I’m still dying.”

  “I’m dying that I missed it,” I told her. “Here, do you mind carrying this one?” I handed her a heavy bag.

  “Sure. So you watched the videos I sent, right? I’m still pinching myself.”

  Mari kept on chattering about Chasing Wednesday. “It was so crazy meeting them, but you getting to interview Winter will be out of this world amazing!” Mari said.

  I gulped. I had to fess up about what happened, but I wanted to wait until Becka and Gigi got here.

  “What’s up with you? You’re being really quiet,” Mari said.

  “I’m still bummed I missed your big moment. But there’s also something I want to talk to you about. With everyone.”

  “Hi, Mari,” Mom called as she and Nora caught up. “This is Nora, my assistant.”

  “Hi, Nora,” Mari said. “It’s nice to meet you.” She raised her eyebrows at me—I hadn’t mentioned Nora.

  Just then, I heard a squeal, and Becka and Gigi exploded out of the elevator and headed toward us. Mari and I hugged them both; it was so good to see them in person after a whole year.

  “I’m can’t believe we’re finally here!” Gigi said. “It seems like I’ve been counting the days forever.”

  “Just since three hundred sixty-four days ago,” Becka joked. “We’re back where it all started!”

  Mom stepped forward and greeted the two newcomers, and introduced Nora to them as well.

  “You girls have a plan of attack for your second year at VidCon?”

  “We sure do,” Becka told her. “The only trouble is for some time slots, I have two or three panels I want to see!”

  “Let’s get started,” Mari said. “Or do you have to film today?” she asked me.

  “We’ve got this covered,” Mom said, and I sent her a silent thank-you for not outing me. I was going to tell my friends about messing up and being benched as an assistant—but I definitely preferred to wait until we were on our own to do so.

  Everyone agreed to help carry some equipment over to the room where Mom would be during her interview. I knew this was the biggest shoot of the whole film—Mom was doing a speed round of interviews with tech and digital innovators. As much as I wanted to hang out and explore with my friends, missing this shoot was really a bummer. This was completely unlike anything we’d done yet, and the pace would probably be even faster than usual. I wished I could watch Mom and Nora in action. I gave Mom a hug and said, “Good luck. If things get really hectic, text me and I’ll come back to help.”

  I walked slowly behind Mari, Becka, and Gigi as we headed back to the main part of the convention floor.

  “Are you okay?” Mari asked.

  I gave a big sigh. “I have to tell you guys something. I messed up really badly, more than once, and I’m not really helping them on the shoots anymore.”

  “Speaking of them, who’s this Nora person? I thought you were going to be your mom’s assistant,” Gigi said.

  “I was.” I told them everything from the beginning. When I came to the photo-sharing mistake, Becka said, “Oh my gosh, Z, that is all my fault! I was the one who posted the photo.” It looked like Becka was about to cry, and I bent down to give her a hug.

  “I take all the blame. I shouldn’t
have taken or sent the photos in the first place.”

  Becka wiped her eyes. “But if I hadn’t …”

  “What’s done is done,” I said.

  “I feel like that could happen to anyone,” Mari put in. “You just got excited about finding a summer adventure.”

  “Thanks, Mari. I was really just thinking about finding something great to post. I’ve realized I do that a lot.”

  “That happens to me sometimes, too,” Gigi said. “A couple weeks ago, I went on a trip to Stonehenge with my school, and I feel like I totally missed out on learning about the history and all that, because I was basically only thinking about the pictures I could post!”

  “Yeah, exactly. That’s totally how I’ve been on this trip. Even before we left I was like What can I post to win Winter’s #summeradventure challenge?”

  Mari jumped in. “I had a little bit of that when Perry Carstairs was playing with us onstage. Like, half my brain was going: OMG Perry Carstairs OMG, I can’t believe this is happening, I wonder if his fans will see this online and then they’ll see Needles in a Haystack and then we’ll blow up and it will all be because of this thing that is happening RIGHT NOW … and the other half of my brain was like Yeah, this is happening RIGHT NOW! Enjoy it!”

