Chapter 120: Meet (some of) the Press

Sunday, May 1, 1983 (continued)

Once we’d finished, and I’d paid the check, I gave Dad a quick call. He said that he supported my talking with the reporters, and just to be careful. I’d probably have talked to them even if he hadn’t (I had promised them), but I’d have been more vague and evasive than they’d have liked.

I told him I would, then went to find them. We sat in a group of chairs in the lobby. The girls headed upstairs, ostensibly to pack but also likely to dodge any chance of being interviewed.

Paul Rothman led the discussion once we’d gotten settled. I’d missed their last names, but the gal from the Post was Kate, and the AP stringer was Hal. They’d given me their business cards, so I could check if I needed to. After a bit of thought, I gave them mine, too. Better that they bother me than Mom and Dad, and I couldn’t hide my address or their phone number.

Each of them got out recorders before we got started.

“We agreed on some questions, but you may get some follow-ups.”

“I’m used to that.”

“What ... oh, right, Debate,” Hal said.

I nodded. “Not the same, but it seems like it may help.”

That got a chuckle.

“You agree that this is on the record and we can quote you?”

I nodded. “I’m not sure I’m legally allowed to agree to that, but I do.”

“We’ll check with your parents before using any of it,” Kate said. “We have to.”

“That works for me,” I said. I wasn’t sure it was completely true, but it was probably close.

“So,” Paul said, “Everyone we’ve talked to says that you were ... central ... to getting the students together last night.”

I shook my head. “That’s overstating it. First, I have to say that this was Lizzie and Janet’s dream. Some of us helped along the way, but it was their decision, and they did it their way. Mostly, what I did was speak to some friends of mine about what might happen, and they talked to friends of theirs.”

“That’s still planning a response,” Kate said.

“Look at it the other way around. I’m friends with Janet and Lizzie and knew they might attend. I’m also friends with Troy, our outgoing Student Council President. And Jessica, our head cheerleader. And ... on and on. Quoting my dad, ‘You can never have too many friends.’ Anyway, suppose I’d known and hadn’t told them. That’s not being a good friend to anyone.”

“You’ve got a point,” Paul said. “I can work with that.”

“Me, too,” Hal said. Kate nodded, smiling.

“What did you hope would happen?”

“Pretty much exactly what happened. Janet and Lizzie are great people. Smart, talented, warm, friendly, good teammates, and so forth. They deserved to have a fun Prom, just like everyone. At the same time, I didn’t want it to mess up Prom for anyone else.”

“And you think that’s what happened?” Kate said.

“I know Janet and Lizzie had a great time. Most likely a few people were uncomfortable, but no one seemed really upset. I’m not sure why someone would be uncomfortable — Lizzie and Janet are a couple, so they weren’t going to be trying to pick anyone up — but, still. On the other hand, hasn’t that always been the case when formerly excluded people get to join the party?”

She nodded. “It has, that’s true.”

“If you could sum up your feelings in a sentence or two?” Paul said.

I chuckled inwardly. We weren’t in the ‘sound bite’ era, not really, but that’s what he was asking for. From his perspective, he was likely fishing for a pull quote. I could work with that.

“My feelings are that public schools are for everyone, and everyone should get to participate, as long as they’re following reasonable rules. Everyone should be welcomed and respected, regardless of how they look, what they believe, who they love, and so forth, as long as they give the same respect to everyone else.”

All three nodded. Then Kate said, “What about students who believe that same-sex couples are wrong?”

“I support their right to believe that and to think what they want, but they shouldn’t be able to deny others a chance to participate simply because of their beliefs.”

“Does that make your opinion more important than theirs?” she said.

I shook my head. “No, it makes inclusiveness more important. If you agree that the public schools are for everyone, the rest follows. Religious schools are free to make value judgments in ways that public schools shouldn’t be.”

“So ... what comes next?” Paul said.

“Graduation,” I said. That got a chuckle.

“Not for me,” I went on, “But for Janet and Lizzie. Oh, in the short term, I think tomorrow will be a crazy day. Remember that around three-quarters of Memorial students weren’t there last night. They’ll have heard of it on the news or whatever, or maybe they won’t hear until tomorrow. Everyone will have an opinion, and that’s fine. But that’ll settle down, and we’ll move on. Less than a month from today, Janet and Lizzie will graduate, and that’ll be that. It doesn’t mean they’ll be the last, but just because the door is open doesn’t mean there’ll be a bunch of kids walking right through it.”

“What about repercussions for your principal or anyone else?” he said.

“Principal Riggs is a very good principal. I’m not sure how anyone could say that he did something wrong. Should he have tried to stop two great kids from going to Prom, when most of those who went approved, and when there’s no rule against it? Oh, there’s the court of public opinion, but aren’t there dozens of things more important about a school than who goes to a dance? Memorial is a great school; that means he’s doing well, as far as I’m concerned. Beyond that? Obviously, some people will say nasty things about this. They probably already are. That’s their right.”

They looked between each other. “I think that covers it, except ... you don’t happen to know where Janet or Lizzie are, do you?”

I smiled and shook my head. “Maybe at home, or hiding from you guys. I’m guessing they’ll turn up tomorrow.”

“Most likely,” he said, nodding.

I shook hands with the three of them, then headed upstairs. Just in case, I stopped on five and walked up five floors. For all I knew, they already knew who I was with, but it’d be better if Mikayla could avoid the circus. The same went for Paige, Jasmine, and Angie, too, but the hotel room was in Mikayla’s name, after all.

When I got there, the girls had everything packed and all four were waiting.

“How’d it go, honey?” Jas said, scooting over and hugging me.

“Well, I think,” I said.

“Good!”

“Are we ready to blow this joint?” Angie said.

Mikayla giggled. “Very ready. I’ll have good memories...”

“Too much information!” Angie and Paige said together.

She grinned. “I could get into detail...”

“Nah,” Jas said. “Let them wonder.”

“Meanie!” Paige said, giggling.

I helped with the luggage, of course, and we headed out and to the car without incident. I’d worried about my car being messed up, but either no one knew which one it was, or the less happy people weren’t looking to exact revenge on my car, at least not yet.

After dropping off Mikayla (with hugs and kisses, of course), we headed for Study Group.

Study group was nearly completely derailed by Prom talk. I couldn’t blame them, really. It’s not every day that people close to you are involved in a national news story. I went over some stories from Prom several times, and so did everyone else who’d been there.

Mel and Cammie had everyone in stitches with a ‘dramatization’ of the dance Lizzie and I had shared. This was one of the relatively few times I really missed the ubiquitous video recordings of the 2020s sort. I’d have loved to have seen that dance myself.

I called home just before leaving. Dad said they’d had two reporters sitting outside, but the police had talked to them and they’d left. Even in the villages, the police didn’t really have the authority to run off the press, but I figured it was a combination of my talking to the other reporters and them not wanting to make it a fight.

Rita surprised me a little. She’d been upstairs when we arrived — so much for ‘oversight’ — but when we left she was downstairs and gave me a big hug.

“Thanks for whatever all you did to help those girls, hon,” she said, obviously a bit emotional.

“You knew I would,” I said.

“I know, but ... I keep thinking about Susan. Well, and Kimmie. Susan called this morning. She’d heard something about it and just couldn’t believe it was really us. And that ‘that cool Steve guy’ was involved. I think it’d have meant something really big for her if she’d had that at Memorial. I mean, she wouldn’t have. She didn’t have a serious girlfriend here. But, just the thought ... it’s a big deal. It’s apparently all the buzz with their friends at Vanderbilt.”