Humor Me

 is a Slice of life/Romance/Drama/Comedy Canvas Webtoon created by Marvin.W; it updates the first of every month with occasional updates halfway through the month.

It is available in English since 2016 and in French since 2021 (on Webtoon France).

Synopsis
''Charlie's goals in life are pretty simple : get her High School diploma, become a legal adult, take care of her 4 y/o way too literate brother and make sure social services don't realize their dad has run away. So grabbing the unfortunate interest of one famous James Hardford sure wasn't part of her plans, especially when he (like about everyone else apparently) thinks she's a boy!''

Charlie Summers
Charlie is a 17 y/o girl in her last year of high school. She looks very androgynous and since she wears the male uniform for practical reasons, people think she's a boy, but she doesn't really care. Her goal is to lay low and never have to interact with them anyway. She's the type to avoid conflict at all cost but when faced with no choice, she knows how to stand for herself. Her life revolves around her brother and she's very bad at interacting with people without resorting to heavy sarcasm and improbable feats of acting (which she's pretty good at).

Lucian Summers
Lucian is Charlie's three-almost-four-year-old brother. Like his sister, he's pretty terrible at socializing with his peers, especially since he's a vocabulary sponge and talks a lot better than any kid his age. Other than this particularity, he's a little blonde ball of sunshine, always optimistic (especially when it comes to his dad) and loves his sister fiercely.

James Hardford
James is a 19 y/o teenager who's the embodiment of most people in Charlie's school (he goes to the University part) : he's very rich and a bit of a prat. In addition to being an heir to an influential family, he's also famous for his modelling. For now, James is a bit immature, very paranoid and doesn't seem to see the consequences his actions have on Charlie's life. He has an older brother and a younger sister, is apparently pretty bad at school and passionate about photography.

Louis Thornberry
Louis is James's best and only friend since they were kids and the son of the school's principal. He likes thinking out of the box, meddling in people's lives and knowing everything about everyone. He takes an immediate interest in Charlie right after meeting her since she looks like a perfect way to bring chaos into his and James's lives. He's not a bad guy but his love for drama makes it easy for him to sometimes forget about other people's feelings.

Fitz Montgomery
Fitz is a waiter at Isaac's, a local Butler Café. He's a very friendly guy who, like Louis, is a bit nosy but in a good way. He loves making new friends and is a hard worker, very loyal to his friend Isaac, the coffee shop's manager. He loves watching Charlie act and took an immediate liking to her. For now he seems to be one of the only characters able to make her smile and not get her thorns out (except for Lucian of course)

Isaac Davis
He's the manager of "Isaac's butler café" and Fitz's friend. He's a nice guy who alternates between hard work and very sudden impromptu naps.

Lisa Hackman
She's a rich annoying and popular girl in Charlie's class. She seems to really admire James and is pretty condescending with Charlie.

Jason Summers
He's Charlie and Lucian's dad, a man-child with no sense of responsibilities. He left them about 3 years ago, when Charlie was 14 and Lucian 1 and sends them letters and money from time to time. He thinks they can access his bank account to take whatever they need there (which they can't). Since he fled, he became a famous actor going by the name "Jason Hides".

Other characters

 * Amy Hardford : James's 6 y/o sister
 * Miss Penny : Lucian's teacher at daycare
 * Professor Collins : Charlie's old literature teacher, he seems to be the only one in the school staff who actually cares about her

- Volume One -
Chapter 1 (Ep.2-4) Charlie goes to school after dropping her brother at daycare to start her senior year at Hillgate, a prestigious high school and university where she's a scholarship student. She doesn't seem to be on good terms with her schoolmates and everyone there thinks she's a boy (she wears the male uniform). She meets Louis, the friend of the school's most famous student : James Hardford. He seems to take an instant interest in her but she doesn't have time for him and slips away.

Chapter 2 (Ep.6-9) After her part time job at a local library, Charlie fetches her brother Lucian from daycare. Despite being a very intelligent kid way too articulate for his age, he seems to always forget that his sister is a girl. There seem to be an issue with their suspiciously absent father, but the siblings apparently have a well oiled routine to take care of themselves. When Charlie puts Lucian to bed, he forces her to say goodnight to a poster of their dad who is a famous actor going by the name of "Jason Hides".

