The F Factor (10 page)

“No. They came in later. Just us guys from the broadcasting class heard it.” Pat gave a wicked smile as he flattened out the card he had crumpled. “Maybe we'll be writing a wedding announcement before the school year is over.”

At that moment, Ms. Maloney called out, “Smile, guys! The cameras are working now. Kenny and I have you in our view.”

Pat over-gritted his teeth toward Ms. Maloney like a cartoon character in a dentist's chair.

Javier nudged him and said, “If you and I don't get serious, we'll soon be writing our own obituaries.”

Pat replied, “Hey, they'd be a whole lot more interesting than these announcements from Brother Calavera.”

Everybody in the room stared with gaping expressions at the desk area. Unfortunately, Ms. Maloney had turned on the microphones too, and for Javier and Pat, this discovery was not funny.

F
ear dried out Javier's throat, burned down his body, crackled across his feet.

Kenny's fingers above the camera signaling: Five …

Oh man, Oh man! St. Peter, pray for me!

Four …

It's happening. Don't screw up! Don't screw up!

Three …

Stare at the camera. Don't look at the guys watching you
.

Two …

Breathe, breathe
.

One!

“Good morning. I'm Javier Ávila. Welcome to Guardian TV and the new version of the morning announcements for Saint Peter's High School here in San Antonio, Texas.” He felt like the man in the iron mask as he turned his head toward Pat.
Was he awake?

Sitting up straight in the chair beside Javier in the desk area, Pat stared into the camera with an easy smile. “Good morning! I'm Patricio Berlanga. You are now asked to stand for the morning prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Using the few seconds it took for students in Mr. Seneca's room to stand up, Landry used the computer to switch the image on the television screen from Javier and Pat to an image of a crucifix. With a slow and steady reverence, Javier read the prayer Brother Lendell had provided yesterday. Then the image on the screen switched to an American flag while Pat read the Pledge of Allegiance in a somber, respectful way.

Silently, Javier counted
one two three four five
, giving students time to sit back down before he started reading the first announcement. He began speaking, his voice trembling with every word. Out of the corner of his eye, Javier saw Mr. Seneca's long arm pointing back and forth from the television to the guys on the computers. Javier slowed his words but didn't stop because Mr. Seneca had warned them at yesterday's practice if the camera was turned on, not to stop talking, no matter what happened. Javier barely finished the first announcement with, “Tickets for the varsity game are now on sale in the business office. Be there to cheer on our champion Guardians.”

Pat's voice interrupted quickly. “I know you are still seeing the flag as my buddy Javier is talking. This is one of our new visual images that we can show during the morning announcements. We hope to get digital pictures from the game, all the student activities, and of course, pictures of our cheerleaders! You don't want to just stare at two guys in broadcasting class for five minutes, do you?”

The guys in the classroom laughed but stopped with the next breath when Mr. Seneca slashed his hand across his throat to signal silence. The stern glare he gave the upperclassmen watching and sitting behind Kenny
reminded everyone that audio in the room was sensitive to the slightest noise. He had repeated that warning a dozen times the past two days, even saying he was helpless to move and help when the camera started rolling because he knew his crutches made too much noise.

Javier saw Kenny circle his fingers above the camera again, and Pat never missed a beat when he started the next announcement they were supposed to read. As Pat read about the deadline for seniors to mail their college financial aid packets, he sounded enthusiastic and interested in what he was reading. Javier was so impressed he almost forgot to read the next announcement himself, but he read on cue. He tried to sound like he was reading out loud from the most fascinating information ever written.

The whole experience lasted about three minutes, and Javier would never call it “fun,” but as Pat ended the broadcast with, “And there you have it! Today's announcements—live! See you tomorrow, Guardians!” Javier felt a swell of pride in the first
ever
broadcast on the school network. He pushed away the nervous worries about doing the whole thing again tomorrow.

“And we're off the air!” Mr. Seneca announced loudly. The guys sitting behind Kenny started clapping and cheering.

Javier grinned at Pat, who had released a sigh that lifted his shoulders up and down with the weight of what they had just done and done well.

“Good save, Berlanga!” Kenny called out. “I didn't know you could think that fast.”

“You made it seem like we wanted to leave the flag image on the monitor,” Landry called out from his seat at the computers. “You turned our screw-up into a good thing. Way to go!”

Pat just shrugged and moved his chair back from the desk. “Any of you would have done the same thing.” He stood up and looked down at Javier. “You sounded a little nervous when we started. You okay, now?”

“Sure,” Javier answered, although he didn't feel as calm as Pat looked. He still felt impressed and surprised by Pat's ease and enthusiasm in front of the camera. Who would have guessed the guy who slept in class had a knack for public speaking?

“Not bad, not bad,” Mr. Seneca said as he slowly walked up to the desk area. “You two did well for the first go ‘round. We've got a lot more technical areas to smooth out, but we're off to a good start, guys.”

Dylan waved off the teacher's compliment. He raised his chest like he had scored the first touchdown. “Just wait ‘til the seniors get on TV, then you'll really see something special.”

Omar spoke up. “And we won't have any screw-ups, that's for sure.”

Mr. Seneca frowned at the three senior football players before he shifted on his crutches, turning his back on them. “Javier, Pat, you two will be our on-camera team through Labor Day weekend. That will give us time for the students to get used to our program and time for everyone in the class to learn the routine.” He turned toward the juniors and seniors sitting together in the middle of the classroom. “The next pair on television is going to audition for the job. Since you're all in football, you'll need to practice reading well on your own time. If you guys aren't as good as these two, you'll sit the bench.”

