My alarm clock woke me with it's generically cheery beeps, and I reluctantly sat up in bed. Wiping sleep from my eyes, I was suddenly hit by the realisation that I really needed to make sure I looked good for work today. Normally I could get away with messy hair and a thrown together outfit, because when no one but your very relaxed co-workers can see you, who cares? I worked as a radio host for PTX FM, which meant most days my hair was irrelevant, but today was different.
Today, I was interviewing Scott Hoying and Kirstie Maldonado, the hottest new celebrity couple. I was sort of a local celebrity due to hosting a popular show on the biggest station in the area, but my 27,000 Twitter followers were nothing on Scott's 467,000 or Kirstie's 286,000. They had been childhood best friends who had seperately risen to fame as singers, and had last week decleared themselves to be an item, and started doing press together for their new singles. They seemed really sweet together, and even though lots of fangirls were dissappointed that they could no longer date Scott, they could still get behind the couple.
PTX FM landing an interview with them was a big deal, and we were going all out. All eyes were going to be on us, literally. The interview was being filmed so we could upload it for all the fans to watch, and bag ourselves some great publicity at the same time.
Coming back to Earth, I jumped out of bed and into the shower, running over the prepared interview questions in my mind. I was nervous. It wasn't every day you met Scott Hoying, a poster of whom featured on the wall of most teens in the country, and his fashion icon girlfriend. I wanted to make a good impression, or at least just not make a fool of myself.
I styled my hair in the mirror, running my eyes over my outfit once again. I was wearing a printed t-shirt with black skinny jeans, matched with a dark jacket and I felt suitably stylish. Of course, I wasn't Scott Hoying levels of stylish, but it would do.
-
The drive to the station was uneventful. I found myself pulling up to Starbucks to get myself my usual morning coffee. After the short stop, I returned to my car and continued the journey.
When I got near to the station, there were paparazzi crowded around the front entrance. This was definitely unusual, as it was rare that there was anyone worth photographing here. I drove around to the employee's carpark and entered through the back door. Even though I was looking good that day, I knew I wasn't who the press were eagerly watching out for.
-
"You look suprisingly presentable," remarked Kevin upon my arrival. Kevin was the owner of the station, and over the years I'd been working for him we'd become close friends.
"I could say the same for you!" We'd all scrubbed up well. No one wanted to be wearing yesterday's jogging bottoms on a video with two major celebrities, suprisingly.
I looked through the window to the booth and saw Jake chatting away into the microphone, probably to a caller. He had the early morning show, before mine, yet he always seemed super cheerful. He noticed me looking and grinned at me. Even though we only saw each other in passing most days, Jake had become another good friend of mine. I didn't have much of a social life outside of work.
"Are you ready?" Kevin asked. Was I ready? Not at all. But I was willing to give it a good go. I made a noncommittal noise and Kevin chuckled.
Jake ended the call he was on and played a final song, getting up from his chair and heading towards the door.
"Hey guys" He said, joining Kevin and me.
I waved in greeting, and then headed into the booth and took my seat, putting my headphones on. I set to work queuing a few songs I particularly wanted to play that morning, and bobbed my head to the beat of the song Jake had left on.
As the final notes faded out, I leaned over to the microphone.
"Good morning everyone! How are y'all doing today? Anything exciting going on? Be sure to let me know so I can give you a shoutout! Later today, we have something really exciting," I paused for dramatic effect, "An interview with singers and adorable couple Scott Hoying and Kirstie Maldonado!"
-
The first hour of the show went smoothly, and I had several excited callers and tweets from Scott and Kirstie's fans. The nerves were twisting inside my stomach, but I was keeping a cool exterior.
Eventually Kevin knocked on the window, and a second later I watched as Scott and Kirstie entered the room wearing sunglasses and thick coats, followed by several others.
They spoke to Kevin for a moment, and something he said made them both laugh. They looked perfect, almost unreally so. After a moment, they moved towards the booth, and I dropped my gaze.
Scott and Kirstie entered, and I stood up immediately, giving a welcoming smile.
"Hi, I'm Mitch Grassi,"
I leant over the desk to shake their hands.