Chapter 3 (Ep.10-14) Charlie has a bit of time between school and her part time job so she decides to try "Isaacs' butler café" a new coffee shop that just opened. There she meets Fitz, a friendly waiter who helps her identify James who's trying to drink his coffee in peace but is bothered by some paparazzi. In her quest to find a seat, she tries to help James by acting like his cousin. Her plan backfires and he reacts very badly, thinking she's a fan trying to get closer to him. Fitz ends up helping her get away by using the café's back door while James has to run to escape the reporters.

Chapter 4 (Ep.15-19) He manages to lose them and ends up in front of Lucian's daycare where he meets the little boy. They end up having a bit of a surrealist conversation during which Lucian invites James to his birthday (an offer promptly shot down). The kid then goes back to his schoolmates and his apparent nemesis : Eugene, a little boy who likes to fight with Lucian and make fun of the fact that his mother is dead. Miss Penny separates them but doesn't take Lucian's side since she didn't hear Eugene's barb. Lucian is pretty happy when Charlie finally comes for him at 7pm.

Chapter 5 (Ep.20-22) Charlie has a bit of an argument with two of her pretty crude classmates who think she's being too harsh even though they were trying to include her in their "joke". She then meets professor Collins who "asks" her to bring a pile of books to the Uni library. Once in the uni building, she meets Louis who starts asking questions and is soon joined by James who immediately thinks she's doing this to meet him again. She manages to escape, fed up. James describes their first meeting to Louis on their way to the principals' office (who also happens to be Louis's dad).

Chapter 6 (Ep.23-28) Charlie stumbles upon a little girl named Amy who lost her brother. She decides to help her find him but soon realizes that said brother is none other than one James Hardford. He immediately thinks the worst of her and pushes her against a wall where she hits her head. He then decides to follow her to see if she's going to the police station but she's just going to the pharmacy and then heads home (where James realizes who her brother is).

Chapter 7 (Ep.29-33) James is taking photos in a park when it starts raining. He takes shelter in Charlie's library and confronts her about what happened with his sister, still thinking she tried to use Amy to get to him. He then denounces her to the school board (part-time jobs are forbidden at Hillgate until the end of high school) so she has to resign to be able to bluff the school about her situation. James confronts her at school in an isolated classroom but a mysterious girl watches them from afar and doesn't seem too happy about their interaction.

Chapter 8 (Ep.35-40) Knowing she has successfully escaped getting thrown out of school, James drags Louis into following her to gather some proof. They end up at Isaac's and merely end up watching her use her acting skills to help a (pretty ungrateful) classmate who's about to get scammed. Fitz tries to start a friendship with Charlie and invites her for a drink whenever she has time. James merely concludes that Charlie's acting skills makes her even more suspicious than he thought.

Chapter 9 (Ep.42-47) Charlie is looking for a new job in the paper during class but soon has to stop to go to the infirmary, someone put mirror shards in her desk and she hurt her hand. James and Louis are talking about her in another part of the school and Louis ends up confronting James about his appalling attitude towards Charlie since the beginning. James hints at a similar situation two years prior which apparently ended badly but finally swears to lay off Charlie's back and stop following her. He decides to go to the cemetery to visit his grand-mother's grave but sees Charlie from afar and follows her to the grave she's visiting. It's her mom's and she starts reminiscing while watering the plants. She used to have a happy family with a level headed, slightly sarcastic mother, and a boisterous and playful father. The years go by and Charlie's mother starts developing a sickness. By the time Lucian is born, she's too weak to go back home so 13 y/o Charlie rolls up her sleeves to take care of Lucian and the house on top of school so that her dad can stay as much as he can with their mom at the hospital. The flashback ends when she tells her dad that she got the scholarship for Hillgate. Back to the present, James catches himself trying to photograph her and realizes he's going a bit far.

