Catch a Rising Star

A/N: Geez. Sorry for taking forever on this. College is back in full swing, and I've been swamped with homework for the past couple of weeks ever since the semester started.

And also, I've been acting as an unofficial tutor for my youngest brother, and he HATES schoolwork, and then later, he complains about having too much late work to do. I think because of this and of college, updates on any of my stories will not be as often if I don't want to fall behind on my own classes.

Well, enough on my drama at home. Let's just get on with Chapter 13. Wait a minute.

*rereads chapter* Okay, why is thirteen an unlucky number again? Oh well. Enjoy some fluff before it all goes downhill. And roll it.

Chapter 13

The Magic Ends

Eventually, Poppy and Branch arrived back at the beach. Branch took a deep breath of the fresh ocean breeze, and then exhaled slowly, relishing every bit of the soothing air.

"We made it." He said, feeling much better that he did earlier.

"Yeah." Poppy agreed, taking in the waves gently crashing onto the sand. She had forgotten what it felt like to just listen to them and feel like she was the only person in the world, where no one could find her.

She glanced over at Branch, who was looking and feeling just as relaxed as she was. That made the moment even more special to her. When it was just him and her, she felt like she was herself.

"Look, um...." Branch turned over to look over at her, the late afternoon sun reflecting off his bright blue eyes. Suddenly, she felt like the sun was actually making her cheeks burn.

"I, uh, I really did have a great time today."

Branch smiled over at her, a light red blush appearing on his own cheeks. "Me too." He said shyly, briefly not meeting her eyes before looking back at her.

Poppy smiled back at him, and then chuckled while lightly shaking her head. "You know, you're so different than any other guy I've ever met."

The black-haired man raised a brow over at her. "How?" He asked. "Different as in.... weird? Or annoying?"

"Different as in.... surprising." Poppy answered him.

As if it was almost natural to her, she took his hand in hers, linking them. "In the best way. I mean, you say things that others are too scared to say, and, you bring out sides of me that I couldn't even see. And back from earlier, just by being with you, I'm starting to remember just how much I love to sing."

Branch briefly looked down at their conjoined hands, and then he gently grinned back at her. Their current situation was the furthest thing from his mind. Right now, it was just him and Poppy, and no one else in the world.

"You're pretty surprising yourself." He said.

"Really?" Poppy asked. "How?"

Branch's smile then turned mischievous. "Well, for one thing, you're a terrible driver and navigator."

His comment made Poppy gasp in mock disbelief. "Which is strange for someone who owns six cars and who's lived here for most of her life."

"Okay, now that was below the belt." Poppy said, and the two of them chuckled.

Then Branch started to look a little bit embarrassed. "Um, hey." He said, getting her attention. "Do you.... really think I'm grumpy?"

By then, they had stopped walking and were now facing each other directly. "Well, a little bit." Poppy answered truthfully.

Then, she lightly squeezed his hand in hers, her eyes briefly flicking down before meeting his again shyly. "But overall, I, um.... I think you're amazing."

Branch blinked at her, but then a soft smile appeared on his face as he returned the tender pressure with his own hand. "I think you're pretty amazing, too."

Poppy smiled back at him, and then, it was like everything else faded away. It was only just the two of them, alone, and that's all that mattered in that very moment.

Slowly, Poppy began to incline her face upward and closer to Branch's. He reciprocated the gesture by meeting her halfway, his blue eyes beginning to close along with her pink ones. Then, their lips touched gently against each other's.

Sparks were now flying between them as the kiss started to grow deeper, but not going any further than just gentle movements against each other's mouths. Their free hands found their way to hold her waist and to grab the juncture between his neck and shoulder respectively.

Poppy had been kissed a number of times before by her boyfriend; not that she was thinking about him that at the moment, but those were nothing compared to the pure.... magic she was feeling as she continued to kiss Branch.

And Branch, he didn't necessarily believe in magic, but that was pretty much the best he could describe this electrifying feeling that was turning his brain into mush and making his heart go faster than it had ever gone before. He was actually kissing Poppy Summers. Not the famous superstar, but his friend and the beautiful, all-around amazing girl who had stolen his heart.

When they finally broke away, there were soft and smitten smiles on both of their faces, eyes never straying from each other's gaze. But then, Poppy heard something coming from behind Branch.