"Hello Mitch," Scott said with a smirk, taking my hand in his and shaking it. He towered over me, his hand was huge, and I suddenly felt even smaller than I had a few seconds ago. He was even more attractive in real life, and I had seen plenty of pretty attractive photos of him. I wasn't a fangirl or anything, it was just hard to avoid him on the cover of every magazine and advert ever.
"Nice to meet you!" Kirstie smiled sweetly and shook my hand too, before sitting opposite me in front of the prepared mic. She had a very calm aura, and it made me feel slightly less stressed about the interview.
The door opened again and in walked a man and a woman who looked very similar to each other. Maybe it was the fact that they both wore simple but smart black clothes, or the way they carried themselves with an air of confidence. The woman looked at me and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Esther Koop, I'm Kirstie's manager." She offered her hand and I shook it.
"And I'm her brother, Avi Kaplan, and I'm Scott's manager." The man continued, also shaking my hand.
"Nice to meet you both," that explained their resemblance.
"So," Esther smiled again, "We're here for an hour, you can interview Kirstie and Scott, and you need to play both of their new singles."
"And don't ask anything inappropriate!" Avi said with a deep chuckle, which Scott and Kirstie mirrored.
I nodded obediently. I wanted this to go well, as it could lead to more opportunities like this one. We all got settled into our seats, and Avi and Esther left.
-
"So, have you seen any of the fans ship names, or have you come up with any yourselves?" The interview was going well, and conversation was flowing easily. The cameras were rolling , but I found them surprisingly easy to ignore. I was taking a few questions from fans on twitter.
"Oh gosh..." Began Kirstie, who had a concentrated look on her face. "Maybe Scottie? Scottin?" She suggested "Or Kirsott?"
Scott looked at me, looking a little exasperated. "Some names seem to work better together than others for ship names. 'Kirstin' and 'Scott' just make really awkward sounding names," Kirstie nodded sadly at this. "Now, Scott and, lets say for example, Mitch, could make something pretty, like... Scömìche," He winked at me. Actual winkeage.
My heart was flipping in my chest. This was not in the interview breifing. What did you do when the celebrity flirted with you? I looked in shock at Kirstie, who I expected to look annoyed, but if anything she was amused, nodding her head again.
"I ship it!" She decleared with a hearty laugh.
This was one weird couple, for sure.
-
"That was definitely an interesting interview Scott," Avi said, clapping him on the shoulder. He then turned awkwardly to Kirstie.
"Umm... You did really good Kirstie."
He followed the shy statement with a warm smile, and Kirstie blushed in response. With only that short interaction to judge against an interview, she seemed more interested in Scott's manager than Scott... And Scott seemed more interested in... Me.
It was weird. Maybe they just weren't used to acting couple-y yet? They hadn't done anything physically couple-like during the whole hour of the interview, not even holding hands. That still didnt really excuse blatant flirting with other people there. Something was off with the relationship, but I figured it was their business, not mine.
We took a quick picture all together, and then said our goodbyes. I headed back into the booth for the last hour of the show, watching the famous couple and their entourage swarm out of the door.
-
The rest of the show went fine. Once I'd left the booth at the end, I pulled out my phone to see the responses to the interview. My mentions featured lots of people using #Scömìche, saying they shipped it. I wasn't sure where the fancy spelling was from, but it could be worse. Suddenly a tweet from Scott popped up in my mentions.
@ScottHoying:
I had a lovely time being interviewed by @MitchGrassi for @PTXfm! I'd go back any day #Scömìche
That explained the hashtag.
Below was the group photo we'd taken. I looked surprisingly decent. As well as the tweet, he'd also followed me on Twitter and Instagram. What a stalker, I joked to myself, but I was flattered that he'd even bothered to look me up. No wonder there were so many people behind the ship. That was just from live listeners. What about when the video came out?!
When I got on my bus I posted my own tweet.
@MitchGrassi:
I got to interview @ScottHoying and @KirstieMaldonado on @PTXfm watch out for the video #soon c:
Within a minute I'd recieved a direct message from Scott.
S: Hey
M: Hey
S: You finished your show now?
M: Should I be offended that u didnt bother listening to the end?
S: I'm a busy man
M: U clearly have enough time to message me though
S: Exceptions can be made
M: Why do I count as an exception?
S: Because you're cute
I wasnt sure how to respond to that. "WTF u have a girlfriend" was just going to look like reading too much into it, but that was exactly where my mind went. Maybe it was a joke? Playing it off was probably the best move.
