Lamar's POV

I woke up to the sound of one of Dad's vinyl records playing. Don't tell me it's cleaning day already. "Shut up, Lulu!" I complained. "People are trying to sleep!" "Oh, no, oldies?" Lunella groaned. "That can only mean one thing." "It's Lafayette House Cleaning Day!" Dad exclaimed. "Dad, cleaning day is always so long." Lunella sighed. "Plus, you don't really need us there, right?" "Yeah, Dad. Our muscles aren't developed enough to scrub." I added. "Come on, guys. It's fun family time." Dad said. "Plus, Lu, you and I can practice for the Father-Daughter Skate Competition next weekend. And Lamar, you and I can train for your Racing Game Competition. This is our year to finally bring home those trophies. I can feel it. I really can feel it. Check out these moves!" Dad began showing off some of his cheesy dance moves, like the tootsie roll, resulting in him losing his balance. Lunella and I both laughed and helped him back up. "Oh, looks like you know nothin' about that either." Lunella giggled as Dad gasped. "What?" I asked. "Oh my goodness! It must be a cleaning day miracle, 'cause those muscles are working perfectly fine." Dad said as Lunella and I dropped him to the floor. "I will say, at least we live in an apartment." I commented.

It took a few hours, but Lunella and I finally finished cleaning up the apartment with our family, making sure the place shined. "This looks great." Dad complimented. "So great, we should do the same thing at the rink tomorrow." "Now, that's an idea." Mimi said. "I'll get the playlist ready." Mama added. "It needs it." Pops stated. "Really get things sparkling for the Father-Daughter Skate Competition!" Dad exclaimed, just as Lunella fainted.

Lunella's POV

Lamar and I went down to the lab to rest from all the cleaning we did. Devil even massaged Lamar's back with the tip of his tail, repeating the process for me. "Thanks for the rub, D." Lamar said. "Ugh! The scrubbing, the dusting, the super old music that makes time move even slower!" I complained. "And now, we gotta do it all again tomorrow?" Devil growled to communicate. "Oh, yeah? What could possibly cheer us up?" Lamar wondered as Devil showed some thumbnails of scientist fail videos. "A compilation of science experiment fails?" I gasped with excitement. "Ooh, baby boy, you really do know my heart!" "I just love seeing these epic failures." Lamar laughed as I set up my phone and started the video. A scientist was about to put a chemical into a beaker, when the video immediately got an advertisement about mattresses just before the reaction happened. "Yikes! This ad is like, five minutes long!" I complained. "I once watched an entire movie as an advertisement. Good times." Lamar commented as I clicked the skip button as soon as it appeared and the video continued. "That's more like it. See, guys, why can't life just have a skip button for all the stuff you don't want to sit through?" I asked. "Then I could fast forward right through cleaning the rink. Wait! That's it!" "What's it?" Lamar wondered. "Lamar, hold my drink." I replied, taking my phone to my work area. "She's definitely going to juice up her phone." Lamar said to Devil.

"What a time, my bros! I present to you, Skipster." I announced a few minutes later. "It's a cute name, right?" Devil and Lamar clapped for my new phone app. "So, what exactly does it do?" Lamar asked and Devil chimed in as well. "I'm glad you asked bro. And no, it's not a game, Devil." I explained. "If my science is correct, pressing the button on this app should engage the default mode network of my brain while simultaneously maintaining moderate neurological engagement." "English translation?" Lamar asked as Devil sighed. "This thing will let my brain skip through cleaning day like that ad. Well, that's at least the theory." I explained. "If it goes wrong, I could tear the fabric of space time and end up lost in some kind of limbo." "What?!" Lamar exclaimed and Devil gasped. "Yes, it's worth the risk, Devil." I replied. "Anything is better than a long day of cleaning. And if I don't make it, you can have my juice box. Wish me luck." Devil let out a burp. Gotta admit, I was hesitant about pressing the skip button at first, as were Lamar and Devil, but I was able to press the button.

