Catch a Rising Star

A/N: Yeah, I know this is way shorter than the last chapter, but at least it's something, and that I got this to work with only two scenes. Like I said before, there's only so much you can do with only one scene without unnecessarily dragging it out.

A minor side note, though. Yesterday, we had some pretty crazy weather. It was hailing! In June! It was just bizarre. Yeah, I get that I live close to the mountains, but still. Summer is practically almost here, and yet, it was hailing yesterday.

Okay. Now that that's out of the way, let's get on with Chapter 8. Roll it!

Chapter 8

The Next Morning

When the sun rose up the following morning, Branch never felt so relieved to see another day. The night before was most likely the craziest night of his life, and definitely not in the way that most people would think. However, he hoped that it was all behind him now.

He carefully headed over towards the kitchen, where Rosie had just finished serving breakfast, and Harper was getting some food on her plate before she went back to reading her teen magazine that had a picture of Poppy Summers on the front of the glossy cover.

Rosie smiled over at her grandson. "Good morning, Branch." She greeted him.

Branch kissed his grandmother's cheek and went over to his spot at the table. "Morning, Grandma." He said as he grabbed a couple of pancakes.

"So, my angels, how was your night out?" Rosie asked.

Both Branch and Harper had their eyes widened for a few seconds before Harper spoke up. "It was.... something." She said. "Interesting, for sure. Sorry we were gone for so long."

Rosie smiled. "Well, I wanted to stay up and wait for you two to come back home, but my body wasn't feeling up to it." She said.

Both Branch and Harper let out a silent sigh of relief. "Just remember that curfew from now on is 10:00 pm. Understand?"

"Yes, Grandma." Her grandkids said at the same time.

"Good." She said. "Now, let's have some breakfast so that I can continue working in the garden."

The family then started to eat their breakfast. "Syrup, please?" Harper asked.

"Um, I think we have a bottle that's unopened on the bottom shelf in the garage." Rosie said. "And it should still be pretty good."

Harper sighed as she put down her magazine. "I'll get it." She said.

As she walked past her brother and headed outside, Branch then realized where she was going. The garage. His eyes widened.

"No, I'll get it!" He exclaimed as he quickly followed after his sister.

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

Once they were outside and out of earshot, Harper began to confront her older brother. "So how was your little cab ride?" She asked him.

Branch blinked. "Uh, what cab ride?" He asked her.

It must've been what Bridget told her when she went to get her from the club the night before. She probably had to come up with something to avoid both him and Poppy being seen in the tabloids if one of Poppy's fans realized what happened.

Harper scoffed and rolled her eyes as she went to grab the remote for the garage. "'What cab ride?'" She repeated with a groan.

"I'm this close to meeting Poppy Summers, and then I had to leave because Bridget Edmunds, Poppy Summers' best friend, told me that you were feeling claustrophobic and decided to take a cab home."

She pressed the button to open the garage, but Branch quickly took it away and closed it back. "Oh, that cab." He said, pretending to go along with the story that Bridget told her.

Harper snatched the remote away from her older brother. "Where did you go?" She asked him. "You weren't home when I got here. I looked all over the house, and you weren't there."

She pressed the button on the remote to open the garage again, but Branch closed it again. "Uh, traffic was a little bit crazy." He explained. "But, I'll make it up to you. I'll help you find her."

I can't believe I just said that. He thought to himself. He wanted nothing more to do with Poppy Summers, and yet, he offered to help his sister find her again.

Harper just scoffed as she took the remote back. "How are you doing to do that?" She asked him with a challenging glint in her multi-colored eyes. She pressed the button again, but Branch quickly shut the garage door again.

"Um, uh, let's go inside and research." Branch suggested. "Grandma doesn't have to know."

"I don't have to know what?" A familiar voice asked from behind them.

The two siblings whirled around and saw Rosie standing there. Hopefully, she didn't hear all of their conversation.

"Nothing!" Both of them exclaimed at the same time, having wide and cheesy smiles on her faces. Their eyes flickered to look at each other nervously, hoping that their grandmother wouldn't catch onto what they were doing.

Rosie took the remote from Branch and opened the garage. He watched nervously as the door slowly opened to reveal.... nothing.

Poppy's car was gone. A silent sigh of relief escaped his lips, and his shoulders dropped visibly. She was gone.

"Sometimes, I just don't understand you two." Rosie said as she entered the garage to get the syrup. Harper followed her while Branch waited outside for a few extra seconds, still feeling utterly relieved.