M: I know :P
S: Listening to you talk to random teenagers as they fangirl over me, on the other hand, is not worth my time
M: So u did listen to some of the show?
S: Yes
M: Thats fine then :)
M: Are u saying u dont appreciate ur adoring fans?
S: No
S: I'm saying I don't appreciate listening to them describing exactly how perfect I apparently am like I'm not a human
Scott was suprisingly... Normal, it seemed.
M: Who says I'm not a crazy fangirl too? :P
S: I doubt it
M: I'm your number one fan
M: I watch you sleep
S: Well that sounds sincere
A Twitter notification popped up on the top of my screen.
@ScottHoying:
@MitchGrassi is OBSESSED with me
Attached was a cropped screenshot of my last two messages. I laughed, but at the same time wondered what people would think. It was easy to forget the fact that Scott was a huge star when I was chatting easily with him, but having my messages shared with thousands of strangers wasn't something that came with having normal friends.
I made myself leave my phone in my pocket for the brief walk home. It was autumn, and the air was chilly, so I kept my hands in my jacket pockets as I walked. When I got to my flat, I sat on the sofa and got my phone out again to check for messages.
I read a few of the fans responses to Scotts tweet, mentioning Kirstie and asking if she was jealous, or saying they wished they could talk to Scott. A few were using the Scömìche hastag from earlier, which made me smile. I doubted they really 'shipped' it, but it was sweet. Hell, maybe I even shipped it slightly. Wouldn't that be a weird relationship, I thought.
I felt like a public response to Scott's tweet was needed, so I, of course, typed out the sassy reply I'd thought up on my walk.
@MitchGrassi:
@ScottHoying u wish
A new private message popped up immediately.
S: You're rude
I couldnt help but laugh. When you're a platinum selling artist, I doubted you got much sass, especially not from anyone as relatively insignificant as me.
M: I'm simply honest
M: I think ur the one who's obsessed tbh
S: You wish
M: U cant just steal my insults!!!
S: I can and I will
-
We carried on chatting untill late at night. I felt like I barely had to think about what to say to Scott. He was suprisingly down to Earth despite his fame, and we had a lot in common.
The one thing at the back of my mind was his relationship with Kirstie. Why had he been flirting with me if they were together? Should I not flirt back? Would it get me or him in trouble?
As hard as I tried though, I couldn't see this little conversation having any long term consequences. In the end, we were just two guys having a nice chat. With flirting. And he just happened to be really famous. We've all been there, right? Maybe not.
Scott said goodnight just before one AM, and I fell asleep very quickly, helped by the warm feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn't quite explain.
-
The next morning, I got up and got dressed the same as every day. Some of the excitement of the previous day remained, so I even put a little effort into my look. Nothing felt particularly unusual on the drive to Starbucks.
Once I entered, things started getting weird. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I simply assumed they were enjoying my outfit, as I was wearing a particularly nice jumper, but it made me a little uncomfortable. Had I forgotten to put trousers on? Was my hair a mess? After looking myself over, I decided I was fine. I ordered my drink and left quickly.
When I got to the station, there were paparazzi outside the front again. No way near as many as yesterday, but paparazzi nonetheless. I couldn't recall any celebrity guests scheduled to be on the show that day. Maybe they were just hopeful after yesterday.
As my car approached, the people with the cameras began to take photos of me. I laughed. They must have mistaken me for a celebrity. I was no one important, I thought.
I parked and was greeted by several cameras flashing in my face.
"I think you have the wrong guy," I told them with a self conscious smile.
"You're Mitch, right?" A burly woman holding a camera questioned, snapping pictures in quick succession, the flash nearly blinding me.
"Yeah,"
"Well you're the one they want photos of."
A look of confusion came over my face. What was going on?
"Do you know why?" I asked.
A man moved the camera away from his face.
"Something about you and that Hoying kid having a secret romance"
I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me.
"Oh. Well. Thank you. I'll be going then,"
I hurried away from the cameras into the station, ready to return to some normality.
-
I walked in and immediately all eyes were on me. Kevin walked over with a cheeky smile on his face.
"Did you hear the news?"
"What news?" I asked.
Kevin nudged my arm.
"You'll never guess whats trending worldwide"
No way.
"#Scömìche"