- Volume Two -
Chapter 10 (Ep.48-56) Charlie and Lucian receive a letter from their dad (we also get a glimpse at their neighbour Mrs. Pence, an old lady who takes care of Lucian whenever Charlie can't). Charlie improvises the content to make it look like he's a great dad who knows all about Lucian but in truth, there's no way for her to write back and she can only take whatever money he sends (he thinks she can access his bank account like she used to when she was the one in charge of the family's finances but he has a new bank now which she doesn't have access to.) At school, James wants to know why Louis hasn't looked at Charlie's file (thanks to his dad) but the principal cut Louis's access until he agrees to study at Oxford. Louis then sees Charlie being bullied in the cafeteria and decides to intervene by throwing James under the bus as a diversion. He tries to help Charlie who refuses, especially when James manages to escape the other students and joins Louis. They let her go but Louis confirms that he really wants to get to know her more because it's actually more fun without his dad's files. James keeps thinking he has to keep an eye on her too, just in case.

Chapter 11 (Ep.57-65) At school, the caretaker (who seems to hate Charlie) starts an argument with her (after drenching her in water) but she's saved by Prof. Collins who seems increasingly worried about her. While she walks away, some boys send a football right in her face and she faints. Louis (who has seen it all) immediately come to hear rescue and bring her to the infirmary. The (worst) nurse (ever) immediately flees her responsibilities and asks Louis to change Charlie's clothes before she gets sick (she thinks Charlie is a boy too). Alone with Charlie, Louis finally accept that he might have been wrong about Charlie's gender and that she is indeed a boy. He starts undressing her and realizes that he was right all along. When Charlie wakes up, he wants to know why she's masquerading as a boy. Charlie answers that she just lets people assume because it's easier, that the male uniform was cheaper for her to mimic and that she cut her hair for personal reasons. Flashback : 14 y/o Charlie just got her first part time job but her dad is opposed to it. They argue, especially since he's not bringing back much money and Charlie is worried about their finances. Jason ends up accusing her of looking and acting too much like her mother. She storms out, telling him to get a grip or stop getting in her way. Dejected, he realizes how useless he is to her and leaves, not seeing that she just cut her hair to help him get over his wife's death.

Chapter 12 (Ep.66-70) Back in the infirmary, Louis finally tells Charlie why James is reacting that way towards her. Two years prior, a fan of James (who looked a bit like Charlie) who used to be very nice and supportive, took a turn for the worst, actively being mean to other fans, stalking and harassing James, and finally ended up trying to use Amy to get closer to James. Charlie now understands his paranoia but asks Louis to clear things up with him so that he stops bothering her but he refuses. She finally gets mad at him and tells him she doesn't need him and James to wreak havoc in her life and disregard her privacy. Louis apologizes for undressing her while she was unconscious but doesn't seem to want to stop being nosy. He then tells Charlie that she should simply tell James that she is a girl but she retorts that he would probably find it even more suspicious and go berserk. Louis agrees to keep referring to her as a boy and then offers her a new uniform sweater and advises her to speak her mind more clearly when people bother her.

Chapter 13 (Ep.71-75) As James is leaving school to go home, he spots Charlie hiding behind a trash bin, obviously spying on something. He gets closer and sees she's looking at Lisa being harassed by two guys. Then to his horror, she jumps in, and starts acting like a drunk to help her classmate. She manages to help Lisa run away but ends up in danger in her stead. Against his better judgement, James decides to jump in to try to help but is not really in his element so Charlie has to take care of the thugs as best as she can (while bickering with James). They end up running away, have to hide again (from paparazzi this time) but still manage to bicker despite their close position before finally going their separate ways.