  I smiled at her, then said to the group, “There’s one more thing. My mom told me before we left that I needed to prove myself in order to do the interview with Winter Costello. Obviously, that didn’t happen. I know you guys were excited …”

  “Say no more,” Becka broke in. “I love Winter Costello, but there are so many other amazing people here this week. And I have a whole bunch of their names highlighted right here.” She held up an already well-worn copy of the event program. “So I say, we’re burning daylight here—let’s get this show on the road!”

  “I second that,” Gigi said. “This is VidCon. Anything can happen! I mean, think about it: We all met right here, in this very place, one year ago. Can you believe it’s only been a year? I feel like I’ve known you guys for ages.”

  “Anything can happen …” I echoed. The beginnings of an idea were teasing around the corners of my brain. “Becka, you said that you had some time slots when there were too many things to see happening all at once, right?”

  Becka nodded. “I’d need a time machine to see everything.”

  “I have an idea. What if we check out the exhibit hall together first, but then each pick one of the panels Becka highlighted, and divide and conquer. We could split into pairs and film the different events—a live report from the scene type of thing. Then we can meet back up and share our stories.” Winter Costello wasn’t the only amazing online celebrity here. I’d find my own incredible story and get to work on a film about it. I wasn’t allowed to use my phone, but I had my camera, and that was just straight filmmaking.

  “Great plan, Z!” Gigi said.

  “Sounds cool. Z’s Crew reporting live from VidCon,” Mari agreed.

  “I’m in,” Becka said. “But first, race you to the main exhibition hall!”

  Becka took off at full speed, and we all laughed as we raced to catch up.

  We dove into Becka’s highlighted schedule, and divided up the 1:00 p.m. panels. Kacey Kravitz—along with her adorable Roxie the Robot—was appearing at that time. I told my friends how great Kacey was, and then Gigi and Mari decided they wanted to go to the panel and meet her.

  I told them to mention my name to Kacey. “Tell her I said hi and I hope I get to see her again on the floor, okay?”

  “Sure thing, Z,” Gigi said with a smile. “We’ll tell Roxie, too.”

  We finished making our selections, and then it was time to head out to record our vlog stories.

  Becka and I chose a panel that featured up-and-coming female vloggers under the age of twenty-five. When we got there, I saw a pretty long line, not unlike the one Lauren and Mari and I had been waiting in when we met Becka and Gigi last year. Becka went off to find a bathroom while I joined the line, got out my camera, and decided to ask some “on the fly” questions of the people standing near me. After all, doing person-on-the-street style interviews had worked out well for me with both my CloudSong movie and when I’d done them backstage at Drama Connect for Mom’s film.

  A trio of girls who looked to be about my age stood in front of me. I edged around to face them and prepared to introduce myself.

  “Z?” One of the girls said before I even opened my mouth. “You’re Z, aren’t you?”

  I felt my eyes widen in surprise. “Um … yes! But how did you know?”

  “We’re in Z’s Crew!” another of the girls said. “I’m Jordyn. We love your AGSM videos!”

  I stared at them in disbelief. “You guys subscribe to my channel?”

  “Of course! Like Jordyn said, we’re part of your crew!” the third girl said. “I’m Erica, and this is Mina.” The first girl—Mina—waved.

  “I can’t believe you guys recognized me!” I said.

  “So are you on this panel?” Erica asked, leafing through her program. “I didn’t see your name …”

  I felt my giant grin fade just a little. “No, unfortunately. But maybe someday!” I added brightly.

  “For sure,” said Mina.

  “Totally,” agreed Jordyn. “But, hey, guys we have to interview Z for our vlog!” She turned to the others, and they both nodded and agreed.

  “We’re just getting started,” Mina said. “We don’t have many followers yet. But we all love vlogging—would you want to do a chat in the Connectivity Café with us? Maybe this afternoon?”

