Chapter Text
Iggy Starr was not loving life at the moment.
Well, in all honestly, she should say she hasn't been loving the past few weeks of her life. Her relationship, her real relationship, with Mary—not the PR contract she has, dating Tom Ryder and all that jazz—has been on a bit of a strain and she hasn't understood why.
Iggy internally sighs and looks back down at the text message open on her phone.
Guess she's finally finding out today. Fuck.
.✦ ݁˖ STARSTRUCK .𖥔 ݁ ˖
Ryder lets his screen fade to black and stared at himself in the reflection. He looked tired. Hell, he felt tired. Recently, he had just finished shooting a high-stakes romance movie—which unfortunately still required Colt to sub in as a stunt double from time to time—and is set to debut in a couple months. Thus, he's currently running himself a bit ragged actively engaging in promotional material.
And now, on top of all of that he has to deal with this? He spaces out for a few minutes, then walks around his penthouse, currently based in San Antonio, till he decides to flop back into his couch.
Might as well get comfortable if I'm going to deal with this shit, he thinks, while shooting a message to Gail.
It wasn't that Ryder was annoyed with Iggy prioritizing her love life. He actually hopes everything will turn out fine between them; He likes Mary, she's a good sort. (Ugh, he sounds like a dad approving of his daughter's boyfriend, or rather girlfriend, in this case).
Ryder loves Iggy, but not it's not that kind of love, it's more like a love shared between siblings. She's certainly as annoying as a sibling. Anyway, the point is, their showmance? It's fake. It's a fauxmance. Like a "lavender marriage", except Ryder isn't exclusively gay or closeted, and they aren't married.
Really, she should just come out already, there aren't that many pricks and prudes out there anymore. And he'd back her up if any dared to make themselves known.
He blames Iggy's manager, the fucker. Ryder swears he's homophobic, he just can't prove it, as his only piece of evidence is that the douche insists that hearing "famous actress Iggy Star revealed to be a lesbian" is not a good headline.
A buzzing sound derails Ryder's thoughts, putting a pause to the resentment that was brewing.
Huh, that was oddly easy.
And there it is. So much for actually getting a break. Ryder deflates at Gail's words.
Eugh, the Q & A. Ryder's mood turned even more sour at the memory of that damn interview. The entertainment journalist was an asshole. He kept dogging on his co-star and making sexual remarks that made the atmosphere of it all so uncomfortable, especially for his female counterpart, Rachel.
So Ryder did the only sensible thing to do in that kind of situation.
He punched him.
.
.
.
Though he supposes it wasn't the most sensible of a decision to everyone else who watched it while it was live. (But Rachel did thank him afterwards anyway, so a win is a win. Ha.)
.✦ ݁˖ STARSTRUCK .𖥔 ݁ ˖
Gossip is abuzz in the halls of Grover Cleveland Middle School.
Well, there's always gossip and drama going on considering its junior high, but one could say it's abuzz more so this time of the year.
All due to the fact that Valentines Day is coming up.
And since the holiday of love is upon them. This also means Dr. Ryland Grace is inbound for a lot of tea.
Despite being averse to romantic relationships himself, he loves witnessing this time of the year for everyone else.
Albeit, yes there are times he will have to offer tissues and support to heartbroken souls, whether they were rejected or just broken up with, and there are the occasional overly PDA couples he'll need to break up in the hallways. But! He also gets to watch the fruits of his matchmaking scheme of a seating chart bloom.
He loves his students and he loves making them happy. So he will admit he does get a bit giddy when some of his students gleam as bright as a supernova when they find the love they deserve is reciprocated. (He's even been invited to a wedding or two from previous alumni, where they accredit him for being the reason that brought them together. The thought always brings a tear to his eye).
To summarize, Ryland Grace loves his kids and his kids love him.
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Mr. Grace is a amazing teacher.
This is the common consensus between all the kids. No other teacher compares—as much, but everyone is unique in their own way, as Mr. Grace would counter whenever somebody tried to compliment him as above the rest of the staff, since he also says it's not nice to compare others—to him. He's always open to anyone who wants to talk to him, his attempts at brainrot are the cringe-worthy but funny in a way when that one eccentric uncle visits and secretly hands you a beer (Except Mr. Grace would never do that, he's too responsible to hand a minor alcohol), and he always tries to make his class flexible and fun for everyone who enters.
Because of this, a lot of his students, specifically the girls, assume he must be in a contently loving relationship.
.
.
.
"What do you mean you're single?!" A voice shrills within the mass of kids crowding Mr. Grace's desk during lunchtime.