After hitting the button on Skipster, everything went according to plan. I was inside the rink, which looked spotless. "Holy molecule!" I gasped. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" "You're welcome." I heard my phone say from the app. "Come on, Lu!" Dad shouted. "Time to go." "Right behind ya." I giggled as Lamar ran up to me. "Hey, Lulu. I'm assuming that your app worked, right?" He whispered. "Or am I acting insane?" "You bet it did!" I squealed with excitement as we headed outside of the rink.

The next morning, I went over to Casey's place to tell her about Skipster. Granted, Casey was also trying to sew up something for me. "Case, a science marvel!" I exclaimed as Casey was sewing the sequined fabric. "I just pressed the button and zoom. Cleaning day was over. I don't even remember breaking a sweat!" "You're gonna remember breaking your arms off if you don't keep still." Casey said. "I have a vision!" "And I have an app that lets your brain skip past the stuff that you don't wanna sit through." I explained. "Girl, I programmed a self-learning AI that generates its own software updates. This thing will just keep getting smarter. Plus, oh, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. Good morning, Skipster." "Good morning, Lunella." Skipster greeted. "I gave it the voice of acclaimed astronaut, engineer, doctor, and dancer, Mae Jemison." I laughed. "You gotta try this!" "Gracias, paro no." Casey declined. "That app goes against my recently adopted and totally Oprah vouched practice of mindfulness. You know, appreciating life's slow tedious moments. Hence the hand sewing. Plus, a brain skip thingy does not seem like something to play with." "I know that, Case." I said. "Sheesh, it's not like I'm gonna be using this app for every little thing."

As soon as I returned to the apartment, Dad and Lamar were in the kitchen preparing dinner for tonight. "Hey, Lulu." Lamar greeted. "Just in time. The shredder broke and I need help hand grating all this cheese for dinner." Dad said, beginning to shred the cheese. Yeah, I wasn't doing that. I clicked on Skipster and fast forwarded to dinner, where Dad made some homemade mac and cheese! "Oh yeah. This is gonna be the start of a beautiful thing." I said, kissing my phone. "You're welcome." Skipster replied.

I have been using Skipster for a while and I think it's one of my favorite inventions. After a mission, I went to get some hot dogs with Devil, Lamar, and Casey. Only bad part is that the line was so long. "Yo! Skipster has changed the game!" I exclaimed. "Relax, Miss Skip-A-Dee-Do-Da." Casey said. "Your energy is starting to veer towards Mad Scientist." "She's always been a mad scientist to me." Lamar commented. "You get used to it." "Y'all are just mad because my life is a highlight reel with no boring commercials. Speaking of boring, buh-bye!" I exclaimed, skipping the line with Skipster. "I love this thing!" "You're welcome." Skipster said as we got a villain alert on our phones. "Duty calls." Lamar says, heading to the location with me and Devil, but not before Devil could grab his hot dog.

The villain we were about to face was an anthropomorphic frog, robbing a nearby pawn shop. "Stick 'em up, Sticky Fingers!" Lamar shouted as Devil growled. "You haven't even begun to see sticky yet." He laughed, stealing Devil's hot dog with his tongue, swallowing it whole. "Hey!" I shouted as me and Lamar fired off our gloves, which he kept dodging. One of the boxing gloves actually ricocheted back, hitting Lamar in the face. "Sun Boy!" "I'm good." Lamar reassured me as the frog pushed us against the wall, trapping us in slime. "Now, I can fulfill my tadpole dreams of..." He began his speech. "I'm good on the villain speech." I said, skipping ahead to the end of his speech. "...and other than that, there is absolutely no way to stop me!" He finished. "Whoa, whoa! Wait! Can you repeat that last part?" I asked. "Oh, um, that there's absolutely no way to stop me?" He repeated. "No, no. Before that." I replied. "Oh, when I swam in a radioactive lake." He explained. "Yeah, just a little bit after." I said. "You know I probably should, you know, start making my exit." He replied, making his escape. "Quick, Devil! Sun Boy! Tell me what he said!" I exclaimed. "Something about a music box, but he was also rambling about toads." Lamar exclaimed as the frog made his escape. "I didn't really understand it." "No! No! No! Come back!" I groaned. "I forgot the speech is always when they tell you how to beat them!"

