The Fill - In Boyfriend
Episode 34

“Halo, friends, family, and, of course, film students. I'm so glad you all got to attend. I'm Dr. Hammond, head of the film department. Welcome to our year-end awards ceremony highlighting our best work of the year. I know your time is precious so we'll talk about it right away. "

My sister was right: this is a ceremony that goes quite slowly. Clips from each award-winning film are shown after the awards won are announced. Short clips are too short to insert, but long enough to drag. I pulled out my phone and sent an SMS to Hayden.

Can it be used in sports competitions? It was my turn to ask and I was pretty sure I had narrowed the answer to Twenty Questions down to a few different options. It is not a person, it is not a place, it does not breathe, it can be carried.

It took a while for his phone to shake, and when he pulled it out and read my question, he smiled.

His fingers moved over the typing screen longer than it took to write yes or no. I squeezed his knee and he chuckled. Sure enough, when the answer came back, it was an analysis of my question.

Sports competition is a common term. Do you mean just sports competitions? Or do you mean that one of its uses can be in sports competitions?

Do people like to play games with you? Or was it just a one-time occurrence and then they learned their lesson?

Is that one of your questions? Because it will be eighteen. In addition, considering this is the second time you have played this game with me, let me know.

Bec elbowed me on the side and I looked up to see my brother's name on the big screen with the title of his work: Generation Reprogramming.

“Next work,” says Dr. Hammond, “is one of my favorites. The insights and perspectives Drew shows us are raw, honest, and real. And because of those things, along with his own documentation process, Drew has won the year's highest award: the best work overall. Congratulations, Drew. I wish we could see the whole movie today because there is so much there, but it is not possible. So, let's take a look at your video for a bit, then come and receive your appreciation. "

On screen, my brother's name and the title of the piece faded, replaced by the UCLA campus. The students walk into the classroom, the hall is full, and the cameras continue to zoom in on the people on their phones. Then the scene turned into one I immediately recognized, our home. Drew's voice sounded.

“How is self-esteem measured today? Based on the number of likes a post gets, how many friends do we collect, how many retweets do we collect? Do we know what we are really thinking until we post our thoughts online and let others tell us if it is worth it? ” As he spoke, the camera moved slowly in the hall. My face is numb because I know where he's going. I remember the camera that stuck to his face during the last year of his visit home.

“G, what are you doing?” She asked.

I was sitting on the couch, my phone was dead. He asked again. The part he didn't show in the movie was four times he asked me the same question and I answered him. Now he showed me the time where I ignored him because he had officially passed the annoying stage.

“G, what are you doing?”

Finally my face on the screen looked up. "I'm checking out our photo that I posted to Instagram."

"How many likes does he get?"

My screen version then smiles and my real life is down. “Only fifteen. If you don't get more, I'll remove it. "

Drew laughing. "Hey, I'll make this video for my class, okay?"

“No, just for a project.”

“This will be the most boring video ever.”

Audience laughing.

Become growled beside me. I have an immature brain.

"Me too" said Hayden, and squeezed my arm.

I'm fine, I whispered, trying to make that statement come true.

The movie kept going, and I really wanted it to stop. Now Drew, better yet, walked down the hall again at a later date. “If I post a picture of a tree I saw falling in the woods and no one 'likes', will I start to question if it really happened?”

"Original ass," murmured Bec.

Now Drew is in the kitchen, where my mom in front of the computer might be checking the real estate and my dad is using his phone maybe playing games to relax. Next Drew held his phone in front of the camera, where it showed a text from my mother that read, Down for dinner.

"Did you send me a message about dinner, ma'am?"

He looked up and smiled uncomfortably at his camera. “Ya, it's ready. Go get your sister. "

I don't want him to catch me because I know what happens next. I hope this is the moment, as in all the other movies we watched tonight, to stop in the middle of the scene. But I'm not that lucky. My self on the screen is now in my room.

"Dining, G," said Drew. This time I used my laptop. I have done the homework but he did not show that part. “How many likes now?”

“Fourty likes, five retweets.”

So that means it's good.

"Yes." Yeah." I closed my laptop and stood up, smiling at him and the camera. “Your face is fun, I guess. Who knows?"

Good thing your friends told us or we'll never know. I knew he was insinuating that day and I also quipped as I said, "That's right." But that just proves the point of the movie. That's when the screen went black. That was when Drew stood up and walked to the podium. He had a confident smile on his face.

“Thank you for this great honor,” he said while holding a small plaque that his teacher had given him. “And I hope my friends tweet this, otherwise, it doesn't really happen, does it?” He pointed at the two people in the front row and the audience laughed. “I also hope more of this movie can be aired tonight because towards the end I showed the dark side of addiction the need for this validation. And often the people we crave for this validation are strangers. It doesn't matter who tells us they like something. That's just the number of people who say that to us. So if I get a hundred likes for this later on Instagram, then I will know it's special. " He lifted the plaque. “If I get two, it's definitely worthless. What does this addiction create? Is it too late to repair the damage? ”