Saving prom, p.15
Saving Prom, page 15
Hey, it didn’t happen that often when we were over there, but it happened that night.
“Felicity! Someone on the phone for you!”
We looked at each other. There was something weird about her mom’s tone. Heck, there was something weird about someone calling her on their house’s landline.
“No one is calling me on the landline,” Felicity shouted down.
“You sure about that?” she asked. “Because we’ve got someone on the line right now!”
Felicity looked at me again. It was weird, but given everything that’d happened to us lately it wasn’t that out of the ordinary.
“Probably more reporters calling about our story,” Felicity said.
I rolled my eyes. “Great. If you talk to them make sure to find out whether or not they’re going to spin some bullshit about how this is all our fault. I can’t say I appreciate that.”
“On it,” she said.
She scooted over to a table next to the couch and picked up the phone.
“This is Felicity,” she said.
There was a pause. She frowned which made me think whoever was talking to her on the other end of the line wasn’t saying anything she cared for.
“Well yes,” she said. She waved at me. “Turn the TV to the tens.”
I wasn’t sure what she was on about, but I did it. The guide popped up but I had no idea where I was supposed to be pointing the damned thing.
“What am I changing it to?” I asked.
“Seven,” she said.
I narrowed my eyes as the channel list came up. “The Late Show With Jon Stephens?”
I glanced at the time. Huh. I guess it was later than I thought. We’d gotten preoccupied spending most of the evening watching news reports. Among other things that distracted us that night.
Heck, we’d even gotten a pizza delivered and ate it up there because we didn’t want to peel our eyes away from the coverage.
I clicked on the show and there was Jon Stephens grinning his infectious grin with a phone up against his ear. I glanced at the image on the TV and then back to Felicity, still wondering what the heck was going on here.
“Yeah, we’re watching now,” she said.
“Good,” Jon said on the screen. “Because I wanted to make sure you could both hear this.”
I blinked a couple of times. He’d just talked on the TV as though he was responding to Felicity. He was talking into a big wired phone unlike the cordless thing Felicity was using. Ancient technology talking to even more ancient technology.
Maybe that thing was a prop or something because I couldn’t imagine anyone under the age of seventy still using something like that.
“I saw your story on the news today and we’re very interested in getting you out here to tell your story to the world,” he said. “What would you say to that?”
I stared in disbelief. My mouth hung open. It looked like Felicity was having a difficult time processing what she was hearing too.
“Um, are you serious?” she asked. “This is really happening? This isn’t like a prank or something?”
Jon laughed and the crowd laughed right along with him. If this was a prank then it was a good one.
“How are you even doing this?” Felicity asked. “I thought you recorded your shows earlier in the day or something.”
“Well that’s true Felicity,” he said, his grin growing wider. “But we’re doing a live week, and what a good thing too so I can pull this publicity stunt.”
Felicity giggled and I laughed right along with her. Sure enough in the bottom corner there was something about them being live.
“Is that Lily I hear?” Jon asked.
“Y-yeah, it is,” Felicity said.
Jon did a little wave on the TV. “Nice to hear you Lily! So what do the two of you say? All expenses paid trip out to New York to appear on the show later this week? If you’re suspended then I figure we can make it the most awesome week of your lives!”
Felicity turned and stared at me as though she expected me to have an answer. As though I was somehow more used to getting a call from a late night TV host than she was, which I totally wasn’t.
I’ve been on a few shows at this point and the publisher tells me I’m going to be on more to promote this book, but at that point I wasn’t nearly as practiced at the whole thing as I am now. Honestly it still feels weird even now.
“What are you doing?” I hissed. “When a late night host invites you out to New York all expenses to be on his show you say yes!”
“Yes!” Felicity said, then she turned back to the phone. “Sorry. Yes. We’d love to come out!”
“Great to hear,” Jon said. “I’ll have my people get in touch with you and we’ll get you out here!”
“Yeah!” Felicity said.
“Good! We’ll be in touch. You girls hang in there, and I want you to know we have your back even if your principal doesn’t!”
The crowd erupted into cheers, and for the first time since all of this started I found myself staring in tears at the TV screen. Hearing so many people cheering, even if they were maybe cheering because there was an applause light that’d come on and told them to cheer, was a little overwhelming.
You try having a bunch of hate thrown at you then hearing someone say they had your back. Someone who was a national television figure, no less.
It was a good moment coming after a bunch of bad moments, and I really hoped it was a sign of things getting better.
27
Pre-Show
“Everything looks smaller than what I imagined,” I said.
Felicity stood next to me staring at the set. It was a big stage set in front of a massive theater and everything really did look smaller in person than it did on TV.
Not that I watched this show all that often. Sure I caught funny clips the next day online if there was anything good, but I didn’t have time to stay up late to watch television.