“That's not fair!” one of the juniors said. “Football or no football, we shouldn't have to just sit back and watch
all semester. Why can't I run a camera or work the computer?”

“Want a job? Then you need to get off your butt and watch and learn from the sophomores during the broadcast,” Mr. Seneca replied. “You need to ask questions, learn the routine. Think you can do as well as the guys putting in the practice after school?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and started walking toward the teacher's desk.

No one said anything to Mr. Seneca, but every upper-classman glared at Javier and Pat. Even Kenny—super-star basketball player that he was—got the mean looks.

For a moment, Javier felt intimidated, but he decided not to let a bunch of football players ruin his good mood. He stood up and followed Pat out of the desk area. They sat down in their usual seats as Mr. Seneca prepared the equipment for everyone to watch the broadcast on tape.

As the media class watched the playback, Javier wanted to hide his eyes. Not only did his skin look yellow, but his ears stuck out. There seemed to be a shadow over his forehead that looked like he had a horn. And his voice! Javier hated that he sounded like a cartoon character. Pat was right—it
was
Bugs and Daffy on TV!

No sooner had the tape stopped when Pat spoke up. “Okay, all that white in the background has got to go. Javier and I look like a pair of sock puppets.”

Everyone started laughing, even Mr. Seneca. He turned off the television and maneuvered himself to face the class. “Pat's right. We need to add something in the background. Any ideas?”

“We could get the cheerleaders to draw posters,” Ram suggested. “We could hang them up like they do in the main hall.”

Javier shook his head. “We can't have words behind us. It would be too distracting.”

“Ooooh, distracting! That's an SAT word, right?” Dylan said with a nasty laugh that raised a pitch after Omar offered his hand for a low-five.

Javier ignored them and said, “On TV news, I've seen an outline of San Antonio.”

Mr. Seneca looked at the students. “Maybe we could use markers on the whiteboard and outline a landscape.”

“That'll take a long time to draw,” one of the juniors said. “It's a big space.”

“Spray paint would be faster than markers,” Pat said.

“You talking about graffiti on school property?” Omar slouched in his chair. “Like Brother Lendell is going to go for that! Man, sophomores are stupid!”

“No, you moron. I'm talking about spray paint on sheets of paper,” Pat said, his annoyance with Omar obvious in his tone. “It would be something like that breakaway between the goal posts that you football players run through.”

“Pat, are you volunteering to draw an image for the background?” Mr. Seneca asked.

Javier expected Pat to say, “No way,” but he didn't.

“I know someone who can do the job with my help. Javier, he can help us too. It might take us all weekend, but I think we can bring in a backdrop for Monday's show,” Pat answered in a fairly confident tone.

But Javier wasn't eager to volunteer to draw something to be shown to the whole school. He turned around and gave his TV partner a frown. Unfazed by the look, Pat clapped him on the shoulder. “Trust me, Javier, we can do this.”

Javier's feet started itching and didn't stop the rest of the day.

P
at explained his ideas as they walked out of the classroom after first period. “My sister Feliz is a very good artist.”

“Feliz?” Javier said, feeling an unexpected rush of excitement.

“Yeah. She can sketch landscapes, draw faces, all kinds of images.”

Javier shifted his backpack over his shoulder as they walked down the steps of Mr. Seneca's classroom. He smiled when he thought of spending time with Feliz. “Do you think she'll help us?”

“Sure! She just needs to draw an outline and then we can fill in the blanks.” Pat nodded like he was thinking out loud. “You and I can talk to her when she picks us up from school.”

“Us?” Javier stopped smiling when he thought of riding home with Feliz Berlanga, the Demon Driver. “Uh, I asked my dad to pick me up today after practice.”

“Call him at lunch and tell him you've got a ride,” Pat said as they entered the main building. “We'll talk later. Got a test in geometry. Bye!” He hurried off toward the stairs, and Javier made his way to English class.

Ms. Maloney stood by the door to her classroom. She gave Javier a little grin. “Not bad for day one, Javier. By this time next week, it will all be no big deal.”

He gave his teacher a half-hearted smile, and thought,
Yeah, right
.

Both Ignacio and Andy gave him a thumbs-up when they took their seats. Other sophomores before and after class commented positively, so Javier graciously accepted their praise, although he also knew each broadcast had the potential to go wrong too. He couldn't ever imagine
thinking, “no big deal,” when it came to talking on television.

When Pat showed up at the lunch table where Javier, Ignacio, and Andy were eating lunch and talking about the first half-time show of the school year, he had a tablet under one arm. “We need to talk about the outline, Javier, so we have something to show Feliz.”

“Feliz?” Andy raised an eyebrow as he stared at Javier. “What are you doing with Feliz? Does it involve a launch sequence?”

“Shut up, Andy,” Javier said quietly through gritted teeth. Then he said louder, “Mr. Seneca thinks we need a colorful background so it doesn't look so blank behind us when we broadcast the announcements. Pat says Feliz could help us draw it. We're going to talk to her after school today.”

Andy and Ignacio exchanged wolf-like grins. Javier knew he needed to get control of the conversation before they said something that made Pat mad. “If I can sit and listen to you two talk band all the time, I think it's only fair that you guys help Pat and me think of something really good for the background.”

Pat sat down and opened up a notebook on the table. “I already made some rough pictures. I had some free time during fourth period.”

“Wow! You can draw,” Ignacio said. He chuckled. “And I thought your best talent was sleeping through Sister Madeline's lectures about the Holy Land.”