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

Minutes later, they were back inside the house, finishing up breakfast. "Grandma? Can we turn on the TV?" Harper asked.

Branch groaned. "Do we have to?" He asked. With his rotten luck, Harper would want to put on that talk show by those twins who are always talking about Poppy.

"Yes." Harper answered him as if it was obvious, making him groan again.

"Okay, you two. That's enough." Rosie said as she turned on the TV that was in the living room next to the kitchen.

The moderately large screen flicked on to show, just as Branch had predicted, Satin and Chenille Vega doing their morning talk show, the topic as always being about Poppy.

"Sis, don't we have a scoop to share today?" Satin asked.

"We sure do." Chenille added with a grin. "Although no one saw her arrive at the famous Mayan Nightclub, witnesses confirm that last night, Poppy Summers did make a secret appearance to sing for her boyfriend, Creek Overton, to celebrate their six-month anniversary."

"Witnesses also say that the superstar left the club immediately after her performance, only to magically reappear at her Beverly Hills mansion.... with a different guy." Satin continued.

Branch's eyes widened in shock, almost choking on his sip of orange juice as heat flooded in his cheeks. Someone had to have been following Poppy all night yesterday if they somehow know about his existence. At least they don't know his name, but if she wasn't careful, then his face would be all over the tabloids as Poppy Summers' mysterious lover. As if that didn't sound disgusting enough, the tabloids would then brand Poppy as unfaithful, which she wasn't.

Chenille gasped. "You don't say?" She asked her sister.

Satin nodded, a coy smile on her face. "Yes indeed, sister of mine." She said. "Our sources are telling us that this mystery man might be stealing the heart of our favorite superstar in pink."

Harper's eyes widened in surprise. That had to be the story of the year. But then, Branch regained himself and went over to the TV to turn it off. She quickly followed him, but she didn't stop him in time.

"Hey!" She exclaimed. "I want to see that!"

Branch took away the remote and walked over to the kitchen to give to his grandma. "Why?" He asked. "That's all lies; slander. You should know better than to listen to things like that."

"Why do you even care?" Harper asked him with a scoff as her older brother grabbed his plate and went over to the sink to clean off the remaining syrup with soap and water and put it in the dishwasher. "You don't even like her."

"I care about the truth." Branch answered her quickly, wanting to end the conversation before it gets too close to the truth itself. "And I'm pretty sure that wasn't it."

"That's enough, you two." Rosie said firmly, making her grandchildren stop to look at her and her narrowed eyes.

Both of them sighed and dropped the subject. Branch continued to clean his dishes while Harper finished off the last of her pancakes.

Rosie sighed. "Tell you what, you two." She said, getting their attention. "It's a beautiful day today. How about you two take the car Branch fixed up and head over to the beach?"

Harper immediately perked up at the idea as a smile came on her face. Branch recognized that grin. She had something of a plan forming in her mind.

"Really?" She asked excitedly. "Thanks, Grandma!"

She sprung up from her seat and grabbed the car keys. She was about to head over to her room to get changed when Rosie stopped her.

"Branch will be going with you." She said.

Harper stopped for a second and then groaned loudly. "Fine!" She said. "But I'm driving this time!" Then, she headed into her room and slammed the door closed.

Branch huffed as he grabbed Harper's plate that was still on the table. "Do I have to, Grandma?" He asked her quietly.

Rosie smiled and gently patted her grandson's cheek. "She's your sister, Branch." She said. "You two have to learn to have some respect for each other."

Branch only sighed through his nose as he took Harper's plate to the sink to clean it. He had a feeling that this day was going to be a long one.

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

About an hour later of driving, the two siblings arrived at the beach. But it wasn't the beach that Branch was expecting to go to.

Once Harper parked the ugly orange car in one of the free spaces that was closest to the beach, she quickly turned it off, stepped out of the car and began to get her things from the trunk. She was wearing a white sundress that had painted swirls of all colors all over it, courtesy of Harper's own handiwork. On her head was a matching sun hat, and she was wearing fancy beige sandals, and she had pinkish-colored sunglasses on her face.

Branch got out of the passenger seat and looked around the beach. He was wearing a sleeveless dark green T-shirt, brown shorts, black crew socks, and gray converse sneakers.

"I thought we were going to Venice Beach." He said, turning over to Harper, who was getting out a beach umbrella and a foldable chair. "Why are we in Malibu?"

Harper rolled her eyes. "Because Poppy Summers is often seen here in Malibu." She said. "Whether for a beach party or when she goes water skiing."