Voices. And just like that, the spell was broken.

A group of surfers was making their way out of the water, somewhat heading in their direction. Poppy immediately gasped and lowered her sun hat to hide her face. Branch just chuckled with amusement at her action, thinking that she was embarrassed by what had happened between them, and not seeing the surfers coming out of the ocean waves and onto the beach.

"What are you doing?" He asked, the lovestruck smile not leaving his face.

Poppy glanced back at the surfers, who were heading over towards a different part of the beach. She then breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, back to the real world." She muttered to herself before she looked over at Branch again. "You don't get the sense of what is gonna happen now, right?" She asked.

Branch raised a confused brow, the smile leaving his face. "No?" He answered, not understanding what was going on.

"The sense here?" Poppy repeated the question.

"With us?" Branch asked the question this time.

His heart was feeling like it was starting to stop its wild heartbeat and be torn out of his chest.

"Yes, us!" Poppy said. "Look, you can't tell anybody about what happened today. Not even your family."

"Why?" Branch continued to ask. "It's not like they're going to post a picture of us on their blog or anything."

"Listen, Branch!" Poppy said, sounding desperate. "If we get back on the beach together, people will take photos of us, and then, craziness will follow. And then I won't get the movie deal."

"Why would people get crazy, Poppy?" Branch questioned, still not understanding why Poppy is acting like this.

"Because I'm Poppy Summers!" The pink-haired woman said. "And you're just...."

She trailed off, not really knowing what to say next. But Branch already got the gist of it. And he could feel his heart beginning to crack. The light left his eyes, and a frown came on his face.

"I see now." He said coldly. And then he started to walk away.

Poppy shook her head, not wanting to believe that this was happening. "Wait, Branch." She said. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Branch repeated with disbelief, turning back around sharply to face her, his eyes narrowed at her, making her stop.

"One minute, you tell me that I'm amazing, and then the next minute, you're embarrassed to be seen with me?!"

"I'm not embarrassed by you, Branch!" Poppy exclaimed.

"Oh, really?" Branch scoffed. "If I was Creek, you'd rush right down there and make sure that someone takes our picture. But no. I'm just an ordinary guy."

"That's not what I meant." Poppy said, shaking her head. "Look, what I meant by you being normal, I like you like that. I want you to stay like that."

Branch just rolled his eyes bitterly. "Yeah, right." He muttered. "Just leave me alone." He then started to walk off again.

"Branch, just stop! Please." Poppy pleaded. The black-haired man turned around to face her again. What almost broke her heart was the sight of his eyes swimming with tears, his disappointed scowl aimed at her.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I think I should hold onto the camera."

Branch just looked at her with disbelief, and then roughly stuck his hand into his duffel bag, pulled out the camera they bought earlier, and then threw it at her.

"Fine! I didn't want those stupid pictures anyway. Nothing I want to remember in there."

Poppy lightly fumbled around with the camera before it could fall into the sand. She then saw Branch still standing there. He was looking in his duffel bag again before he pulled out a neatly rolled-up bundle of about fifty Benjamins. He then looked over at her with annoyance.

"For my stay at Garage de la Grandma." Poppy said, giving him a little smile, hoping to bring some normalcy back. But Branch just rolled his eyes again before stuffing the money in his pocket and started to walk away again.

"Branch, wait." Poppy quickly caught up with him and grabbed his arm. "Listen, I don't want to say goodbye like this."

But Branch just pulled his arm away from her roughly. "Okay, how about this?" He asked sarcastically. "How about we forget that this whole day ever happened? You won't talk about me, and I promise I won't talk about you."

Poppy just looked at him with disbelief. "Go on and judge me, okay?" She said. "But you don't know what it will be like. The paparazzi never go away, and once they have you in their sights, they won't quit until they get what they want. And when they do, they turn it into something ugly."

"They don't have to." Branch answered, finally allowing a hurtful look to come onto his face. "You already did."

With that, Branch finally managed to walk away from her to leave the beach, leaving Poppy's arm hanging in the air, slightly reaching out to him. Her eyes were feeling watery, and she could feel her heart breaking.

"Branch." She called out to him. But he didn't look back. "Branch!"