Chapter 14 (Ep 76-81)

Charlie decides to take on Fitz's offer to have a drink with him now that she has too much free time. She goes to Isaac's cafe but it's crowded so she ends up helping Fitz so that he can take a break to chat. Fitz and Isaac then offer her a job as a butler in the café, not noticing that her gender doesn't exactly fit the job's description. She accepts despite the fact that it ends at midnight and that she could easily be recognized by students potentially coming to the cafe. Right after donning her apron, James comes in and recognizes her right away but doesn't immediately say that he's gonna rat her out. Fitz then does Charlie's makeover so that she's not so recognizable (they also decide to call her Oliver when she's at the café). After taking a photo for blackmail, James decides to let her work there so that he can keep an eye on her. He also takes her number, saying that he wants her to run to him every time he sends her a text until he can know for sure that she really isn't a threat. When she goes to bed later that night, Charlie realises she might have to start binding her chest so that her gender isn't revealed to her new co-workers (at the risk of costing her the job).

Chapter 15 (Ep. 82-88)

Her new rhythm is already starting to take its toll on Charlie and she falls asleep on her broom while working. Worried, Fitz decides to walk her home and reveals himself to be an attentive ear to Charlie's problems (in a big-brother sort of way). Apparently, James is making Charlie run errands for him and she's very tired of it (and tired in general). The following weekend, Charlie and Lucian are chatting in the kitchen when the phone starts ringing. It's professor Collins, who wants to drop by their house to see their dad and talk about Charlie's problems at school. Charlie and Lucian manage to make the house look like their dad still lives in and tell Prof Collins that he's out grocery shopping. While waiting, Collins confronts Charlie about her gender (he discovered it while looking at her school file) and while he regrets that she doesn't feel like telling her classmates, he agrees to keep it secret. Lucian discreetly calls Charlie's cell phone and she acts as if it was their dad calling, telling them that he wouldn't be back before a couple of hours. Prof Collins ends up leaving but seems to buy it. He seems to really appreciate Charlie who's touched by his willingness to help her.

Chapter 16 (Ep. 89-93)

A few days later, Charlie comes to work completely sick so Fitz and Isaac force her to head home. On her way she crosses path with James but at that point she's feeling so terrible that she ends up fainting in front of him. Wanting to avoid the hospital and any questions it might raise, James carries Charlie to his place even though he doesn't have the slightest idea on how to take care of a sick person. A few hours later, Charlie wakes up alone in an unknown guest-room. She quickly realises she missed the time to fetch Lucian and receives a message telling her he went looking for her alone in the city. She enters full panic mode and tries to get out of James's house but he tries to stop her in his usual James way so Charlie finally snaps and starts chewing him out. Properly chastised, he offers to use his car to look for Lucian. Then end up finding him relatively quickly and Charlie discovers that they already knew each other while Lucian reiterates his invitation to his birthday to James who finally accepts just to spite Charlie.

- Volume Three -
Chapter 17 (Ep.94-103)

They day after, Charlie runs into James and Louis at school. Their first somewhat civil conversation is promptly interrupted by a bag falling from the window right towards Charlie. Fortunately James's unhoped for reflexes kick in and he saves her in extremis. The incident seems to shake him more than Charlie and he asks to know what's going on, unhappy to hear she's being bullied. But Charlie refuses his help and decides to confront Ellie (the girl who threw the bag) on her own. According to Ellie, that was all merely an unfortunate accident and she advises Charlie to confront Lisa who might be the instigator of the whole bullying situation. Thanks to Louis's help, Charlie is finally able to isolate Lisa and asks her about the situation. She learns that the whole things started because Lisa broke someone else's mirror but shoved the shards into Charlie's desk to make it look like it was on purpose instead of looking clumsy. Then everyone started copying her and bullying Charlie and she let them because she was jealous the Charlie seemed so close to James. Upon hearing that Charlie is not trying to woo James, Lisa decides to confess and uses Charlie as a sounded board. Fed up with Charlie's lack of cooperation, she brutally confesses to James who rejects her.

Chapter 18 (Ep 104-Ongoing)

A day or so later, Charlie is going to the market to fetch her lunch when her phone rings. It's James, asking her to bring him lunch from the cafeteria. She tells him he'll have to wait but he decides to join her. They finally have a civil conversation where Charlie officially invites him to Lucian's birthday.

Related

 * The Monster Under My Bed (Webtoon's HEART Anthology): Same creator