Branch rolled his eyes with annoyance to hide an impressed look from appearing on his face. She water skis? He thought to himself as Harper tossed him a large navy blue duffle bag.

Harper locked the car and put the keys into her purse that she brought with her. Then, she and Branch started to head down to the beach.

"Today's the day!" She quietly squealed as she began to analyze every bypasser that was within close range. "I can feel it. She's here somewhere."

"I doubt that." Branch said as he adjusted the strap of the duffle bag on his shoulder.

"I just hope she's not with Creek Overton, who in my opinion, is totally not good enough for her." Harper said. "Actually, scratch that. He's not even worthy of looking at her."

Branch snickered at Harper's correction of Poppy's so-called boyfriend. It was actually kind of funny to hear his sister talk so negatively about someone.

"What makes you say that?" He asked.

"It's obvious." Harper said. "He practically lives for the camera in every picture that I see him in, which all of them are with Poppy. I'm starting to think that maybe he's just using her just so that he could become famous himself."

Branch thought about it for a while. That could be a reason for why that guy, Creek, is with Poppy, and if it is true, then Poppy better find out before she gets hurt. She deserves better, even if she does get on his nerves.

"I wonder what Poppy's eyes look like." Harper said. "Up close."

A little smile appeared on Branch's face when an image of the pink-haired star appeared in his mind. "Oddly enough, they do look pink." He said. "And not with contacts, either. A natural pink."

Just then, he stopped as a red-hot blush threatened to appear on his face. What did I just say?! The thought was ringing in his mind, alarms blaring.

Luckily, Harper didn't seem to catch her brother's slip-up. "I'm gonna find a spot to relax." She said, snapping her brother out of his mental breakdown. "See what else you can find around here."

"Okay." Branch said. "What am I looking for, exactly?" He asked.

Harper just sighed heavily, wondering why and how her brother seemed so out of the loop. "See if anyone here might've seen or even looks like Poppy Summers." She explained.

"Oh, so you're letting me do all of the hard work?" He asked, his arms crossing against his chest, his sky blue eyes narrowing at her.

"Think of this as payback for what happened last night." Harper said with a little smirk. "At least I was nice enough to not tell Grandma that we didn't get separated."

Branch rolled his eyes at her words. "Keep telling yourself that, Harper." He said. "Need I remind you that it was your crazy idea to sneak into that nightclub just so that you can meet her? And that it failed pretty spectacularly?"

Harper just rolled her eyes back at him, her tiny smirk disappearing from her face. "Keep telling yourself that, Branch." She repeated his last words before she continued on her way to find a good spot on the beach to relax.

Branch just mockingly mouthed out her words behind her back as he rolled his eyes again. As he looked around the beach, he soon spotted a familiar straw sun hat peeking out from behind one of the stationed sun chairs, having a little black ribbon tied in the back of it.

A little knowing smile slowly appeared on his face when he recognized the hat. Never in his life did he think that he would actually smile to see that particular person again so soon, and after such a crazy night. Though he did have a couple of questions for her, starting with why she wasn't at her home and instead at the beach.

Branch was about to walk over to her and ask her straight out, but then he noticed the rather large group of people around the area. She was lucky that no one else had recognized her yet, and there was no way that he was going to rat her out to the public when she seemed so desperate last night to not be seen by public eyes. He had to think of another way to get his answers.

Just then, an idea did come to his mind, and a mischievous smirk appeared on his face. This was actually going to be fun, for once.

A/N: Okay, so Branch and Harper are in the clear, for now. But Harper is still determined to meet Poppy, while Branch is finding it to be a bit difficult to not think about the pink-haired superstar. Much to his annoyance, huh?

Well, we'll soon see what Branch has in mind. We all know that he isn't that cruel to throw Poppy to the wolves of the media, but he is going to have a little fun first. And NO, not that kind. Sheesh. Probably just a little teasing while letting her know that it was just him and not some crazy fan.

Little fun fact. You know Bridget's voice actor, Zooey Deschanel? Well, I looked her up, and I saw that she was in another one of my favorite movies, "Bridge to Terabithia." Her character was the pretty music teacher, Ms. Edmunds. So that's where I got the idea to use that as Bridget's last name in this story. Neat, huh?

Also, I'm still looking for some inspirational JT songs. If you guys have any suggestions, please let me know. If I can't find anything else that might fit, I'll go with the back-up choice I had.

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

Got to fly! ;)