Kayla looks down and mumbles “Umm I don't feel good."
"So we have a shy one… don't we? Well, if you're not comfortable, you don't have to,” Mr. Flores says.
Kayla spends the rest of that day with her head down and her mouth closed.
Once Kayla reaches home she is soaked by the rain. She hasn't gotten used to the dreary Washington weather, which made her even more depressed. Homework is on the backburner for Kayla. Her test grades make up for it. Instead, she scrolls through the internet, looking at lonely celebrities with better lives than her. Once Ben gets home Kayla shoots off the computer because her father's work never ends.
To pass the time in Kansas, Kayla would go out and take photos of the farm land… that isn’t an option where she lives now. Luckily for her, Ben decides to start dinner early so she can waste away time on the internet. She scrolls past a blog on Tumblr about Tyler Oakley and how he is a hero for this one particular girl. That's all Kayla wants to be, to be remembered as a good person who had an impact on people. What she wants is to be known by anyone.
After dinner Kayla decides to dedicate her entire night to watching Tyler Oakley videos to see why he was someones hero. After watching 17 videos back-to-back she knows why he was so popular and heroic. Unlike Kayla, Tyler opens himself up. He leaves everything out on the table. That's why Kayla envies him; she has always been closed off and unable to communicate her feelings. Kayla would blame other people for that but after seeing these videos she knows its been her fault.
The next day starts as always, Ben eating Cap'n Crunch and Susan watching re-runs of The View. That always leaves Kayla to herself. Susan volunteers to drive Kayla to school.
While in the car normal conversation ensues, with Susan asking about her daughters old friends, and which ones she would keep in contact with. After every question Susan asks Kayla gives a lazy “no” or “yeah." Once Kayla enters school there are crowds of kids everywhere, and of course no one notices her. She wastes no time with lockers or peers; Kayla darts right to her first period class which was of course is English with Mr. Flores.
Once the first bell rings she is stuck in a room with people she has never spoken to and a teacher who is constantly questioning her. Mr. Flores speaks about public speaking when he notices that Kayla had dozed off. He does the one thing that Kayla has nightmares about. Mr. Flores says, “For example, Kayla come on up here."
She of course does what her teacher had told her to do.
“Umm... what do you want me to do?”
Mr Flores laughs and says, “Nothing. That was perfect."
Kayla races back to her seat, her face turns completely red when she notices that the whole class is looking at her. Mr. Flores continues his lecture about how it's unprofessional to use “um” while speaking. After class Mr. Flores tries to stop Kayla from leaving class, but Kayla notices him coming after her, so she darts for the student parking lot. She keeps saying, “I have to leave, I have to leave." So thats exactly what she did.
Kayla decides to walk home in the daily Washington rain. In order to make sure she doesn't get caught skipping she goes the long way home, which is still only two miles away. Once she gets home she knows what would relieve her stress: watching endless Tyler Oakley videos. One thing stops Kayla from watching the videos. Ben took the laptop to work. While searching for the laptop that she knows wasn't there, she finds her mom's DSLR camera that she used to record all of Kayla's childhood.
After dramatically staring at the camera for a few minutes, Kayla grabs the tripod and brings it into her room. The dim light that enters her white room through the window gives the perfect amount of soft light for a video. Kayla spends over an hour trying to figure out all the nooks and crannies of the camera. Finally, Kayla figures out how to mount the camera on to the tripod, but as soon as she presses the red record button she gets goosebumps.
It’s ironic. Kayla had a hard time speaking to anyone once she arrived to Washington, and once she started talking to something who couldn't talk back she was comfortable. Kayla starts to tell the camera what she's going through. After she finishes venting Kayla decides not to review it, and instead she uploads it to a makeshift Youtube account. Kayla knows she has a few hours until either of her parents come home, so she decides to take a nap in order to relieve the stress.