I Represent Sean Rosen (24 page)

It's really quiet now. All you can hear is the leaves when the wind blows. It's the perfect temperature. I love nights like this. Why do I feel so sad?

I think I have to do this. I think I have to sell them my idea. I think I have to do it for the money. I know how much my parents earn. I probably shouldn't have, but I looked at their income tax forms.

They're a plumber and a nurse. I'm not saying we're poor. We're not. We have a house and a car and a van. Everything's fine, but in a few years I'm going to start college.

Some colleges cost more than 50,000 dollars each year, and college is four years. I don't have to go to one of those super expensive colleges, but even one that costs half as much, or even less than half as much is still going to be very expensive for my family.

If I can chip in 10,000 or 50,000 dollars from selling my movie idea, that will help a lot.

Anyway,
A Week with Your Grandparents
is just one idea. I can come up with other movie ideas. Maybe not in a day, and maybe they won't be as good as this one, but maybe they will.

And remember, this isn't even my big idea. It's just something I thought of during my trial run. Maybe Dan Welch can help me sell my big entertainment idea to the gigantic company that I actually
do
want to work with. I know Stefanie said the other company won't let me write my own movie either, but maybe she was wrong. Anyway, my big entertainment idea isn't even a movie.

I was starting to feel a tiny bit better, so I came down from the tree, got on my bike, turned on the flashlight, and rode home.

W
hen I got home, my dad was there. He was waiting for me to get home before going to get our pizza. I asked if we could eat at the kitchen table instead of in front of the TV. I think maybe it's time to talk to my dad about what's happening. He said, “Wherever you say, Seany.”

I usually don't drive to the pizza place with him, but for some reason I wanted to. In the van I asked my dad about college.

“College? You know, classes, parties, being away from home. You're gonna love it.”

“Did
you
love it?”

“Yeah. For a while.” No one said anything for a minute. “You probably want to know why I stopped loving it.”

“I do, actually.”

“Well, Seany . . . I was in college when my father got nailed.”

“Nailed?”

“Arrested. They came to his office one day and took him away. He was a crook, Seany. He stole money from a bunch of people who trusted him.”

I didn't know what to say. I sort of knew it was something like that, but hearing my dad actually say it, it was worse than I thought.

We got to the pizza place.

“You coming inside?”

“Nah.” I sat in the van and thought about my dad in college. I wonder if he was in a class or at a party or just in his dorm room when he found out about his father.

Dad came back with the pizza and we drove home. “Seany, listen to me. It's not genetic. My grandfather was an honest guy, and I'm an honest guy and you're an honest guy.”

I felt a little sick when he said that. When he finds out about Dan Welch, will he still think I'm an honest guy?

“What did you do when you found out about your dad?”

“Stupid stuff. I got drunk a lot. I stopped going to classes. I didn't tell anyone, but I didn't have to tell anyone. It was all over the news. I wouldn't talk to my mother, because I was sure she was in on it. She wasn't. I mean, maybe she should have asked him where all the money was coming from, but everyone just thought he was really good at what he did.

“I dropped out of college. After I found out it was being paid for with money he stole, I couldn't do it anymore. I got a job in construction, which I liked. I guess I could have gone back to school, but my father had all kinds of college degrees and he turned out to be a jerk, so I decided to train as a plumber.”

After a minute he said, “But that was
me
. You're going to college.”

I said, “Yeah, I actually want to go to college.”

“Good. You're gonna love it.”

“Dad . . . I'm gonna help pay for college.”

“No, you're not.”

“Why not? I want to.”

“I appreciate that, Sean, but . . .”

“Hey, you didn't call me Seany.”

“I didn't? I guess you sounded like a grown-up just then, offering to help pay for college.”

“I actually can, because . . .”

“No, Seany. You don't have to. There's something you don't know about. There's a little college fund put aside for you. I think it'll be enough.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Did Grandpa . . .?”

“No. No. No. It's not money he stole, I swear to you. It's money Grandma had before she met Grandpa. My mother, besides being one of the most annoying people on the planet, turns out to be the real financial genius in the family. She's putting you and Jakey and Rachael through college.”

We pulled into our driveway and went into the house. I found out a lot of stuff on that pizza run. If you ever want to have a good talk with one of your parents, get them alone in the front seat.

