I Represent Sean Rosen (15 page)
Read I Represent Sean Rosen Online
Authors: Jeff Baron
Part of me wants to check Dan Welch's e-mail. My phone doesn't have e-mail, but there are lots of other waysâother kids' phones, the library, Trish in the principal's office.
But I don't want to sign in to Dan Welch's e-mail account on anyone else's phone or computer. I'm pretty sure it keeps a record, even if it says it doesn't. The bigger thing is that I don't want to feel any worse than I already do, and if there's nothing from Stefanie to Dan, I definitely will. I don't even want to go home, because I'll just stare at Dan Welch's inbox.
W
e're not supposed to text during school, but everyone does. I usually don't, but it feels a little like an emergency. I looked to see if any teachers were around, and holding my phone inside my locker, I texted Buzz.
Play wii today?
He got back to me in about ten seconds.
shur comm over
Some people make up strange spellings to be funny or cool. Not Buzz. I'm not saying he's not funny or cool, but he spells that way all the time. His parents keep thinking it's the school's fault. They took him out of our school and put him in a different school. Then they didn't like
that
school, so they found another one. Buzz still can't spell, but he doesn't hate school anymore. I don't think they have to spell in his new school. And they take a lot of trips.
I actually don't think it matters which school Buzz goes to. It's just Buzz. He never completely listens to anything. Not in a mean way. It's like part of his brain is in some other place. He's always been like that. Sometimes I think it's funny that a kid like me and a kid like him are friends. We've never been like best friends, but I always liked him and he always liked me.
It'll be fun to see Buzz, and today I'm actually looking forward to Wii baseball. I'm not very good at it, so I have to concentrate really hard, which means I can't think about Mademoiselle Fou or Stefanie V. President.
After three innings Buzz was ahead 19-0. If there was a game that I knew I was always going to win, I'm not sure I'd want to keep playing, but Buzz doesn't seem to mind. We decided to take a break to have a snack.
Buzz's house is the snack capital of the world. Besides their regular refrigerator and freezer, they have a whole separate freezer with every possible snack you could ever want. I'm not kidding. They have pizza, ice cream, tacos, onion rings, mini-burgers, fries, frozen candy bars . . . everything. Buzz and I microwaved some chicken and cheese burritos and got some Cokes. The last time I was over he asked me if I wanted a beer, and I didn't. He didn't ask this time.
We went back to Buzz's room, and after we had our snacks, Buzz picked up his guitar and started playing. He doesn't actually play songs, at least songs you ever heard of, but it always sounds pretty good. I wasn't going to do this, but I asked if I could use his computer for a minute.
I signed in to Dan Welch's e-mail account. Buzz's computer asked me if I wanted it to remember the password. I said no, of course. Actually, I can't imagine Buzz ever wanting to read someone else's e-mail. I don't think he ever reads his own.
There was one e-mail in Dan's inbox. It was from Stefanie V. President.
To: Dan Welch Management
From: Stefanie V. President
Dear Dan,
We LOVE Sean. He's absolutely adorable. If I weren't giving birth in the next millisecond, I would adopt him.
We loved his pitch, and we want to option his idea. I'm going on maternity leave today, but you'll be hearing from business affairs early next week. We want this to happen. If you need me, just e-mail me. I'll get back to you even if I'm screaming in pain squeezing out Marisa. That's her name. We had to pick one three months ago when we filled out her preschool application.
Thanks for bringing this project to us, Dan. We'll do it right and make a movie we're all proud of.
Dilating as we speak,
Stefanie
Oh. My. God. I actually said this out loud. When you're alone a lot, you never know for sure if you're thinking something or actually saying it.
Buzz stopped playing and said, “What?”
Buzz doesn't usually ask people questions. It took me by surprise. I thought for a minute. Do I want to tell him? I don't want to show him the e-mail, so I signed out of Dan Welch's account. I started to clear the history on Buzz's browser, but then I remembered it's not my computer. Buzz might have some websites he wants to remember.
