Mark Kruger was never very confident in interviews. Sure he'd done plenty and spoke in plenty, but beforehand, he was always nervous. The whole thing was just too unpredictable for him. The questions could go from something about soccer to something personal in a matter of seconds and if he said the wrong thing he could incriminate himself somehow, right? At least that was his fear.
On the other hand, Dylan Keith wasn't afraid of interviews at all. He shone in the spotlight and with all the attention, he always had the right thing to say, even if some could argue it would have been better not said. Dylan had ended up doing more interviews than Mark because Dylan had more confidence in his words and he was also more controversial than Mark. Dylan knew that as well, but he loved having his best friend there beside him.
Mark just chalked it up to the fact Dylan was more interesting than him anyway. But at least he had him with him at the interview. The press knew that they were inseparable as friends as did everyone else. So going onto cable news with his best friend shouldn't be so bad. At least he hoped. They had a good chunk of time and it was no pressure.
At least he thought that until he was sitting in the chair, in front of the newscaster, next to his best friend waiting for the cameras to go on in seconds. There was a count down and then, there was the woman's voice.
"I'm here with Mark Kruger, the captain of the youth national Soccer team, and Dylan Keith star forward and Mark's best friend, is that correct?"
Both the boys nodded in unison.
"Well, how are you guys?" She asked politely a big smile still plastered on her face.
"Great." Dylan responded smiling back.
Mark nodded in agreement at Dylan for lack of a better word.
"Good! So America's Youth Soccer Team made it so far the tournament even though we were originally underdogs of the Concacaf region. How did it feel to learn you were going to Liocott Island, Mark and did you ever expect it in the first place?"
Breath, Mark, he thought to himself. "Well, even if we were underdogs, I don't think any of us felt that way."
Dylan shook his head in agreement.
"I mean we thought we had just as much a chance as anyone. Especially because we wanted it just as much as anyone else. But it was a really great feeling when we learned we had enough points to make it too—"
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Mark froze. In the middle of the interview, his own cell phone had just gone off and started ringing. How unprofessional was that? He just look like a joke now, he kept thinking. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry-!" He went to quickly turn it off.
Dylan just giggled.
Upon pulling the device out of his pocket, Mark, in such a state of shock and embarrassment, ended up fumbling the phone out of his hands and watched it make a sickening "thud!" at the floor. It had stopped ringing.
When the three realized that the drop had forcibly turned off the cell phone, everything went silent as Mark went to pick it up.
A small "oh-no" came out of the reporters mouth eventually as the phone was brought to the surface. The screen was shattered and black and looked rather out of commission.
"Crap." Mark mumbled as he looked at it trying to hide it in his hands.
Dylan let out a laugh as he realized the intensity of the situation trying to lighten the mood. "Again?!" He incredulously and shook his head turning away from the camera to hide his giggles.
"Yeah…" Mark muttered less than pleased. "Poor phone."
"Again?" The reporter had asked as she tried to lighten the mood. "Have you dropped your phone in an interview before?" A small smirk crept across her face during the question.
Mark turned bright red and shook his head trying to smile, but just ended up looking nervous. "N-no, I just broke another one..."
Dylan giggled and looked at him. "What is that? You're fourth this year?" He brought his legs up on the couch and crossed them playfully as he asked the question trying not to laugh too much.
"S-something like that." He answered quietly. "My dad is gonna kill me."
The newscaster noticed Dylan's smile and began to chuckle a little herself hoping to lighten the interview. "Are you going to tell your father, Mark?"
Uh-oh, here are those personal questions he didn't mean to bring upon himself. "I-I think he's in Texas watching right now, so I suppose I won't need too." He looked down at the phone then looked at the camera, holding the device up in a line of vision of it. "Sorry, dad."
After another chuckle from the woman, she went on with the questions. "Well, as unfortunate that is, let's talk about something happy. You two are the main faces of the American team, how does it feel to be in all that spotlight and have so many people look up to you?"
Mark and Dylan looked at each other to see who would go first. Mark's face was almost pleading to let Dylan speak.
"It's been awesome." Dylan nodded with a smile. "I mean, we meet all these people who have such faith in us, it's really great to feel like you're carrying everyone's dreams. Even if we didn't win this FFI, we'll win the next for you America!" He looked at Mark.
"What he said." Mark chuckled and nodded, before realizing they wanted him to go on. "I'm really glad to still have people believe in us even through our loss."
The newscaster nodded, pretending like she knew what they were talking about and smiled. "Hm." She made in agreement at both their words. "Well, Dylan, you have become, not only one of the poster boys for youth soccer, but for gay athletes in general, as everyone in the soccer world knows. How did it feel coming out to your team, and how did they react?"
Dylan laughed then Mark followed suit. They looked at each other for a second then back at the newscaster.
"He didn't tell the team." Mark laughed a bit.
"Oh?"
Dylan chuckled back and nodded. "No, I don't think I needed too. Besides the fact I told the world first, and I'm sure everyone was watching, I wasn't really hiding it. Just no one really asked."
"How weren't you hiding it?"
"By coming on to every guy in the changing room." Dylan kept a straight face for a moment then laughed loudly. "No, I'm totally joking. No, I dunno, I just…wasn't secretive about it. It didn't seem like anyone cared."