Mr. Grace always welcomes anyone who visits him during lunch and doesn't mind if you eat in his classroom, so long as you don't make a mess and take care to mind any lab equipment out. As such, this is also how he got himself into this situation in the first place.
He chuckles at the sight of his students shocked and somewhat distraught faces, then waves them off.
"Well, it means that I don't have a partner, I am by myself. Hence why it's called being 'single', I am not in a plural relationship." There's a teasing tone in his voice but his students decide to ignore their teacher's cheekiness.
There's a brief pause, but someone manages to break from being stunned silent and doubles down again. "But Mr. G! That can't be right, you'd be a great partner to have!" And several murmurs follow in agreement, as if they're consoling him.
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Ryland's eyes soften at his kids. This question does pop up time to time within every other batch of students he has, and he finds it heartwarming that his students think so well of him in his personal affairs. But it really is unnecessary to pity his love life, or really, lack thereof; It's not as if he didn't try. Because, he did. He really did, but he just couldn't find the appeal in those kinds of relationships when he tried to conform back in his college days. It wasn't until he talked it out with Colt that they just figured he wasn't that kind of guy.
Anyways, in conclusion, Ryland made his peace with his condition a long time ago after experiencing several instances of cognitive dissonance. But he didn't exactly want to get into all of that with a bunch of 8th graders.
They didn't need to hear the woes of his inadequacy.
"Thank you, Hailey, but I suppose I just haven't found the right person." There, a neutral answer.
"But then, who will be your valentine this year?.." Ryland's head turns to the source of the soft voice.
It came from Jasmine, she was a bit on the shy side, however she was the first one to ask if it was alright if she stayed in his classroom for lunch. (This also subsequently broke the ice and invited other students to join him as well). Since then she had begun to come out of her shell more and more with her peers and vice versa. She'd even started to raise her hand more in class. Ryland was proud of her.
He continued to gently smile, "Well, I suppose I won't have one this year." And at that there were a few gasps and whispers amongst his group of little interrogators.
Honestly. He rolled his eyes at their dramatics and moved to settle them down.
"Look, yes, it is true, I do not have a partner. But guess what? I am perfectly fine with that!" Ryland shifted in his seat to lean in more and clasp his hands on top his desk covered in papers among other things.
Another girl, Gianna he mentally noted, raised her hand even though it was unnecessary and she didn't wait for him to call on her. "But don't humans need to make meaningful connections?"
"Well yes, but I find that making a meaningful connection with all of you more important anyway. And besides, love comes in all kinds of shapes and forms, so I'm not totally bereft of close bonds." Ryland expressed this with a tone of finality, but not too harshly, just enough to get his point across and to cue a change in the subject.
"Now, Amelia, weren't you just about to tell me your plan to approach Caleb?" Ryland turned to another student at his side and propped his head on his hands like the nosy teacher he was. After that the conversation continued to drift away from himself till the bell rang to cue the beginning of 6th period.
And that was that.
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That was not just that.
While Mr. Grace seems to think he successfully, casually dismissed the subject of his apparently non-existent partner, his students didn't. And because Mr. Grace had seemed so apathetic about finding love for himself, his students supposed they'd just have to do it for him!
Hence why this super important emergency meeting was taking place.
"All right!" A girl from Grace's 3rd period, Jayda, stepped up onto a pedestal. "We are here to commence Operation: Heartthrob—"
"I thought we were calling it Operation: Cupid?"
"Who said we'd name it that? Operation: Valentine sounds better-"
"That's so basic! It should have something to do with Mr. Grace's name!"
A cacophony of voices piped up, slowly causing a ruckus. But Jayda recaptured the room with by knocking the pedestal with a gavel she acquired from who knows where. "—AHEM! Whatever the operation is called, doesn't matter! But for now, Operation: Heartthrob will be the placeholder name!" She looked pointedly at her comrades and dared anyone to speak up while the hammer was still in her hand. They all stayed silent. "As I was saying, the point is that we are on a special mission ladies, and that is to find Mr. Grace the perfect valentine in about less than 2 weeks! So, anybody have ideas on where to begin?"
.
.
.
Getting adults to date was apparently harder than it looked.
It felt a bit hopeless. They'd all been scrambling around for ideas on how to find their science teacher's perfect match for a week and there still hadn't been any progress. They tried pairing him with another teacher, but Mr. Grace just didn't seem to have any chemistry with any of the limited selection of teachers at school.
As such, they resolved to finding someone outside of school but that went even worse.
"Alayna, we're not pairing Mr. Grace with your mom."