I thought he would just go back to playing the guitar, but he didn't. I didn't have my digital voice recorder with me, but I'm pretty sure I remember our conversation.
BUZZ: | What?! |
ME: | Do you really want to know? |
BUZZ: | Know what? |
ME: | What I'm so happy about. |
BUZZ: | I just asked you, didn't I? |
ME: | Yes. You did. Do you promise not to tell anyone? |
BUZZ: | Tell anyone what? |
ME: | What I'm about to tell you. |
BUZZ: | What are you about to tell me? |
ME: | Nothing, unless you promise not to tell anyone. |
BUZZ: | Who am I gonna tell? |
ME: | I don't know. It's kind of cool. You might want to tell people. |
BUZZ: | I doubt it. If you're gonna tell me, tell me. I gotta take a leak. |
ME: | Go ahead. |
BUZZ: | So you're |
ME: | Maybe when you get back. |
BUZZ: | Now or never. |
ME: | Why? |
BUZZ: | Forget it. |
He went to the bathroom. He came back.
ME: | I should get going. |
BUZZ: | I thought you wanted to play Wii. |
ME: | I did. We did. |
BUZZ: | You're done? |
ME: | I guess. |
BUZZ: | Because I had to take a leak? |
ME: | No. |
BUZZ: | Because of whatever happened on the computer? |
ME: | Maybe. |
BUZZ: | What |
I actually don't blame him for being annoyed. I was being annoying.
ME: | Okay. You know _______? |
BUZZ: | Do I |
ME: | I know you don't know them, but you've heard of them, right? |
BUZZ: | I guess. I don't know. |
ME: | Forget it. |
BUZZ: | What about them? |
ME: | I can't believe you never heard of them. They're huge. They're the company that made ______ , ______ and ______ . |
BUZZ: | They must be rich. |
ME: | Well, yeah. Anyway, I had an idea for a movie and they want to buy it. |
BUZZ: | Really? |
ME: | Yeah. |
BUZZ: | How do they even know about it? |
ME: | Well . . . Do you promise not to tell anyone? |
BUZZ: | Not |
ME: | They think I have a manager. |
BUZZ: | A what? |
ME: | A manager. It's like an agent but different. Anyway, they only had a meeting with me because my manager wrote to them and set it up. |
BUZZ: | Okay. So what's the big secret? |
ME: | I don't actually have a manager. It's actually me. I wrote to them and pretended I was this manager named Dan Welch. |
BUZZ: | Have they ever seen you? |
ME: | Yes. We had a meeting on Skype. |
BUZZ: | Then why do they think you're a manager? |
ME: | They saw |
BUZZ: | And they want to buy your idea? |
ME: | Yes. |
BUZZ: | I didn't know you could sell ideas. |
ME: | Well, you can. Now I have to write the screenplay, and then they'll make it into a movie, and then it will be a lot more than an idea. |
Buzz thought for a little while.
BUZZ: | I have an idea. Do you think Dan Walters can sell it for me? |
ME: | It's Dan Welch. Like the grape juice. |
BUZZ: | Whatever. Can you ask him if he'll sell it for me? |
ME: | There's no him to ask. Ask me. |
BUZZ: | Ask you what? |
ME: | Nothing. Never mind. |
BUZZ: | What don't you want me to tell anyone? |
ME: | Nothing. Just forget it. |
I
got home from Buzz's and my mom was there. I forgot she was off today.
“Hi, handsome.”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Because you are.”
“No, I'm not. And when you say I am, it makes me wonder if the other nice things you say about me are true.”
“It's all true, Sean. What's new?” If I was smart, I would have told
her
my good news instead of Buzz. I wanted to go upstairs and read Stefanie's e-mail again, but my mom was in the mood to talk. “So . . .
The Bucket List
. What did you think?”
“This isn't a trick question, is it?”