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Jenny crossed her legs and leaned forward as if consuming every word from out of my mouth. “Talented, smart, and even more good-looking in person. Am I right?”
She gestured at the audience and there was a chorus of agreement that made me chuckle.
“That response says it all,” Mark said. “What do you make of the comments that your platform is a thirst trap rather than for the intended purpose of spreading anti-bullying messages?”
“Well, I’m not going to hide my face just to please a few people,” I said. “And if my face brings people to the page but they leave learning something new, then I’d say it all worked out well. It’s important for me to be open and share what bullying looks like because I was that bully back in high school.”
“That’s right. All of this started with you making restitution to those you bullied in the past. What was that like for you?”
“It was possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” I said honestly. “It took going through my high school yearbook and countless hours of searching to locate some of those people who had moved on with their lives, but it was worth it. And when you think about it, it’s nothing compared to what those who were bullied have had to deal with. I’m just glad some of them gave me a chance to make it right.”
“But why did you have to go to that extreme? You’d already changed. Shouldn’t that be enough?”
“I was fortunate enough to have a second chance with someone I bullied who is now a vital part of my life. Being with them taught me a lot about how bullying someone affected them. Understanding that, I wanted to make it right.”
“Did everyone forgive you?”
“No, but that’s not up to me. All I can do is give a sincere apology, but the victims of my bullying are not obligated to forgive me.”
“Your current boyfriend was the victim of your bullying in high school, wasn’t he? During one of your videos, you mentioned you bullied him so badly he left the town where you grew up for ten years before he returned.”
“Yes, we reconciled when his great aunt set us up.”
“No way! That’s an awesome aunt. How’s your relationship going?”
I chuckled. “She is an amazing woman. Troy and I took last month off. That’s why my TikTok has been relatively silent recently while we took some much-needed time away for vacation.”
“If you don’t mind me prying, where did you vacation?”
“We visited several countries in Europe. Malta was my favorite.”
“That sounds delightful. Is your boyfriend here today?”
“Actually, he is. That handsome fella in the green shirt, right there in the front row.”
The camera shifted and Troy’s face came on the screen. He nodded politely, and I knew I would be at his mercy later for putting him in the spotlight, but how could I be on live television and not show off my boyfriend?
“Can we anticipate some content from your vacation on your TikTok now that you’re back?”
“Just a couple. We prefer to keep our relationship out of virtual reality.” Over the
years, Troy had only appeared in a few of my videos. He supported what I did on the platform, even being my cameraman, but he didn’t enjoy the limelight.
“Your boyfriend’s quite the looker,” Jenny cried. “Can we get him up on stage too? We would love to hear his point of view as the bullied and how you reconciled to have a relationship…going on for how long now?”
“Five years.”
One of the TV crew guided Troy on stage. From the way he shoved his glasses up his nose, he wasn’t exactly in his comfort zone, but he would do it for me. He kissed my cheek and took my hand as he sat next to me.
“Don’t they make a handsome couple,” Mark said. “Troy, it’s good to have you here, even though we didn’t prepare you for this. Thanks for being a good sport about it.”
“No problem. Always happy to give my side of the story.”
Troy explained about our second chance romance, his high school experience with bullying, his difficulty in forgiving me and how we ended up in a relationship because of his great aunt’s craftiness.
“I think it’s amazing what Maddie is doing,” Troy ended.
“Aww, you call him Maddie. That’s sweet.”
