Page 58 of Wild Fixation
“I gather the press has been pretty intense,” the host says.
Keannen steps in, taking the burden of answering off my shoulders. He’s had it at least as bad as me. Apparently, when he and Tim moved in together, it took some real muscle to get them from their moving van into the apartment building. I heard Keannen came pretty close to throwing a punch, which would have been a PR disaster.
He doesn’t mention that, of course, but he can talk just as knowledgeably as me about how insane the press has been since the tour ended. The host asks him a couple more questions in that vein, and I gratefully allow him to take the lead. It’ll be my turn to talk soon enough, and we all know it. Shawn, Levi and Dan aren’t very good on camera, not unless they’re holding an instrument. We all got briefed on how to handle this interview, but the expectation is that Keannen and I will be doing most of the talking.
The host switches to asking about music. This isn’t what the audience here at the studio or at home really want, but she can’t exactly have a band on her show and not ask us about music. Shawn and Levi and Dan do help a little on this stuff. This is an area they can talk about. They get pretty passionate when it’s only about music, but we all know this is the quiet before the storm. The host is doing her due diligence before launching into the stuff everyone isactuallywatching this interview for.
The music questions taper off. The host reaches under her desk, coming back with blown up pictures on pieces of cardboard. They’re this size so the cameras and audience can see them, and I already know what they are. They’ve been all over social media for days. None of them are going to surprise me, but I brace regardless.
Here comes the hard part.
“Enough about music, we want to know all about you guys,” the host says.
The crowd titters with excitement. This is what they’ve been waiting for this whole time. Me and Keannen have been in the news a lot, and everyone watching this knows the host isn’t going to let that slide.
“Keannen, I’ll start with you,” the host says. “How are things with the beau? We saw you moved in.”
I glance over my shoulder. Keannen sits on a stool behind the couch looking like he’s chewing glass, but he composes himself and gives the answer we practiced with Emmett.
“Yeah, we did move in together,” he says almost calmly. “It’s been really great.”
“What’s it like sharing a home with a rival?”
“We aren’t really rivals. There’s plenty of space in this industry for both of us. In fact, when we were on tour, most fans were there to see both bands, not just one.”
“But surely there’ssometension,” the host says. “What if you revealed Jacob’s new lyrics accidentally?”
“We aren’t worried about that,” Keannen says. “We trust The Ten Hours, and they trust us. Like I said, we aren’t rivals.”
That wasn’t always true. It certainly wasn’t true at the start of our joint tour. When we hit the road with The Ten Hours, Keannen intended to upstage the other band every night at every show. We were a way smaller band back then, and Keannen had a chip on his shoulder about being an opener for his ex-boyfriend.
Things have changed. Keannen and Tim certainly aren’t exes anymore, and I’ve talked with The Ten Hours about possible collaborations. We’re allies in a tough, unforgiving industry rather than rivals reluctantly sharing a stage.
The host finally accepts Keannen’s answer, but that means she swings her shrewd gaze to me. My stomach contorts itself like a balloon animal.
“Jacob,” she says, drawing my name out, “you know I can’t not ask you about your man.”
The excitement in the crowd crackles. I swallow, bracing, and sneak a look toward the edge of the stage. Seth stands draped in shadow, invisible to everyone but me and my bandmates. He gives me a small nod as the host continues.
“There’s been a lot of rumors and speculation. I wanted to give you an opportunity to set the record straight. You had an interview not too long ago where you said there was no one special in your life. Is that still the case?”
It’s a single word, but it comes out with the weight of the world hanging off it.
“No.”
The host smiles. Even though we all knew this was coming, I can tell she smells the ratings spike and social media buzz this is about to garner. She’s the first one to break the news everyone has been waiting for.
“So there is someone special then,” she says.
“Yes, there is.”
“Care to elaborate on that for us?”
No, I think, but I swallow it down. We practiced this. We practiced all of this. I know the right answers; time to keep my cool and deliver them.
I try to smile and shrug, like this is no big deal. In reality, my heart is banging at my chest and I can hardly breathe.
“We’re keeping things low-key for now,” I say. “As low-key as we can, anyway.”