  I opened my mouth to say, “Of course!”—but then I remembered that I needed to meet back up with Mari and Gigi. I didn’t want them to think I’d put doing an interview ahead of spending time with them.

  “I’d love to, I really would. I have to meet back up with my friends after this panel, though …” Just then, Becka returned. I introduced her to my followers. I still couldn’t believe they were real!

  “You should totally come, too! Becka, do you help with Z’s vlog?” Erica asked.

  “My friends help me with all my projects,” I said.

  “Z’s Crew forever!” Becka answered. Everyone laughed.

  “Can we do the interview at four?” Erica asked.

  “Sure!” I agreed. “Um, I was actually going to ask if I could interview you guys. I’m doing a video about this panel, and I want to add some comments from fans.”

  “Of course!” Jordyn said, and the others agreed. I asked them a few questions, but before we knew it, the line was moving and we were being let into the room to see the panel.

  We sat with my new friends to listen to the vloggers. I imagined myself sitting up there on a panel like that one day. Then I remembered that Erica had actually been looking for my name on the list in her program. I felt a rush of happiness at the thought. Besides that, I’d just met actual fans of my channel. They recognized me. Sitting there as the panel ended, looking up at the stage, I felt absolutely sure that I’d get there someday. I just had to keep going. Filmmaking was hard work, but VidCon was super inspiring. I already had tons of ideas for vlogs. The sting of not getting to interview Winter was fading away.

  After the panel, Becka and I said good-bye to the girls and headed toward the meeting spot my friends and I had picked.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see if any of them had texted me, but at that moment, it chimed with a phone call—from Mom.

  “Mom!” I said, picking up the phone. “You’ll never guess what …”

  “Hold on, Z—can you tell me about it later? I need you to get back here ASAP.”

  “Oh—is everything okay?”

  “Not really. Nora isn’t feeling well at all. She thinks it’s food poisoning from that veggie burger she had last night. At any rate, I sent her back to the RV. She’s in no shape to help me … and I can’t do this by myself, not this shoot. I really need your help, Z.”

  My heart was pounding. Mom was asking me to help
her with the shoot. Sure, it was because Nora was sick, but still … “Z? Are you there?”

  “Sorry! Yes—I’m coming. I’ll be right there!”

  I hung up and headed back the way I’d come.

  Mom needed my help! And I’d get to at least participate in the shoot with Winter, after all.

  “Becka, I have to go help my mom. Nora’s sick. Can you meet up with Mari and Gigi and let them know what’s going on?”

  “Sure! I hope everything’s okay. We’ll meet you at the Connectivity Café at four. Just text if there’s a problem. Good luck!”

  Oh no. Four o’clock was when I was supposed to meet Erica, Mina, and Jordyn. What if I was late? Or couldn’t make it at all? I didn’t want them to think I’d blown them off. Hopefully, if I didn’t make it, Becka could explain to them, and they’d understand.

  All thoughts of trying to explain my dilemma to Mom evaporated as soon as I entered the room where she was doing her interviews. The scene was chaotic. I guess in the rush to help Nora, setup had gotten way behind schedule. Mom looked up from positioning a camera and caught my eye, and she looked incredibly relieved to see me, as though I were a human life preserver.

  Whatever I had to do to help her, I’d do it. Maybe if I was the best possible assistant, we could get finished early so I could get to the Connectivity Café on time.

  I walked up to Mom. “What do you need?”

  I set up the B camera in record time. My practice with the backup camera had really paid off.

  “What next?” I asked Mom.

  “Did you set that up already?”

  “Yes, and the key light.”

  Mom raised an eyebrow at me and walked over to the camera to check its settings. Then her eyebrow climbed higher. “Perfect. Okay, why don’t you unpack the lavalier mics?”

  “I already have them set up,” I said, gesturing to a small table a few feet away. “Is it okay if I ask our subject to do a sound check with me? She’s waiting right there—I got her a water bottle from your cooler when she came in.”