Read Online My Life as a Stuntboy by Janet Tashjian - Free Book Online Page A

she’ll give us five minutes.
    Carly goes to YouTube and types in “IDIOT READER.” I lean toward the monitor and am shocked by the video that starts to play.
    It’s me reading out loud, slowly and deliberately. The video was shot from our porch and shows Ronnie and me sitting at the kitchen table. Watching the video is one of the most humiliating moments of my life.
    deliberately
    â€œI do sound like an idiot,” I say.
    â€œLots of people have a hard time reading, not just you. Who do you think posted this?”
    It’s a question I don’t have to ask because I already know the answer: my best friend with the videocamera.

 
    Â 
    It’s Over
    I race to the cafeteria and scan the room for Matt. “How could you do that to me?” I ask.
    â€œHey, you’re the one trying to be a big shot, with your movie and your newspaper article. I was just trying to help you out.” Matt takes a giant swig from his carton of milk.
    â€œBy calling me an idiot?”
    â€œThat video’s already gotten more
than five thousand hits—stop complaining. I’m helping you in your quest to get famous.”
    â€œI don’t want to be famous.”
    â€œYou could’ve fooled me.”
    I have a sudden desire to pick up his bowl of disgusting beef stew and throw it at him.
    quest
    â€œIt’s probably not five thousand different people,” Swifty adds. “I’m sure some people watched it over and over again.”
    I ignore him and return to Matt. “If you were going to upload a video of me onto YouTube, why didn’t you use the one where I’m walking up five flights of stairs on the handrail—something you were too afraid to do?”
    Swifty and Joe laugh and Matt gets defensive. “I wasn’t afraid. You were just so busy showing off, there wasn’t any time left.”
    defensive
    taunts
    Joe pretends to read from a book in his bag. “I … can … do.. lots … of … stunts,” he taunts.
    His impersonation of me isn’t what hurts—it’s how hard Matt is laughing at the joke.
    impersonation
    I turn to face my ex-best friend. “Maybe you could’ve done some stunts too—if you didn’t have to race home to babysit your twenty-three-year-old brother.” I normally would never use Jamie as a weapon against Matt, but with our friendship over, hitting below the belt almost seems fair. “Or was that the time he didn’t come home for a week and your parents didn’t know where he was?”
    Swifty and Joe look at Matt to
see if these things about Jamie are true. Matt looks almost wounded by my comment, and for a second, I feel bad.
    â€œ You’re the loser,” he shouts, “not Jamie!” Matt dives across the table at me, and the two girls on the other end jump out of their seats.
    â€œWhoa! Calm down!” Mr. Walsh, the gym teacher, grabs Matt. “Save your tackling for phys ed, unless you want to spend the rest of the afternoon in Mr. Demetri’s office.”
    â€œHe started it!” Matt points an accusing finger at me.
    Swifty and Jo chime in. “It was Derek!”
    â€œIt was not!” I say.
    â€œI don’t care who started it. It’s over.” Mr. Walsh ushers Matt back to his seat and stands behind him for
several moments. Matt, Swifty, Joe, and I keep quiet until he leaves.
    Matt finishes his milk and squashes the carton. “You better get to the media center before class starts,” he says. “Take out Goodnight Moon before someone else does.”
    ridiculed
    When I storm out of the cafeteria, it feels as if the entire room is laughing behind my back. A few days ago, I was worried about people on the movie set making fun of me; I never once thought I’d be ridiculed in my own school. By my best friend!
    I duck into the restroom next to the nurse’s office and lock myself in a stall.
    I can’t remember the