“Come on,” Felicity said. “Everything always looks smaller in person than it does on TV. I don’t know how they do it, but they have tricks to keep you from seeing how tiny everything actually is.”
The place was still a decent size though. There was a blue glow that filtered down from lights all along the top, and the ceiling was vaulted and looked like something straight out of an old theater. The kind of thing I’d imagine they’d put on a ceiling back in the thirties or something to make it look cool.
Back when theaters did more than putting up drop ceilings that hid a surround sound system.
“If the two of you will come this way Mr. Stephens is on his way,” the pretty assistant who’d been following us around said.
I smiled right back at her. She looked like she was only a few years older than us, though she had to have at least gone through college. Not that I was going to ask her too many questions about herself or anything.
No, I had no intention of doing anything like that. Not when I had to worry about Felicity right next to me. I’d seen her look at the girl an then look at me, and I had a feeling she knew what was going through my mind when I looked at the girl.
That was the real bitch about coming out and letting her know I was interested in her. It used to be I could check out other girls when we were out together. As long as I wasn’t too obvious about it the whole thing wasn’t a big deal because it’s not like she’d look at me checking out other girls and think that’s what I was up to.
It was a whole different ballgame now though. Just one of the many complications that’d come up ever since this whole thing started, though it was a complication I welcomed.
“Ladies!”
The voice was familiar. Deep and friendly. I turned and found myself staring at none other than Jon Stephens. He held his arms out wide with a huge smile on his face.
“So glad the two of you could make it. I was almost afraid we weren’t going to find you!”
Have you ever met someone who’s legitimately a star? Like someone who’s been around in the popular culture for decades? It’s a little different from how you think it might go.
Like I wasn’t even a big fan of the guy, I’ve already made that clear, but seeing someone who was on late night TV and who’d been running his own shows for years before that was amazing. This was a guy my parents went on about like he was the best thing ever.
And I found myself totally starstruck even if I hadn’t ever been a huge fan. Maybe it was his magnetism, or maybe it was seeing someone who was a legitimate TV star in the flesh.
Whatever the reason, it was incredible.
“Mr. Stephens,” I said, holding out my hand.
“Please. Call me Jon,” he said, taking my hand.
He turned to Felicity and shook her hand as well. She blushed as he took her hand and looked away.
“Nice to meet both of you,” he said. “What do you think of the trip so far?”
“It’s amazing,” I said.
It really was amazing. This is another one of those weird things about being born and raised in the middle of nowhere. Cities like New York sort of start to take on an almost mythological quality. Like it’s the sort of place where magical things happen because that’s what it always seems like in the movies and on TV.
It’s the place where a couple can be on a break and still end up having a kid together and get their happy ending. It’s the sort of place where a kid can get lost and still find a way to use a row house to beat the crap out of a couple of bungling robbers. It’s a place that gets destroyed every time a giant monster or alien invasion comes stomping through the U.S. The sort of place where four girlfriends can have adventures and write all about it. The sort of place where ancient gods can be defeated by a bunch of schlubs with unlicensed nuclear accelerators attached to their backs.
In short, New York was magical in my mind.
Now I know there are probably a lot of people out there right now thinking about how New York is anything but magical. How anyone who’s been in a back alley in the place or smelled some of the smells on offer there would say the city is as far from magical as possible.
Well you can go be down on the city, but I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned it’s the most magical city in the world. I know it helps that my only experience with the city was being whisked away to the place on an all expenses paid whirlwind tour, but I don’t care.
The city was awesome.
“Why don’t you come over here to the couch and get a feel for the place,” Jon said. “This is where the magic is going to happen, and I know it can be intimidating the first time you’re in front of the cameras.”
I had a seat on the couch and looked out over the theater. I could see the cameras now.
“Amazing,” I said.
“Yeah, you never really get used to it,” Jon said. “At least I’ve never gotten used to it and I’ve been doing it for a long time.”
“Well it’s awesome of you to do this for us,” Felicity said.
He got serious. Suddenly the smile was gone as he leaned closer. He’d sat down on his desk. It was a little weird seeing him going from friendly to serious like that.
“What you two are going through is shitty,” he said. “And if I can use the national spotlight I have to make things a little better? Well then I’m going to use my national spotlight to make things better.”
He slapped his hands on his knees and the smile was back. From serious to friendly in less time than it took to blink.
“Enough about that though,” he said. “Let’s get the two of you back to the green room. They have more food than you can imagine back there and you can pig out for a little while before we get you for the big interview. Sound good?”
“Sounds amazing,” I said.
Once we were back in the green room Felicity looked at me as though she couldn’t believe everything that’d happened. Her eyes went wide and she shook her head.
“I can’t believe this!” she nearly shrieked.
That shriek drew the attention of a couple of other people in the room and I realized that one of them was none other than Tommy Roberts. Yeah, that’s right. Hollywood hunk and heartthrob Tommy Roberts who was still riding high off of his starring role in those vampire movies.
