By the evening I dreaded what I had to do.
My shoulders slumped as I softly padded down the basement stairs.
Normally, I wouldn't dare venture anywhere near the camera while my dad was filming, but I desperately needed my cute pink floral H&M top from the dryer for the trip.
I hugged the wall and gently pressed my toes onto the basement floor. In one smooth motion, I stealthfully peeled my back off the wall, lifted my foot and swiftly turned my body toward the small laundry room.
I felt a thump on the back corner of my head. My entire body fell limp in disappointment, knowing that I had been discovered. I took in a deep breath let it out through my lips and glanced at the floor where a yellow foam dart laid beside my foot.
This was my reality with two little brothers. It was a far cry from a perfect YouTube life. I had been shot, punch, smacked, wrestled and even clotheslined, mostly accidently, so not much phased me at this point.
However annoying, I might actually miss them when I go off to college
"Cassie! Cassie! Watch this!" Chase demanded. I turned to watch Colby and Chase face off in a full-on Nerf war. I groaned at the yellow projectiles that flew across the room, none of which had actually reached their intended target.
"Cassie!" My dad shouted excitedly, "You're here! Great! Come here and hold the camera for me!" My dad ordered cheerfully, waving me over.
"Dad, I'm really busy, I can't." I pleaded. My eyes clenched shut and shoulders fell. I so badly didn't want to be part of the video making. He glanced over his shoulder in my direction.
"Cassie, you did a great job filming it last week. Thank you." Dad encouraged. A few weeks ago, I had filmed the family jumping on the trampoline. It was layered with plastic balls. My dad and brothers jumped on it. I had to admit it was pretty hilarious watching my dad get poked in the back with balls as he slipped and fell on them.
"Mmm-Hmm." I replied with a nod. I gave very little acknowledgement to show minimal signs of interest. Otherwise I was doomed for a permanent roll behind the camera of which I wanted no parts of filming.
"Yeah Cassie! We have one million views on our trampoline ball pit video!" Chase shouted as he pulled his trigger firing multiple shots at the opposite side of the room.
"Yeah! Torque27 asked for you again!" Colby added, popping his head from around the sofa corner. "He hopes you can make it to VidCon!"
Torque27 was an on going mystery. They commented on me even before I went off camera and continuing after. I found it creepy, but the family took it as a happy fan.
"Great! My YouTube stalker is back and might be at Vidcon tomorrow." I said sarcastically. I gave an insincere smile and threw out my arm for emphasis.
"Cassie, people love to see you. You really should be in front of the camera more." Dad encouraged as he pushed his glasses higher onto the bridge of his nose.
I could hear the disappointment in his voice. My dad a computer genius, my mom a pageant queen, cheerleader, and homecoming court candidate. My mom had more sashes than I had YouTube hours, and that was a lot. And all I was to them, was an outcast Youtube daughter who refused to participate in the family Youtube channel.
I watched my dad carefully mount the camera on a tripod. It clicked into place.
"Got it!" He boasted taking a few steps backwards. He threw his hands in the air and boasted mostly to himself with a beaming smile.
He rushed to my side and wrapped his fingers around my arm, then led me to the camera. I threw back my head and groaned as I hobbled along, clearly displaying my undesire to partake.
"Dad," I groaned. "I didn't come down here to help with your video. I'm just getting my shirt from the dryer." I stared at him with a sulking expression, hoping he would have taken pity on me, but it was useless.
I took my place behind the camera. I reluctantly peered through the eyepiece at the angle that my dad directed.
He darted behind the table. He grabbed a squeaky metal folding chair from beneath the long folding table and took his seat between two empty chairs.
"Let's go, boys!" My dad ordered, trying desperately to wrangle the boys in. Getting control of them was like trying to tame wild stallions.
The two hurried over to the table toting their toy guns. They laid them on the carpet beside the table then wiggled into their seats in front of a griddle iron. Then it hit Chase exactly what they were about to do.
"It's the Pancake Challenge!" Chase exclaimed. His mouth dropped open and eyes lit up. I smiled. I had to admit, it was pretty cute how excited they got over the challenges.