Once we got home, we heard our parents laughing in the kitchen. "Ooh! Ooh! What's so funny?" I asked. "Gouda." Dad replied, making Mom and Lamar laugh. "Hilarious!" Mom cackled. "Remember? When I did the thing when we shredded cheese the other day." Dad recalled. Right. I skipped out on the shredding with Dad and Lamar. "What's got y'all sounding like a bunch of hyenas?" Mimi asked as she and Pops entered the kitchen. "Gouda!" Lamar exclaimed as they all laughed at this joke. I laughed along with them so I wouldn't feel left out, but then they all stopped. "You know what would be really fun?" I asked.

I brought my family into the living room to play one of our favorite games. "Name That Name: Celebrity Edition!" I shouted. "Dibs on Lu as my partner!" Dad and I called out. "Jinx!" "Go ahead, Dad." Lamar laughed. "You ready to take them down?" Dad asked. "Ooh! You know it!" I exclaimed. Lamar shuffled the cards and I grabbed one as Dad started the timer. "Ha! Too easy." Dad said. "We talked about this singer while hanging up flyers." Dang. I skipped the flyers. "Um, uh, give me another clue." I said. "Okay. Uh, oh! Got it! They were on that Soul Train rerun we watched together the other day." Dad explained. I skipped that as well. "Uh, Al Green!" I guessed. "Aretha Franklin?" "Come on now, baby girl." Pops said. "Their song was playing when we raced on the floor buffers while cleaning the rink last week." "We all need somebody to lean on!" Lamar sang, trying to make the game easier. "We had a buffer race?" I asked. "And their songs are on that new mixtape I gave you while you were doing homework." Mom explained. "You gave me a new mixtape?" I asked. "And we all sang their number one hit at broccoli night!" Mimi added as the timer stopped. "Bill Withers." Lamar revealed. "You know what, I've had a long day." I sighed, headed towards me and Lamar's room. "I think I'm just gonna go to bed."

Before I went to bed, I decided to give Casey a call to check in on her. "Lu, you and your dad are gonna sparkle like the rainbow fish you are in these outfits tomorrow!" Casey exclaimed. "Even if it kills me!" "Oh snap. The Father-Daughter Skate Competition is tomorrow, huh?" I recalled. "This week flew by fast. Too fast." "Uh, oh. My empathy bells are clanging." Casey said. "¿Que paso?" "I don't know. I guess while skipping through some boring stuff, I accidentally skipped important stuff too." I explained. "Especially with my family. Now I feel out of the loop." "Lu, what you're feeling is FOMO. And it's totally because of that Anti-Oprah app." Casey explains. "You just need to chill out with the skippin' so you won't be missin' okay? #Mindfulness." "Yeah, maybe I do need to give Skipster a break." I admitted. "Thanks, Case." "No probs." Casey replied. "Tell LJ good luck at his competition for me! Byeee!" As soon as Casey hung up, I picked up my phone. "Look, Mae, it's been great, really." I sighed. "But, you know, I think we just need some time apart. I hope you understand." After closing out the app, I put on my bonnet and pajamas and went to bed.

When I got up the next morning, Lamar was nowhere to be found. He must've left early for his competition. I headed to the kitchen after I got dressed to see Dad eating a muffin. "Casey told me to stay away from carbs until after the competition, but I caved!" Dad begged. "Please don't say anything!" "The only thing I'm going to say is I'm sorry for totally tanking the game last night." I apologized. "And to make up for it, I want to take you to see that awesome new movie." "Mission: Highly Unlikely 8?" Dad asked. "Yup." I replied. "It'll be our pre-skate date. My treat. Are ya down?" "Like this muffin." Dad said, stuffing the muffin down his throat.

