Chapter Twenty

“You have to put out some sort of statement eventually,” Katherine told him first thing the next morning. “If you don’t, it just makes you look guilty.”

After several minutes of heated argumentation and lawyerish head games, Jeff had finally agreed. Fast forward about six hours later, and he was now sitting on the set of his most liberal local news station, waiting to be interviewed.

Jeff sat up and adjusted his tie. He hadn’t been in the room long, but he was sweating already and he wasn’t sure whether it was due to nerves or the too-bright lights hanging overhead. They were not unlike the hot stage lights in the high school auditorium. He tried to take comfort in that, at the very least. Behind his and the anchor’s seats were two very large floor to ceiling windows through which people could peek in and potentially get their signs captured on camera. Although he was doing his best to avoid looking through them, Jeff thought he spotted someone holding a sign that said Free Mr. Martin in all caps.

He had been informed during his speedy, twenty-minute briefing that he was going to be interviewed by one of the newer nighttime anchors, Wendy Li. The person doing the briefing, most likely an intern, did a little bit of fact checking and went over what kind of questions Wendy might be asking him. She also gave Jeff the opportunity to make certain topics off limits. All he’d asked was that they not mention Luke by name. The intern made a note of that and then left him on the empty set with nothing but a plastic water bottle in front of him.

He had been told that his segment was being taped around 1:30, as soon as Wendy got out of hair and makeup, and that it’d be broadcast during tonight’s 6:00 news. The station hadn’t been quiet about landing him for an interview though. They had evidently plastered it all over their social media accounts. Jeff only knew about this because Katherine had told him so, but it did explain the group of supporters lined up in the glass behind him.

At exactly 1:00, the empty studio came alive. Suddenly there were craft services and lighting professionals and people running around with clipboards in hand, asking him to turn his phone off. A young man with a pretty sweet mohawk miked him and helped him run the wires through his shirt. Then a woman came by and dusted his face with a light coating of anti-glare makeup. She was good. Jeff briefly toyed with the idea of asking her if she’d ever want to volunteer her services to the Apollo drama department, but he ultimately decided not to. He didn’t want to risk offending her.

A few minutes later Wendy Li herself stepped into the building. She looked like everything Jeff associated with a professional newscaster. She had high cheekbones and a perfectly white smile and shrewd eyes that could detect even the slightest lie. She was wearing a red dress that made her black hair and pale skin pop. Her makeup was thick enough to make her stand out on TV, but not so thick that it covered up her natural beauty. Jeff was instantly fascinated by her. She was like an Asian goddess of broadcast journalism.

She fiddled with her earpiece a bit and then walked over to Jeff.

“Wendy Li,” she said, sticking out her hand. She had a particular lilt to her voice that made her sound like she could be from anywhere in the country. Jeff figured this was probably one of the first things they taught you at journalism school. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Martin.”

Jeff smiled and shook her hand. She seemed friendly enough.

“Thanks. It’s nice to meet you too. You can call me Jeff.”

“All right, Jeff. Go ahead and get comfortable. We’ll start your interview right after the sound check.”

Jeff nodded and watched as Wendy sashayed over to the chair across from him and adjusted her hair in the camera viewfinder. Someone on the edge of the set counted them down, and when he got to one, Wendy came alive, reading from her teleprompter like she’d been born doing it.

“Good evening everyone and welcome back to MS 10 Nightly News, my name is Wendy Li and we are here today with Mister Jeff Martin, an English teacher at Apollo High School who has been making waves ever since Friday when the school board forced him to take a leave of absence after photos surfaced of him kissing another man.” She looked at Jeff with a practiced smile, which he then mirrored while giving the camera a small, quick wave. “Hello Jeff. Thank you for agreeing to talk with us.”

“Of course, Wendy, thank you for having me.”

“So, let’s go ahead and start off by addressing all of the support you’ve been garnering online. How does it feel to be an internet celebrity?”