Mark nodded in agreement. "Yeah it wasn't like we didn't know. His parents are huge avid supporters of gay rights anyway and they don't keep it secret either."
Dylan nodded. "They're proud of me." He said with a cute smile.
The woman giggled in response and turned to Mark. "And you, on the other hand Mark, are the poster boy for Christian values and you're very proud of your religion. How has it been balancing faith and the sport during this last competition?"
Mark thought a moment then shook his head. "It wasn't very difficult at all." He let a smile arise. "I mean, I always have time for God, and I feel like if it wasn't for Him, I wouldn't have this wonderful opportunity. I always make time to pray and show my faith."
Dylan rolled his eyes.
The newscaster caught sight of that and giggled a bit. "Now, Dylan just made a face at you Mark. Dylan what was that look for?"
The blonde shook his head in response. "No, it's nothing. We just share different…hrm, religious ideals."
Mark looked away and sighed. "Oh my gosh." He shook his head.
The newscaster felt uncomfortable a moment. "Oh did I hit a sore spot? What's your religion, Dylan?" She gave a nervous laugh.
Dylan found a way to laugh back. "No, we just argue a lot. I'm agnostic." He answered and crossed his arms. "If you want a real sore spot, ask us about politics."
Mark looked at him and gave a small irritated noise. "Really, Dylan?" He asked incredulously.
This stuff was like gold to the reporter. She actually relished in it a bit as she continued on impromptu questions. "Oh you two have different political views? I suppose that happens when you grow up in different places. Dylan you're from San Francisco California is that correct?"
Dylan nodded. "Yep. So as you can imagine, I grew up a democratic liberal."
Mark rolled his eyes. Where they really talking about this? He knew Dylan was a political person, they often argued about different values but was this really appropriate? Did they have to actually talk about things like this? "My whole family is republican." He answered back and shook his head. He was nowhere near as informed as Dylan was, but that's because he only ever watched the news once or twice a week. His best friend had been to protests, he researched topics and apparently to him, being a liberal was what was best for him. But he didn't want to have an argument on live television.
"So I suppose that's a strain on the friendship, hm?" She asked curiously.
Dylan noticed Mark's frown and shook his head. "No, I wouldn't say so." He leaned his head on Mark's shoulder. "If anything it makes us more interesting. And agreeing to disagree is a healthy way to end all arguments, which we do. And there are a lot of things we agree on anyway. Like gender-equality and marriage-equality…what else?" He looked over at Mark.
Mark couldn't help but smile. Dylan could be so cute when he was trying to patch things up, he always looked so innocent. Mark shrugged a little knowing that it would be best to just go on with his friend's words and not start a fight. "Uhm…oh! Immigration!"
"Oh right yeah the immigration issue." He nodded with a smile. "I dunno, there are more things too, but every now and then we squabble, isn't that right? We're like a healthy married couple."
Mark chuckled a bit and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I suppose we are." He let Dylan lay his head on his shoulder again as they smiled at the reporter. There would be no way they could incriminate themselves now. Dylan always knew just the right things to say to make a situation less tense.
"Speaking of your friendship," the reporter went on. "There have been a lot of rumors flying around that you two are dating. Is any of that true?"
Mark had spoken too soon. A blush formed across his cheeks as he found himself tongue-tied not even sure what to say. That was a rumor going around?! He hadn't even heard such a thing before! Dylan, tell them, say no, you always know what to say, he thought in a panic. Don't let them ruin my reputation, he internally pleaded.
"Yep, he's actually been my lover for a few months now." Dylan said in a completely straight-face tone in which it wasn't until Mark started panicking, did he laugh a bit.
"No we are not-!"
"No, we're not dating, I'm only joking." Dylan chuckled. "Wouldn't it be great if we were though? The Ultimate American Soccer Couple!" He looked up at Mark, his head still on his shoulder.
Mark looked down at him and his big stupid grin and couldn't help but smile back. A sort of relieved smile it was as well as processed the words Dylan had just said. "Yeah." He muttered in agreement unsure of what to say. "I wouldn't date a democrat." He joked still looking at him.
Dylan shot up and pulled his head away looking shocked and disgusted at the reporter. "Do you see what I have to live with?!" The incredulous tone was back as he pretended to be offended.
The newscaster laughed and noticed her wrap it up symbol coming from one of the producers. "Well, it's nice to see that even in such different views and opinions, you boys can still get along and be best friends through the soccer world. It's actually rather beautiful in these politically troubling times. Thank you both for joining us and we look forward to seeing your progression in the future."
Mark and Dylan said their thank-you's and waited for the queue to leave the set. When they did Dylan laughed and threw an arm around Mark's shoulder. "Dude, your dad is gonna be pissed about the phone."
The other boy sighed outwardly but inside felt relief. That was the only thing Dylan had to say after such an uncomfortable interview even though they could have discussed so much and been even more uncomfortable. Like the dating rumor for instance. But nothing bothered Dylan and this is why Mark loved him as his best friend.
"Yeah. Don't remind me. Let's go get Starbucks before my dad calls you to talk to me about that interview."
Dylan turned off his cell phone and smiled. "I could use a Frappuccino."