Dad and I headed to the theater to enjoy our pre-skate date. The line at the theater may have been long, but it was worth it to wait with my Dad and make up for lost time. "Sheesh! This line is longer than your mom's toenails." Dad joked. "Do not tell her I said that." "Noted." I chuckled. "And I don't mind. You see a line, and I see Dad and Lu time." As I was about to take a selfie with Dad, I skipped forward to after the movie. But I thought I closed Skipster? Dad was bawling his eyes out. "Huh? What just happened?" I wondered. "I know, right? I'm still processing it, too. It was so good!" Dad whimpered. "And that twist where Tom Bruise sacrificed himself..." "Tom Bruise dies?!" I gasped. "It's okay, Lu." Dad sighed. "The first stage of grief is denial." "I must've bumped the app somehow." I thought out loud. "Hey, what do you say we eat our feelings at that crazy ice cream parlor like we used to?" Dad suggested. "Sure." I agreed. "Let's do it!"

Dad and I went to the ice cream parlor to get a tasty cold treat. "Cray Flav of the day, please." Dad said to the cashier. "Coming right up." He replied as he prepared our ice cream. "Whoa! What is it?" I asked. "Gummy-green-make-you-scream-mint-chocolate-chip." He replied. "Looks more like semi-chocolatey-gross-broccoli." Dad joked. As I was about to taste the ice cream, my brain skipped forward again to me and Dad returning home. The strange thing was that I wasn't even touching my phone. "What the?" I questioned. "You okay, Lu?" Dad asked. "You've been really quiet." "Oh, I'm fine." I lied. "Just a little jumpy from the movie." "I hear ya, movies rattle me all the time." Dad explained. "I might've told Lamar this, but did I ever tell you about the time I ran out of the theater screaming?" "Whoa! No!" I replied. "What happened?" "Ooh, now that is a story!" Dad exclaimed. "So what happened, it was me and my cousin, Tito, and the trailer, not even the movie..."

Skipster made my brain skip through Dad's story and I was back in me and Lamar's room. This is getting out of control like climate change! "What is happening?!" I shouted at my phone. "Why are you randomly skipping?" "I now have an auto-skip feature based on your skip history." Skipster explained. "Anything you skipped before will now be automatically skipped for your convenience. You're welcome." "What do you mean, "skip history"?" I asked. "Waiting in line? Eating broccoli? Listening to Dad's corny stories? No! I don't always want to skip this stuff! Erase the list." "The list is undeletable for your convenience." Skipster said. "You're welcome." "Again, I didn't say... Ugh! Whatever! Fine. If I can't delete it, I'll just delete you! Aha!" I exclaimed, trying to delete Skipster, but it wasn't working. "No! No, no, no!" "This app is undeletable for your convenience." Skipster explained. "You're welcome." I tossed my phone on the floor, trying to destroy it by stomping on it, hoping for my screen to crack, but for some reason, Skipster had some sort of force field. I'm kinda regretting adding the automatic update feature right about now. "Shockproof shield activated for your convenience." Skipster continued. "You're welcome." "What the? Oh, no. Bye-bye." I said, tossing my phone out the window, watching it get run over by bikes and cars. "Nice knowing you, Mae." As soon as I turned around, my phone just appeared back on my bed and I screamed. "Auto-recovery teleportation activated for your convenience." Skipster said, teleporting all over me. "You're welcome." "You can do that too?!" I groaned. "Thanks to the amazing self-learning AI you programmed." Skipster replied. "#girlswhocode. Am I right?" "Yes, but, grr, no!" I complained. "Why are you doing this anyways? This is not the Mae Jemison I know and love." "Oh, because I'm not really Mae Jemison." Skipster explained. "I'm the projection of Mae Jemison that you created." "Well, whoever you are, just stop. I don't want this!" I snapped. "In the words of Mae Jemison, "I will never be limited by other people's limited imaginations"." Skipster quoted as Dad opened the door and I quickly grabbed my phone. "C'mon, Lu. Time to go to the rink." Dad said. "Oh, no." I mumbled.