But before she could go after him, someone saw her. "Hey, look! It's Poppy Summers!"

Immediately, the call spread like wildfire across the beach and people quickly came over to greet the pink-haired superstar, blocking her from going after Branch. She pretended to greet all of them with a pretty smile and polite waves, while still trying to catch a glimpse of Branch over the crowd.

*************************************

Branch literally stormed inside the nearest phone booth and roughly shut the folding door behind him. His breathing was getting shaky, and the lump inside his throat was starting to hurt. But he can't cry. It would be a big blow to his masculine pride. He can't and he won't. Not over some girl.

But Poppy's not just some girl. The thought echoed in his head, which only made it harder for him to contain himself. He could hardly see straight because of the liquid swimming in his eyes as he reached for the phone.

Poppy: Early morning;
She wakes up,
Knock, knock, knock
On the door.

Poppy was still being tagged by a group of fans as she continued to walk onto the beach. She had wanted to go over to Branch and take everything back, but her mind told her not to, for his sake. She figured that she was the last person he wanted to see at the moment. Plus, then people would start asking questions.

It's time for makeup,
Perfect smile.
It's you they're all
Waiting for.

Soon, Branch had hung up the phone, having called a cab and it was on its way to pick him up. He snuck a glance over at Poppy greeting fans, who briefly met his eyes before he quickly turned away from her. He can't even look at her without feeling like he was going to literally break into pieces in front of her and everyone else.

How could he have been so stupid? Falling for one of the most popular stars in California; no, the whole world, when he had wanted nothing to do with her in the beginning? Now he was sure that a tear fell from his eye.

They go, "Isn't she lovely,
This Hollywood girl?"
And they say,

"She's so lucky, she's a star."
But she cries, cries, cries
In her lonely heart
Thinking,

"If there's nothing
Missing in my life, then
Why do these tears
Come at night?"

Little did Poppy or Branch know that there were still some paparazzi people hiding in the bushes, hoping to catch at least a few good photos of the pink-haired superstar at last. One photographer managed to snap a couple of photos of Poppy interacting with some people, but then he saw that she was looking off into the distance, away from the crowd of fans.

He followed her line of vision with his camera lens to where Branch was just getting out of the phone booth, roughly brushing away a stray tear from his face, a hurtful look in his eyes. He snapped a couple of pictures of the black-haired man before he hid back in the bushes.

Does Poppy Summers really know him? Was this the mystery guy? This had to be the biggest scoop of the year.

Poppy watched Branch leave the beach to go wait for his cab. A guilty look came onto her face. But her gaze was quickly torn away from his retreating figure by another fan, who wanted a picture with her. She quickly plastered on a polite smile and complied to the fan's request. It was too late anyway.

***************************************

Lost in an image,
In a dream,
But there's no one there
To wake her up.

After that day, life seemed to go back to being somewhat normal for both Poppy and Branch. Poppy was working a lot at the studio throughout the rest of the week, recording another cover for her new album. For some reason, the song seemed to be talking specifically about her, and the events of that day, both good and bad, kept repeating in her mind.

And the world is spinning,
And she keeps on winning;
But tell me,
What happens when it stops?

As for Branch, he just couldn't get Poppy out of his mind. He could hardly eat, he spent most of his time holed up in his room, moping around on his bed, earphones in his ears.

That particular day was their last full day in California, and the family was having some dinner. While Harper and Rosie were engaged in some kind of conversation, Branch didn't speak a word as he just fiddled around with his food with his fork.

They go, "Isn't she lovely,
This Hollywood girl?"
And they say,

"She's so lucky, she's a star."
But she cries, cries, cries
In her lonely heart,
Thinking,

"If there's nothing
Missing in my life, then
Why do these tears
Come at night?"

Finally, Branch just stood up and out from his chair. "I'm not hungry tonight, Grandma." He said to his grandmother simply before he left the kitchen. "Sorry."

Rosie watched her grandson leave and head back towards his room. Then she and Harper shared a worried glance. Something was up, but it was obvious that he wasn't in the mood for talking at the moment.

"Isn't she lovely,
This Hollywood girl?"

