Catch a Rising Star

A/N: Aw, man! I wanted to update this on the premiere for "Trolls: World Tour" in honor of it. But I was about two hours late! Just great.

Oh, well. At least I finished this so soon after the first chapter. And I know, it is a bit shorter than the last one, but I'm pretty sure the next chapter will make up for it.

*looks over at the chapter* Okay, make it a lot shorter than the last chapter. But I guess that doesn't really matter.

So, let's get on with Chapter 2! Roll it!

Chapter 2

The Next Big Step

The next day, back in Wichita, Kansas, Harper was waiting for Branch and her grandmother to pick her up from her high school so that they could get on their flight. She was standing alongside her friend, Mandy, who was also a huge fan of Poppy Summers. She even had her hair dyed pink in honor of her. In her hands was a huge white binder with a picture of Poppy inside the front cover.

"Are you coming to the school dance when you get back, Harper?" Mandy asked her.

Harper nodded her head. "Yeah, even though I don't have a date." She said. "Even if I did, my brother and my grandmother would be grilling him for the entire car ride to get here."

Mandy laughed before she changed the subject. "Oh, are you bringing your camera with you to California?" She asked.

"Of course!" Harper answered her, as if the answer was obvious.

"Good!" Mandy said as she started to flip through the binder. "Because I want as many pictures as you can get about Poppy Summers. I already planned out her every move for this week."

"Wow!" Harper said, impressed. "And I know what she'll be doing right now."

"Me, too!" Mandy added.

"She'll be having her weekly meeting with her manager!" They both said at the same time before squealing with excitement.

However, Harper was so into her conversation that she didn't notice Branch's car pull up in the front of the school, with Rosie in the passenger seat. He rolled his eyes when he saw that Harper and Mandy were fangirling again about Poppy Summers. He then loudly honked the car horn twice at her, getting his sister's attention.

"Harper!" He shouted to her. "Come on, let's go!"

"Coming!" She shouted back.

"Listen, girl. I know that your older brother is hot, but he seriously needs to get a life. He hardly ever smiles." Mandy said.

"First off, eww. He's my brother." Harper said, slightly sticking her tongue out in disgust. "And second, I've been saying that to him for years." Then, she headed towards the car and got into the backseat, closing the door behind her.

Branch groaned in annoyance as he started out of the school parking lot. "Please tell me you were not talking with Mandy about Bubblegum Hair again." He said.

"Branch!" Harper shouted at him, offended for Poppy. "She has a name!"

"And I obviously don't care!" Branch retorted back as they got out of the school zone. "I've been hearing her name nonstop for the past two years, and I'm sick of it! Why are you so hung up about this singer?"

Harper gasped. "'This singer?'" She repeated, as if it was an offense. "Branch, you need to get out more often."

"I'm fine with where I am right now." Branch said. "I don't need to know about everything that's happening in the world."

Harper rolled her eyes. "Listen, big brother." She said. "You can play shuffleboard with Grandma all you want, but I'm going to meet Poppy Summers."

Branch scoffed. "Pfft. Yeah. Good luck with that." He said sarcastically.

"Alright, you two. That's enough." Rosie gently but firmly reprimanded her two grandchildren. "We are going to California for a nice family vacation, and maybe, you two can try and spend some time together if you are ever going to get along. Otherwise, this is going to be a long week."

Branch and Harper didn't say another word to each other, keeping quiet. They can't really argue with their grandmother, but spending time together was not something either of them were looking forward to.

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

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, in her Beverly Hills mansion, Poppy was dressed into a casual light teal shirt and worn-out jeans, ready to greet her manager.

She headed down the stairs to greet her father, Peppy. He wore dark gray pants and a dark teal vest, and walked around with a wooden cane, and his withered face smiled brightly at the sight of his only child. He had dark red hair with streaks of silver in it, with a little mustache.

"Morning, Dad!" Poppy greeted him cheerfully. She felt much better after what happened last night, but she didn't dare tell her father about what had been happening. If he did, he might sue her record company, and that would cause a whole bunch of other problems.

"Morning, my little princess!" Peppy returned the greeting, kissing his daughter's cheek. "Miss Chef will be arriving any time now to discuss your next step in your career.

"Okay, Dad." Poppy said. In all honesty, she never liked Miss Christine Chef, who was her manager. (And yes, Chef is her last name.) But she could never truly argue with her, knowing that she had the power to demolish her entire career. And in truth, she was really terrifying.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Poppy rushed over to it to answer it. Standing outside was Miss Chef, who towered over Poppy a good foot over her height of 5'4. She was wearing a black pantsuit, wearing a manner of professionalism, but in Poppy's opinion, she looked pretty ugly.

"Good morning, Miss Poppy." She said.

"Morning, Miss Chef." The pink-haired superstar replied before stepping out of the way of the door to let her manager inside.

"Morning, Miss Chef." Peppy greeted her.

"Morning to you as well, Mr. Summers." Chef greeted the old man before standing in front of Poppy and her father. "Well, I won't be here long, so I'll get right to the point."

She took a moment before continuing to speak. "I just found an opportunity for you to star in a movie."

Poppy's eyes widened. "A movie?" She asked, an excited smile appearing on her face, lighting it up. "That's amazing!"

"I thought you would react like this, Miss Poppy." Chef said. "The only problem is..."

Poppy's smile disappeared when she said that, "...this."

Chef got out her tablet, swiped the screen around a few times, and showed Poppy the recent paparazzi magazine cover, showing the photos from last night. Poppy lightly flinched when she saw that.

"So, the producers don't take you seriously because of these paparazzi pictures." Chef continued. "However, they might consider to give you a chance if you prove that you're serious about this."

"How do I do that?" Poppy asked.

"Next Monday, I'll be meeting with them to discuss you being starred in the movie." Chef said. "Until then, stay out of the tabloids. Good or bad. No press, no blog posts, whatsoever."

Poppy looked down nervously, lightly biting her lip. As much as this movie opportunity was huge for her and for her career, music was her true passion. And it was going to be hard to stay away from the paparazzi, as if it wasn't difficult enough already.

And what about Creek? She had promised him that she would sing a song for him for their six-month anniversary, which was tonight! And she never broke a promise. She has to figure out a way to get to the club where his party was being held, perform for him, and get back out and homeword without the press knowing that she was there.

But at the same time, she couldn't refuse what Chef thought was best for her career. If she said no, then she could destroy her entire career within days! She couldn't, not after all that hard work she did for the past three years of her life. Her fans would be disappointed, she wouldn't be able to find a job that paid as well for her house and for her father's medical bills.

"Yeah, I can do that." She said. "Besides, my best friend says that I need to ease up on the blog posts. Now, I have an excuse to do that."

Chef looked over at her bright and wide smile with a scrutinizing eye. She then nodded her head.

"Very well. I will see you within a few days, Miss Poppy."

"See you later, Miss Chef." Poppy answered back as she showed her manager towards the door. But from out of her manager's sight, she had a hand behind her back, her fingers crossed.

"Have a good week." She added with her trademark smile.

Once Chef was out of the door, Poppy quickly headed towards the kitchen to get breakfast ready for her and her father. While she did so, she got out her phone and immediately called Bridget.

"Hey, Poppy." Bridget's voice piped up over the phone. "What's up?"

"Hey, Bridget." Poppy answered back. "Listen, I need some help. Are you busy tonight?"

A/N: Oh, boy. That's pretty much all that I can about whatever Poppy's plan is. Whatever it is, it's bound to be something pretty overzealous, if we know how Poppy is.

Until next time, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)