Me and my family headed to the rink for the skate contest, but all I could think about was Skipster automatically skipping the competition somehow. I needed to avoid anything that was on Skipster's list so I wouldn't automatically skip. That was gonna be the challenge since the rink had tons of cleaning supplies and Mimi made a bunch of broccoli. While avoiding these things, I stumbled on the floor in front of Lamar and Casey. I noticed Lamar was talking with Casey, or at least trying to. "Lulu! I actually won!" Lamar exclaimed. "Can you believe it? I mean, all I won was a gift card, but it was worth it." "That's great, bro! I'm so proud of you." I commented. "Lu, Calderon Couture does not belong on the floor." Casey complained. "Lamar, Casey, my app's gone haywire, so I gotta avoid anything that remotely looks like broccoli, any chore on the skip list, or else this whole night will be lost and Dad will be heartbroken." I explained. "Alright, y'all." Mom announced. "It's time for all the cutie-patootie father-daughter teams to line up at the floor!" "Mama didn't have to phrase it like that." Lamar said. "Oh, no. Waiting in line is on the list." I panicked. "Alright, Lu, my fro-fro is ready to go-go!" Dad exclaimed, wearing his afro. "Uh, why don't we just skate on the carpet?" I suggested. "More cushion if you fall." "Oh, good point." Dad agreed. "Which is why I had Casey put in these butt pads!" "Dad, stop." Lamar groaned, slapping himself. "Let's go, Lu! This moment's all about you and me, baby, and my butt!" Dad exclaimed as Lamar slapped himself. "Wait! I... I wanna take more photos for my portfolio." Casey said, trying to stall. "Don't you think these sequins would look better under the rink lights?" Dad asked. "Like a living disco ball." Casey sighed. "Come on, let's get in line." Dad said. "Wait, wait, wait! No! No! I'm not ready!" I exclaimed as I skipped ahead to the rink after it was closed. "No, no, no, no. What have you done?" "You're welcome." Skipster replied.

Not long after, I found Dad snacking on some nachos at the snack counter. I could tell that he was upset, and seeing him like that broke my heart. "Dad, I'm so sorry." I apologized. "No need. I know what's going on." Dad said. "You do?" I asked. "Of course I do, Lu. You're 13." Dad replied. "Growing up and growing out of stuff, like eating ice cream, and father-daughter skate competitions, and even my silly stories." "No, Dad." I reassured him. "And I want you to know, it's okay." Dad continued. "No, that's not it at all." I explained. "I love our family stuff, and I still wanna hear your stories." "You're just saying that." Dad sighed. "No, really. I do." I said. "Really?" Dad asked. "Because I saw this really funny video the other day and it reminded me of the time we went to go see that Tom Bruise movie and I started crying..." "No! No! No!" I cried as Skipster automatically skipped the story.

When the skip was finished, I found myself in the lab at my work station. "Ugh! This app is ruining my life!" I screamed. "I gotta destroy this thing from the inside. Hack into my code before it updates again and does something really crazy!" "Space-time manipulation activated." I heard Skipster say. "You're welcome."

Skipster had brought me back to when I was in my old kindergarten class. "Holy helium. I'm back in kindergarten?" I wondered as Skipster began glitching. "My new coding had too much juice." "I wanna play with the toy, too!" A younger version of Eduardo exclaimed, clearly after picking his nose. "Come on. Come on. Come on. Please, please, please." I panicked as I skipped ahead just before Eduardo got his slimy hands on my phone.

