The Road to Amazing Read Online Free PDF

had become famous, I hadn't seen very much of him.
I didn't hold it against him — I could only imagine how busy he
was. But we'd gotten pretty close before that, and I missed
him.
    "Otto Digmore!" Vernie said before I
could even introduce them (they'd never met either).
    "Vernie Rose," Otto said.
    "I've heard so much about you," they
both said to each other at exactly the same time.
    "Otto!" said Min, behind
us.
    "Min!" Otto said. Gunnar
stepped into view too. " Gunnar! "
    The three of them ran together and
hugged like one of them had been shipwrecked on an island for six
years — even Min who, like me, was not a hugger. Min and Gunnar had
known Otto at summer camp too, and the three of them hadn't seen
each other since way back then.
    "You look so different," Gunnar
said.
    "Fantastic," Min said.
"You look fantastic ."
    The weird part was, Otto
looked different even since I'd last seen him. Was it the fact that
he was famous now, that I'd watched him on TV? Honestly, it seemed
like more than that. And it wasn't just the obviously expensive
clothes and the new, incredibly flattering haircut. He had a
confidence he'd never had before. He and I used to joke that the
secret to success in Hollywood was to simply act successful, but now I saw that
actual success looked different than fake success. It wasn't as
eager-to-please. Anyway, it flattered him too.
    "God, how long has it been?" Otto said
to Min and Gunnar. "Ten years? We were all such kids."
    As they talked, I introduced Vernie to
Nate and Ruby, who were back from the beach.
    At one point, I overheard Gunnar
saying to Otto, "It's so great, you're being famous and
everything."
    Otto shook his head and even blushed a
little, perfectly endearing. "I'm not famous," he said.
    "You so are!" I called. "And you
totally, totally deserve it."
    At that point, he just smiled
modestly, but right after that, he peeled off from the others to go
wash his hands before dinner.
     
    * * *
     
    A few minutes later, we gathered
everyone at the dinner table. Kevin and I stood together at one
end.
    "We'd like to say a couple of things,"
Kevin said. "First, just so you know, we've installed hidden
cameras throughout the house, including the bathrooms. So if any of
you do anything questionable, the two of us will definitely
know."
    People laughed, but Gunnar said,
"Really?" and when I told him no, he actually looked kind of
disappointed.
    "No, seriously," Kevin said, "Russel
and I really want to thank you all for coming. It means a lot to
us. But we also wanted to explain why we hadn't asked any of you to
be our best man. Or best woman."
    "Best person," Min said, and I pointed
at her.
    "Why?" Nate said,
mock-indignant.
    "Because we hate you all," Kevin
said.
    Nate snorted, and everyone else
laughed again. Kevin was killing this little speech of his, which
made me happy for a lot of reasons, but especially because it meant
he'd finally relaxed about the weekend.
    "Actually," I said, "it's
because we didn't want to have to choose. The way we see it,
you're all our
best persons." My eyes found Ruby and Nate. "Well, except for you
guys, because I only just met you. But I'm sure if I knew you, I would
absolutely want you as a 'best person' too."
    Yes, this was mostly me being
diplomatic (I couldn't imagine ever liking Nate that
much).
    Ruby hoisted her drink. "I'm right
there with ya!" she said.
    Kevin took my hand, and we faced the
gathering again. "Anyway," he said, "that's what we wanted to say.
That we love you all, and we're really happy you could be here with
us."
    Everyone hooted and applauded, and
told us they loved us too, and how happy they were to be there.
After that, we ate and talked, but I couldn't help thinking about
what Kevin had said. The stuff about not wanting to pick a "best
person"? It was the actual truth, something he and I had decided
beforehand.
    But as I looked around the table, I
wondered: If someone put a gun to my head, who would I pick — not
only as my best person,