"Why not?! My mom would be a great match!"
"You just want Mr. Grace to be your step-dad!"
"Who said he's even into women?"
"WELL WHO SAID HE WASN'T!"
Needless to say, it was not a easy task. There was an attempt to put his information into a dating app, but it was a bust because Mr. Grace was a pretty private person so they couldn't place sufficient enough data for future possible contenders. (Plus he got really upset when he found out about it).
Jayda internally berated herself as she recounted all of this.
It just wasn't fair! Mr. Grace deserved to find love! But here she was with zero progress, and she felt like she was failing him! He never gave up on trying to make them happy, so it was a bit depressing when she couldn't seem to be able to return the favor.
A tap on her shoulder tore her from her stupor and she looked to her cohort, Jasmine, who was holding a computer with a website open.
She looked at the website. Then looked back up at Jasmine.
Jasmine stared back with a nervous smile.
"Alright, do it." What was there to lose?
.✦ ݁˖ STARSTRUCK .𖥔 ݁ ˖
Tom Ryder has done a lot of stupid things in his life. Like, a lot. But he has to say that this feels like the stupidest thing he has had to do just to save face.
It had been about around 2 weeks since he and Iggy had announced their breakup to the world and Gail took advantage of this renewed focus on Ryder by redirecting their attention to her damage-control plot. A fucking bachelor charity raffle.
The idea was this; Ryder endorses a charity event to express more "sensitivity" in his image, and they exploit his alluring reputation by offering the somebody the chance to win a date with Tom Ryder himself. Worst of all, the date landed on Valentines Day. It was like Gail was trying to have a laugh by packing all of these corny elements into this agenda.
Ryder kind of felt like gagging. Because be for real right now, he was the Tom Ryder! He does action movies! He's meant to have edge! And sure, he tends to sleep around, but it's not as if he'd just take anyone! Let alone possibly some loser below him. He'd told Gail all this obviously, but she brushed off his complaints.
Ryder tried rationalizing. Whatever, this date only has to last 45 minutes, and that's it. Security takes them away. Ryder really prays that he won't be stuck with some kind of obsessed weirdo for those 45 minutes though.
The date itself was set at this place called, the Top of the Mark, located on the 19th floor of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in Nob Hill. He did a little research, and found it's known for its "intimate, upscale, a deeply classic setting" with breathtaking views of San Francisco's skyline. It kind of reminded him of that setting in the beginning of the movie, Final Destination: Bloodlines. He shuddered and hoped the outcome would be different for his sake.
Ryder looks away from the view at the window seat he's been placed to wait at and shifted his attention to the interior. The restaurant was fancy enough, quant, even. Though he thinks it could've been somewhere better. I mean, the actor certainly has been to better. Nonetheless he quickly shrugs the thought off as fast it came.
Eh, who is he trying to impress anyway? It wasn't like anything would come out of this.
.
.
.
Well, maybe something would.
It had been a while since he got laid. Maybe they'd be decent enough.
Ryder slumps into one hand to hold his face while the other drums at the table. Seriously though, who was he supposed to meet? At the very most he knows it's a guy, but other than that, he knows nada. He probably should've pressed harder into Gail about his date…
Another minute passes.
Speaking of his date, where the hell is this guy?
Ryder swears he's been waiting for longer than 10 minutes and he's starting to think he's been stood up. Him! Tom Ryder! Hollywood hot shot stood up! It's so unbelievable that he scoffs to himself. But the longer he's left by himself, the more he finds that all he can think about is his essentially blind (and tardy) date.
Was he hot? Was he ugly? Will he be interesting? Or will he be stupid as hell? Oh God, what if Mystery Man didn't fit his vibe? He can't get into another incident if things go wrong?! For fucks sake, now Ryder was spiraling.
He thinks he sees his date being escorted into the room (Fucking finally) but they're too far for him to see at first.
At this point Ryder feels too restless and a little too bitter to be prince charming right now. He groaned, the suspense was killing him. Why didn't he probe for more information? They paused at the entryway, and the attendant seemed to be giving his date the rules on how this will go.
Why did actually agree to this in the first place? The attendant finally points to where Ryder presided, still explaining, then left. And the 'lucky winner' began to stumble his way to him.
Why couldn't Gail think of something better? His date passed the cocktail bar, Ryder squinted so he could see the vague outline of him.
Why was he even being punished like this, it's not as if his whole reputation went crashing down because he punched one guy? Eventually, he finally found his-not so mystery anymore-Man only a few feet away and Ryder was able to stare at him clearly.
And why the hell was Seavers walking towards his table?!