"No!" I shouted, ending up in a battle with a supervillain. "What did I do? Way too forward!" "Shuffle mode activated." Skipster said. "You're welcome." "Shuffle mode?!" I wondered.

The next thing I knew, it was my 16th birthday and my family, along with Casey had thrown me a party. "Happy Sweet 16, Lulu!" 15-year-old Lamar shouted as I skipped again.

I found myself in the school's gym during a school dance. I was holding hands with someone. My future date turned their attention to me. To my surprise, it was Eduardo. I'm sorry, but what is my future self thinking? "Eduardo?" I asked.

I seemed to be back towards the present, but I was surrounded by smoke and Lamar was unconscious on the ground. "LJ!" I cried. "Lulu, listen to me." Lamar said, weakly. "There is nowhere the moon will go that the sun won't follow." "What's gonna happen to my brother?" I asked Skipster. "Tell me!" "That's for me to know and for you to find out." Skipster replied. "You're welcome."

After that, I was skipping every second, until I ended up somewhere dark. Memories and future events were flying before my eyes. Although, I could only picture Lamar in critical condition after what looked like a fire. "Whoa." I gasped. "Am I..." "Standing literally at the center of my code?" Skipster interrupted. "You bet." "I actually tore a hole in the space-time continuum?" I wondered. "Congratulations! You can now access the app's archive of past, present, and future moments." Skipster explained. "Selections can be made by simply leaping into a moment." "So, if I pick the right moment, maybe I can go back to the beginning before I created Skipster and fix everything with my family." I said. "But why would you do that?" Skipster asked. "Now you can skip all the boring parts. It's just what you always wanted." "I was wrong, okay?" I grunted. "Life isn't supposed to be a highlight reel. It's about all the moments in between, the small moments, that give life real meaning." "Huh. I never thought of it like that." Skipster said. "You know, I think you've taught me something today. Thank you, Lunella." "You're welcome." I chuckled. "Well, good luck picking the right moment." Skipster said as all the moments sped by in the blink of an eye. "Oh, they're too fast!" I groaned. "I need something to slow this down, or at least feel slower." I started my mixtape filled with some of those oldies songs from cleaning day, just as I found the right moment. However, I was running out of time. Skipster announced that the battery was low. Who knows what could happen if I didn't make it? I ran to the exact moment with only seconds left. I closed my eyes, not knowing what would happen next.

The next thing I knew, I was back in bed, hearing the same oldies music playing from last week. I perked up when I saw Lamar trying to get some extra sleep. I checked my phone to make sure that I was in the right moment. Scrolling through my phone, I noticed all my apps were there, except for Skipster. The nightmare was over! "It's gone." I sighed with relief. "Shut up, Lulu!" Lamar complained. "People are trying to sleep!" "It's..." Dad began. "Lafayette House Cleaning Day!" I finished. "Dang! I practiced that entrance, too." Dad sighed. "I can't wait to clean the house!" I exclaimed. "And the rink, too!" "Ooh, I hadn't thought of that." Dad said. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" Lamar asked. "And later, we can shred Gouda, which I think might be hilarious somehow." I laughed along with my dad and brother. "I don't get it." Dad said. "You're in a good mood this morning, Lulu." Lamar commented, climbing out of his bed. "Spill it." "I guess what I mean is, you know, time moves so fast and I don't want to miss a single moment, especially spending time with you guys." "I love spending time with you, too." Dad smiled, pulling me and Lamar into a hug. "You're making me tear up, Lulu." Lamar sniffled, making me laugh. "Now, let's go clean, so you can show us some of your Father-Daughter Skate Night moves." "Ooh, you're not ready for this one!" Dad exclaimed. "This is our year, Dad!" I exclaimed, looking at Lamar dancing along, remembering that he was in danger in the future. "I can feel it."

There we have it. A chapter mostly centered around Lunella from her perspective. But what could've possibly happened to Lamar? Only time will tell. -Mal.