Jeff gave an uncomfortable little laugh.

“I don’t know about celebrity, but it is nice to see people supporting me and backing me up. I definitely appreciate it, and I’m sure many other members of the LGBT community appreciate it too. It’s cliché, but we really are so much stronger when we stand together.”

Wendy nodded sagely as though she understood.

“So, walk me through this photo. I understand it was taken at a wedding?”

“Yes. I was invited to a wedding and decided to bring my new boyfriend as my plus one. That picture was taken in the photo booth at the end of the night.”

“And you had no idea that these pictures would end up online?”

Jeff shook his head.

“No. I guess I should have figured, but it was just as much of a surprise to me as it was to everyone else.”

“And could you tell me about what happened after the photo started getting spread around?”

“Well, right after I saw the picture for the first time was when the principal called me into his office to tell me I was going to be on paid leave until further notice.”

“And why was that?”

Jeff sighed and ran a finger over his knuckles.

“There were several parents complaining that they didn’t want a gay person teaching their children. Also, my boyfriend is also the father of one of my drama students, so there were people claiming that I came onto him inappropriately.”

Wendy raised a brow.

“And did you?”

Jeff shook his head.

“No. Of course not!”

Wendy raised her hands in a placating gesture.

“Sorry. I had to ask. Are you worried about losing your job over this?”

Jeff took in a deep breath and tried to relax. Here was his chance to plead his case.

“I can’t say that I’m not upset about possibly losing my job over a photo, especially one that any straight teacher wouldn’t have faced so much flack for. It’s all been incredibly frustrating, but I think what upsets me more is that I’m not able to go back and continue directing the musical that my theater students have been working hard toward for months. Apollo hasn’t put on a musical in years. These kids have poured so much time into it, and I invested my own personal money to buy the rights. To have that ripped away from them for something as stupid as this? It breaks my heart. Especially for the students who’ll be graduating this year. This is supposed to be their last hurrah. They’re not going to get a second chance.”

Wendy nodded. She seemed to be more genuinely engaged with him now. Hopefully that meant that he’d struck the emotional chord that he’d intended.

“One last question for you Mr. Martin, and then I’ll let you go, okay?”

Jeff nodded, signaling for her to continue.

“How does your boyfriend feel about all of this newfound attention?”

Jeff blinked rapidly and glanced over Wendy’s shoulder at the producers who were waiting with bated breath. He figured he might as well tell the truth.

“I don’t know,” Jeff admitted. “We haven’t exactly had a whole lot of time to talk about it with everything else that has been going on.”

Wendy frowned. This was clearly not the answer she’d expected.

“Well, you’ve got all of our ears now. Is there anything you’d like to say to him before you go?”

Jeff thought about it for a moment and then looked into the camera.

“Just that I love him. That’s about it.”

Wendy smiled, thanked him, read her outro, and gave information on where the viewers could follow the story before signing off. Then she stood, shook Jeff’s hand one more time and strolled away, ready to continue with her day. Jeff removed his mic pack and risked a glance at the giant windows behind him. The crowd had nearly doubled in size since he last looked. Several people were waving at him. Jeff tentatively lifted up a hand and waved back. Oddly enough, there were more cameras pointed at him from outside than here in the news station.

Jeff allowed the building’s one security officer to escort him outside and drove home in a daze. Once there, he and Katherine worked on busying themselves until 6:00 rolled around. Jeff thought he’d be more comfortable watching the interview back than he had been while giving it, but that was unfortunately not the case. Still, he had to admit that the station had painted him in a good light.

Just as Katherine had hoped, the news clip started going viral just a few hours after it had aired. The “Let Him Teach” hashtag had resurged with a vengeance and by the time Jeff was ready to go to bed, it was the number three trend on Tweeter. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean the board members were going to change their minds, but Jeff felt somewhat optimistic.

After all, twenty-seven angry parents were nothing compared to millions of vehement internet supporters.