That might’ve meant something to me if it weren’t for the fact that I was into girls and I had the most beautiful girl in the world standing right in front of me freaking out about everything happening to us.
That didn’t stop him from coming over and nodding to us.
“You’re those girls, right?”
Felicity turned to see who was talking to us and I swear she reacted just like I’d expect a hetero fangirl to react when she realized Tommy Roberts was standing right behind us smiling.
“Oh my God,” she said.
“Well I’m Tommy, but there are a few girls who act like I’m that guy too,” he said.
I know it probably sounds cocky when you’re reading it, but that’s not how he came across at all. For a guy who’s on top of the world when it comes to his movie roles he was surprisingly nice and down to earth.
“Listen,” he said. “I just wanted you to know that Jon told me all about why you’re here and I saw that video. That was some pretty impressive stuff you did.”
I found myself blushing. I mean I know I’m not into Tommy Roberts at all, but there was something about the way he said it that had me blushing.
If he could do that to me when I was into the ladies then I could totally understand why he seemed to have a hypnotic power over girls who were into the dudes, is all I’m saying.
“Thanks,” I managed to stammer out, feeling like an idiot even as I said it.
“No problem,” he said. “Looks like we’re going to be out there together tonight. I’m looking forward to it! And if there’s ever anything you girls need let me know.”
He leaned in a little closer. “Believe me. I totally know what you’re going through.”
Yeah, that’s right. I know it was a bombshell he dropped on the world just a little later, but we were the first to find out all about how Tommy Roberts was a huge disappointment to the throngs of fangirls out there madly in love with him because it turns out he was just as into his fangirls as I was into Tommy Roberts.
Though I hear there are legions of fangirls out there who love him even more now that they know he’s into guys. Apparently there was some vast online conspiracy theory network of teeny boppers trying to prove he was gay before he announced it to the world.
But there we were and he was admitting that to us in private.
“Don’t tell anyone though,” he said. “I’m saving that one for a big moment.”
And with that he walked off. Felicity looked at me with wide eyes.
“Did that really just happen?” she asked.
“I think it totally did,” I said. “I can’t believe it, but I think it totally did.”
Then again there were a lot of things happening to us right about then that I totally couldn’t believe. What was the latest Hollywood heartthrob coming up and all but admitting he understood where we were coming from because he was going through the same thing himself next to all that?
I knew one thing for sure. The rest of this trip to New York was going to be a wild experience, and we hadn’t even been on TV yet!
28
Live From New York
It’s really weird how a little change can make things totally different.
Take those cameras, for example. I’d sat in front of them earlier with Jon chatting with us and it hadn’t been weird. Jon chatting with us hadn’t been weird. Walking out on that stage in front of an empty theater hadn’t been weird.
It was totally weird an hour later as we stood on the sidelines looking out across the theater though. There was a huge crowd gathered cheering their hearts out.
“And that’s all the time we have for Tommy Roberts! Give him a big round of applause ladies!” Jon shouted, holding up his hand with a cue card in a classic move he always pulled when I watched him on YouTube the next day.
Jon tapped his cue cards a couple of times and smiled as Tommy took a seat on the far end of the big couch onstage. The crowd cheered, and it was deafening. I’d never heard that many girls screeching all at the same time before live, and it was ear splitting.
I’m pretty sure I still have a mild case of tinnitus left over from listening to that crowd.
“Up next we have a very special couple of guests,” Jon said. “If you were watching my show earlier in the week you saw me making a call, and you know these ladies are being very brave in the face of a school administration that’s being pretty cowardly if you ask me.”
I sort of tuned out what he said after that. I suddenly felt the beginnings of a panic attack coming over me, and I’m not the kind of person to get panic attacks because I’m about to go out in front of a crowd or anything.
I think it was the sure knowledge that this was going out to the whole world that bothered me the most. His speech was going to everyone in our hometown. To everyone in our state. It was going out around the world and these clips were going to play on repeat on YouTube forever.
You can still go look them up now. That’s kind of weird when you’re not used to being in the public spotlight at all and suddenly it shines down on you like the light from an alien spaceship about to abduct you and take you to another world.
Well I was in a whole new world then.
“Come on Lily,” Felicity hissed.
I looked over at her. Blinked a couple of times. Wondered what the heck she was going on about. She elbowed me in the side and pointed out to the stage.
The stage where people were cheering and applauding. Like we’re talking they were standing up and applauding and cheering.
I know there are some conspiracy minded people out there on the Internet, huge surprise there, who talk about how that whole standing ovation was only done because they had a light up telling people to do a standing ovation.
I’ve been to that stage though. I saw the lights they had telling people to applaud. I saw some of the cue cards they used to get people to do the right reaction. None of them told those people to do a standing ovation that day though.