Like before, as he had been all day, Branch was lying on his bed, his earphones in his ears and connected with his phone. He was listening to one of Poppy's songs. Hearing her sing, it brought back a smile on his face for a moment, but then he shut his eyes as he felt a lump forming in his throat again.

She is so lucky,
But why does she cry?
If there is nothing missing in her life,
Why do tears come at night?

He then looked over at the framed photos that were on his old desk. One of them was a picture of his parents, Rowan and Esmeralda, before they died. The other was of his grandparents, Rosie and her husband, Sorrel. He had very little memories of his grandfather, since he died around the time when his parents had just adopted baby Harper into the family.

But both pictures of the couples, they both seemed to have a sort of glow around them as they leaned in close to each other. One that made their smiles that were caught on film shine even brighter.

Branch had once wondered just what it was that made both couples look like that. Now he did. It was love. Real love.

*************************************

And they say,
"She's so lucky, she's a star."
But she cries, cries, cries
In her lonely hearts,
Thinking,

"If there's nothing
Missing in my life, then
Why do these tears
Come at night?"

Poppy was practically pouring her entire, broken heart into the lyrics of the song, her thoughts being flooded with images of Branch. It was a miracle that she didn't end up crying in the middle of the song while they were recording it. This song perfectly explained how she was feeling about the whole situation.

"She's so lucky."
But she cries, cries, cries
In her lonely heart,
Thinking,

"If there's nothing
Missing in my life, then
Why do these tears
Come at night?"

Finally, the song had come to an end, and Poppy was feeling a little breathless. It wasn't because of her singing, but it was because of her keeping herself from crying while she was singing. She still felt like she hadn't spent all of her tears.

When Bridget had picked her up from the beach that day and took them back to her home, she immediately went into her room, shut the door, and then flopped down onto her bed, crying her eyes out. Her dad came to check on her, but she just told him that she wanted to be alone for the moment. Thankfully, her father complied, not asking any more questions for the time being, and then left her to cry.

Now, she was feeling that she would start the waterfalls again if the staff and musicians made her sing that song one more time. Luckily for her, her recording manager, Suki; a woman with reddish-orange dreadlocks who always wore headphones, spoke to her through the mic.

"That was great, Pops." She said to her. "Take five."

Poppy let out a sigh of relief as the musicians began to tell her their "see ya's" and "laters". Now she would have five precious minutes to let it all out and then compose herself before everyone came back to see if they needed to redo the song to make sure that it was perfect before they would release it.

Once she was sure she was alone, she headed over to her personal laptop that she had brought with her that day. She turned it on and immediately, there was a slideshow of all of the pictures that she and Branch took during their little tour.

The smile on his face made the burden that was weighing on her heart a little bit lighter. She would give anything to see him smile like that at her again. But this was for the best; both of them going back to their normal lives, pretending that they haven't ever met. However, that didn't mean that it wouldn't hurt so bad.

She was so focused on looking through the pictures that she didn't notice Bridget come in the room. In her hands were a few pictures. The pigtailed woman noticed how glum and down her best friend was acting recently. And when she caught a glimpse of one of the photos of Poppy and Branch, she immediately understood. Bridget tucked the photos into her handbag and went over to her.

"Hey." She said gently, placing a hand on Poppy's shoulder.

Her friend slightly turned to face her, a tear streaming down her cheek. "You okay?" She asked.

Poppy sighed as she wiped away the tear and looked back at the slideshow. "Yeah. I just.... I can't get him out of my mind."

Bridget smiled softly. "That guy really made an impression on you without even trying, huh?" She asked. "And to think you met him after you hit him in the head with a door."

Poppy chuckled briefly. "Yeah." She agreed, remembering that at the beginning, Branch wanted nothing to do with her. Until she finally managed to slip through the walls that he had built around his heart.

"He's just.... real, you know? He's annoyingly honest. He's smart, cool, funny, handsome. He has real talent. And when you get to really know him, he's also sweet and caring."

Just then, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat in the speaker. Poppy quickly closed down her laptop, and she and Bridget turned around to see Creek standing in the recording room.

"Hello, ladies." He said to them with a charming smile.

Poppy was starting to feel queasy when she saw Creek grin like that. She had thought that his smile was really nice, but now, she knows that it was nothing compared to the smiles that she saw on Branch's face. They seemed much more.... expressive, more real than Creek's.

