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Neil sat across from the lady interviewing him with the same careful, ready to run if they get too invested body language he always had during these live interviews. Kevin Day, both his teammate and roommate, was in the chair beside him. That only meant one thing. It wasn’t going to be questions about the court; it was going to be about the team. Neil could see the rest of the team sitting in the audience. His boyfriend Andrew, his best friend Matt, Aaron fucking Minyard and his bitch ass baby face, and every other player on the team watching.
The camera crew called “Action!” so loud it made Neil’s ears ring. “So,” The interviewer started. She was blonde and perky and her voice was so high pitched you’d think she worked at children’s parties. “As of recently, Kevin here posted something very personal on one of his social media platforms! I’d like to say a huge congratulations to you, Kevin, for coming out to the whole exy world as genderfluid!” Kevin immediately attempted to stand up and leave, but Neil pulled them back down. “Uh, tha-” Kevin then coughed for 30 seconds straight. “Thank you. And I know not every exy fan is on board with my choice of expression, but I hope you’ll all understand that I’m still the same player I was before I came out. I haven’t, nor will I be, changing my name. I don’t mind if you still refer to me as he mostly, but they and she are definitely okay too.” Kevin had been doing interviews since childhood. He knew how to be professional. Neil, however, did not.
“Neil, what is it like sharing a room with the famous Kevin Day?” The lady, which he’d named Kelly in his head, asked him. Oh. My. God. He’d been waiting for this question. “Do you know how many fucking SOCKS- wait pronouns?” The last words were aimed at Kevin, who took a few seconds to think before saying, “She.” Then Neil turned back to Kelly and continued his rant. “You cannot fathom how many SOCKS she leaves everywhere. CLEAN. SOCKS. It PISSES ME OFF.” Kevin looked very offended. But she had her own complaints about Neil. “OKAY-” Kevin said as she stood up. “AT LEAST I DON’T HAVE A SOUP KETTLE! Ma’am, I walked into our shared dorm room in hopes to make coffee like a NORMAL. PERSON. I boiled water in the kettle, and it smelled weird, so I asked Neil why. Then, this ABSOLUTE FUCKING WEIRDO tells me, “oH yEaH, tHaT’s ThE sOuP kEtTlE.” WHAT? So, I went to Matt and he says, “That’s Neil’s soup kettle” And I almost moved dorms right then and there.” Not-Kelly-Kelly looked absolutely mortified.
In the audience, Andrew got a phone call from coach Wymack. He reluctantly answered while laughing his ass off. “Hello-” Andrew was cut off by the coach screaming, “WHO LET THEM ON LIVE TV??”