“Okay, Seany. You're the boss. Where do we eat?”

“TV trays. I changed my mind.”

I
t's been a couple of months since the night Stefanie told Dan Welch that if I want to write my own movie, they won't buy it.

Maybe you would have taken the $10,000 (or $50,000 if they actually made the movie). I just couldn't. I can't let
A Week with Your Grandparents
turn into something I might hate. I'm going to be in show business my whole life. My first big project has to be great. Or at least good.

Maybe Stefanie and her company knew what they were doing, but the more I work on the screenplay, the more I like it, and the more I think they made a big mistake.

I guess there's a good reason they were only my trial run company.

Since I didn't need my parents to sign that contract for me, I still haven't told them about any of this. I'm sure I will someday. What would be really cool is we go to the movies, we see
A Week with Your Grandparents
, it's really good, and at the end of the movie, right after
Directed by Whoever-it-is
, we see
Written by Sean Rosen
. I'm going to have to remember to put the credits at the end.

School is actually a little better these days. I really like Spanish. It makes more sense than French, at least the way you pronounce it. I guess whoever made up Spanish actually wanted people to know what they were saying. I practice with Javier's family. Now when I go over for dessert, they speak English and I speak Spanish.
“¿Un poco más dulce de leche, por favor?”

Between school and writing the screenplay, I don't have as much time as I used to, so it's a good thing Ethan started helping me with the podcasts. It's fun. I keep asking him if he wants to do some of the interviews, but so far he doesn't.

Buzz's bannd played a concert at our school. They only have two songs so far, so it was a short concert. They're actually good. Ever since then, Brianna texts me about fifty times a day asking questions about Buzz. Uh-oh.

After the concert, Doug came over to me. I told him I liked the band. He asked me (nicely, for him) if I thought Dave Motts would like it. I told him to send me an MP3, and I'll send it to Dave.

I actually
will
send it to Dave Motts. I just got him an e-mail address. I don't want to bother Dan Welch. He's too busy with his main client.

To: Hank Hollywood
(not his real name, President of my first-choice entertainment company)

From: Dan Welch Management

Dear Hank,

I represent Sean Rosen. He recently turned down an offer from Stefanie V. President at _________ (the name of her studio) to buy his movie
A Week with Your Grandparents.
Sean is currently writing the screenplay.

You may be familiar with Sean's podcasts, which he writes and produces. Some of them are available online. He's accomplished a lot for a thirteen-year-old.

Sean asked me to contact you because he has a very interesting idea. It's not an idea for a movie or a TV show. It's a whole new way of making and selling movies and TV shows, as well as games and theater. As Sean puts it, “I think it will change the way people think about entertainment.”

I know that's hard to picture, but it was also hard to picture a major Hollywood studio wanting to buy a movie idea from a kid they never heard of before.

Sean has a lot of respect for your company, and you're his first choice for working together on his big idea. If you're interested, please let me know, and I'll be glad to set up a meeting for you and Sean on Skype.

Best,

Dan

I couldn't have done this without my team of experts: Aurora, Chiara, Jeremy, Jordana, Jeremy, Savannah, Melinda, Simon, and a bunch of great kids at Ardsley Middle School. Thanks to my many grown-up friends and family who helped make this happen. Special thanks to Lisa Baron, Margie Gordon, Edgar McIntosh, Cameron Brindise, Bob Lipsyte, Bennett Ashley, Michael Steger, Tim Smith, Paul Zakris, and Kerry McCluggage, and continuous thanks to Gary Carlisle, Julie Just, and Virginia Duncan.

From the screenplay of

Just to remind you:

Day 1: Chloe hurts Grandpa's feelings at dinner, apologizes, and the kids find out about the virtual reality time machine.

Day 2: The kids go back in time. Chloe meets Grandpa when he was 17. Chris meets Grandma when she was his age. He likes her in a way you usually don't like your grandmother, but then, not now.

DAY 3

At the kitchen table. Grandpa and Chris eat cereal, and Chloe eats a tiny box of raisins.

Grandma walks in.

CUT TO: Roscoe standing on the grass between the two houses, wagging his tail. He's on a long leash attached to his house.

CUT TO: Roscoe barking like crazy and yanking on his leash as Grandma and Grandpa pull into their driveway in their Toyota.