"You talking about me?" He asked. Then, he left the recording room to enter the studio.

Bridget took Poppy's arm with one hand, while the other took out the photos from her handbag. "I needed to give you these before he came." She whispered quickly.

Poppy took the pictures, and looked through them one by one. Her eyes soon grew wide.

"Where did you find these?" She asked.

"Let's just say that Branch is lucky that he has a little sister that clearly knows her stuff and knows her way around." Bridget replied before she left the studio.

Poppy lightly gritted her teeth in anger as she held the photos in her hands. Well, she knows what she must do next, and it was going to be the highlight of her entire week ever since she parted ways with Branch.

After passing by Bridget, Creek entered the studio. Poppy held the pictures closer to her chest to hide them.

"Hey, Creek." She greeted him, trying her best to hold back her righteous anger that was starting to bubble like hot molten lava in her veins.

"Hello, Poppy." Creek returned the greeting. He moved in closer to brush his fingers against her cheek while leaning in for a kiss, but she quickly turned away from his touch, confusing him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

The pink-haired superstar just looked at him with a false smile on her face. "Oh, nothing." She said sarcastically. Branch must've really rubbed on her. "I was just wondering about these."

She then showed Creek the photos that she was holding in her hands, which all had him hanging out with another girl; some of them even showing him kissing her deeply. Creek's eyes were wide with horror when he saw them.

"N-Now, Poppy. Please, let me explain." He begged, his eyes flicking across the room nervously, lightly biting his lip.

Poppy just narrowed her eyes at him and then placed the photos next to her laptop. "Oh, I think I know well enough." She said.

"You never have loved me. You only wanted to use me for my popularity, just like what all my friends have said. Well, guess what? I don't need you anymore. You know what you heard earlier, what me and Bridget were talking about?"

Creek finally dropped the act of trying to appear innocent, and his eyes were narrowed back at her. "I know that you met someone. A guy who has no recognition or character. What could someone like him offer you? He's worth nothing. He's not rich nor famous; just a plain, worthless nobody who comes from nowhere."

Fuelled with pure burning anger because of what he was saying about Branch, Poppy slapped Creek firmly across the face. "He is so much more than that!" She shouted. "He's the kind of person that speaks his mind and is honest and trustworthy, no matter what. He's the kind of man that you can only dream of ever being."

She then started to roughly push him towards the studio door, ignoring his protests and his attempts to stop her. "So from now on, consider yourself dumped."

With one more push out of the studio, and then a hard kick to his shin that made him yelp in pain, Poppy slammed the door in Creek's face. She knew that Bridget was already on it and had called security to take him away. When she came back inside the studio, she felt so much better than she had been all week. They were right. She was way better off without that slimy, two-faced cheater.

Just then, she heard a knock on the glass. Poppy looked over at it and saw Bridget smiling widely at her and holding up a paper pad that had something written on it.

"You're free, girl!" It said with bold blue letters written with permanent ink.

Poppy quickly realized what her best friend meant by that. She was no longer seeing Creek because of him cheating on her, and that meant that now she was free to go and pursue Branch. Maybe things could turn around for the better, for both of them. After she gets the movie deal, she could then figure out where he lives in Kansas, go over there, and get him alone so that they could talk and that she could apologize to him. If he still even wanted to see her.

Well, she'll worry about those details later. Right now, there was another form of business that she needed to do. And it was called payback. She grabbed her phone from her back pocket and began dialing a number. Then, she held up to her ear to wait for the person to answer.

Soon, they did after the first ring. "Hey there, Satin." She said to the news reporter. "No, I'm still not doing any interviews whatsoever for a while. But I do have a scoop for you and Chenille. And trust me. You're going to have a ball with this one."

A/N: Well, that kicks that no-good cheater out of the picture. Good riddance.

Originally, I was going to use "The One That Got Away" from Katy Perry, but then I became a fan of Britney Spears, and I found this song called "Lucky". I thought it fitted better with Poppy's dilemma. However, I don't own it in any way or form. All credit goes to rightful owners.

Well, that's all for this time. But I can only tell you this for the next chapter. Things are only going to get worse.

Until then, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think. They are highly appreciated. And remember to stay healthy!

Got to fly! ;)