"Yes!" Colby yelped, equally overjoyed. He yanked his arm down into his body displaying his approval, making a chuckle tumble from my lips.
"Ready, Cassie?" Dad asked.I jetted forward and placed my eye up to the eyepiece of the camera to double check that they were all in focus.
"Yeah, good to go," I replied and flipped my thumb in the air.
"Okay, everyone!" he began. "Today you are going to witness the Phillips Family Funhouse Pancake Challenge. Now if you don't know what that is, Colby and Chase each have a griddle in front of them and they will try to make a pancake from the various colors of dyed pancake mix in these bottles."
"Any questions boys?" Dad turned his head to each side, in each of their directions. They gave an affirmative nod as Colby and Chase were ready to pounce on their bottles to squeeze them to begin.
"Okay, boys," Dad instructed "One...two....three! Go!"
My brothers sprang into action, squirting dyed pancake mix with food coloring out of their squeeze bottles onto the griddle. It sizzled on the hot surface.
I grumbled knowing that I was going to get roped into cleaning this mess up.
"Ah! My pancake!" Chase shouted.
I cupped my hand over my mouth to keep my laugh from being picked up on the microphone. Maybe it was a little cute, watching the twins get so into this activity and make such a mess of themselves.
Colby wiped his hands on his shirt to clean the pancake batter from his bare hands, leaving two yellow streaks of batter down both sides of his black batman t-shirt.
These two were too funny sometimes. How they were so competitive, copying off of each other and trying to out due the other, feeding off of each other's energy.
"And...time!" he shouted.
Both boys, threw their hands up in the air and leaned back from their creations. They each emitted a grumble of disappointment that the contest was over.
"Okay, it's time to turn them over and see how they look," Dad said.
Dad picked up the spatula and positioned it at the edge of Colby's pancake. The boys crowded next to him, hopping up and down, and pressing themselves against Dad's arm. I felt a happiness bubbling inside me knowing my dad was completely in his element.
"Annnnddd...the flip reveal!" Dad cried. He was the master of suspense in the videos. I jokingly call him the Pat Sajak of YouTube video challenges.
"Yay!" Colby cheered. He proudly jumped back and threw the audience a dab pose, hiding his head in the crease of his elbow and shooting out his other arm. Then they each flung out an arm and gave each other a high-five before Colby took his seat.
They proceeded to turn over Chase's pancake with the same enthusiasm. Which Chase explained to be Spiderman, but resembled a blob.
"Well, everyone, thanks for watching! That's all for us here at the Philips' Family Fun House! We hope you all had as much fun as we did. We'll be at Vidcon tomorrow, so if you're going to be at the convention in Ohio, make sure you stop at our table and say 'hi' to us and pick up some Phillips Family Fun House gear. We can't wait to meet all of our fans! And if you enjoyed this video, be sure to click the 'like' button below."
He paused and pointed down with both of his index fingers, indicating the lower portion of the computer screen that the button would end up displayed on.
"You can also subscribe to our channel and never miss future videos! We upload on Mondays and Wednesdays. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram, to keep up with all of our fun Family Fun House adventures."
"Bye!" Colby and Chase shouted together waving excitedly. Chase tilted his head to the side, making a ridiculously silly face, with his eyebrows waggling and his tongue hanging out the left side of his mouth.
I pressed a button on the camera to end the recording as the boys scrambled to grab their weapons, take shelter and continue their epic Nerf battle.
"Thank you for helping us out, Cassie," Dad called over his shoulder.
"No problem," I said. I shrugged, keeping it dry so that I don't show my enjoyment of taping the episode.
My dad walked briskly over to the end of the table, where he snatched the camera to begin editing.
He was funny he acted like editing this video was an emergency. He was such tech geek. Him and my mom were polar opposites. It still amazes me how their marriage lasted for 20 years. They met serendipitously in college at the library while my mom was in between frat boy boyfriends. It was a true Revenge of the Nerds story.
I finished and grabbed my floral shirt from the dryer and with a hot black dress and adorable bikini, I would be ready to go.
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