Catch a Rising Star

A/N: Hello, there! My name is MiraculousDragonMaster. This is actually my very first story featuring "Trolls", and I hope that it's a good one. Since self-isolation sucks, due to the COVID-19 virus, and I've had nothing else to do other than write all kinds of stories while being basically trapped in my own house, I wanted to give this a shot and get it out before I start online college classes in about a couple of weeks.

Okay, so this story is based off the Disney Channel original movie, "Starstruck." Why? I felt like reminiscing a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to watch some of my favorite movies back when I was in my early teenage years so that I wouldn't go stir-crazy. I remembered how much I had loved the movie, and I found it funny when I started picturing Poppy and Branch in those roles. Well, the roles that fits their personalities the best. Then, I got inspired and just started writing.

Can't make any promises about updates, since I have a few other stories that are almost or are nearing completion. Once those are done, maybe updates on this will be more often, but like I said, no promises. So please don't ask me of when I'll update. I get that enough with some of my other stories. It's not really annoying, but it is exhausting to think about.

One quick disclaimer. In this AU, everyone is human. It's just so I can get used to writing the characters so that when I write a different story sometime in the future, I can write them better as trolls and whatever creature they might be. Also because I'm terrible coming up with original names for locations. Oh, well. I'll work on that.

Now that is all of the way, here we go with my "Trolls" debut! And action!

Chapter 1

Two Different Worlds

It was a lovely spring night in Los Angeles as energetic music started to play loudly as colorful lights flashed around everywhere and people began cheering and screaming with excitement, almost jumping out of their seats. Then, a loud voice spoke out from out of the blue. It was the official announcer of the concert as he made the presence known of which superstar it is.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Poppy Summers!"

The crowd went absolutely crazy as a single young woman about twenty-one years old stood out on the stage, a spotlight shining down on her. She had fair skin, her hair was completely dyed a bright, hot pink color, and her eyes were an odd magenta hue. She had on a sparkly sky blue jumpsuit with white heels and a matching headband across her forehead with red poppy flowers. She had a yellow acoustic guitar in her arms as she began to strum the strings with the other instruments of the band and started to sing.

Poppy: I come home
In the morning light,
My mother says,
"When you gonna live your life right?"

Oh, mama dear, we're not the fortunate ones,
And girls, they wanna have fun.
Oh, girls just wanna have fun.

She then held her hands up and began clapping them in a rhythm to get the crowd to join her. Then, she began to play again.

The phone rings
In the middle of the night.
My father yells,
"Whatcha gonna do with your life?"

Oh, daddy dear, you know you're still number one,
But girls, they wanna have fun.
Oh, girls just wanna have-

Poppy then stopped playing her guitar to grab her microphone from its stand and walk further out onto the stage, where fans were reaching as far as they could to just touch her fingertips at least. The singing star then carefully knelt down to give high-fives to her fans, who were screaming wildly.

That's all they really want:
Some fun!
When the working day is done,
Oh, girls, they wanna have fun.
Oh, girls just wanna have fun!

Then, the viewpoint changed to show the very same concert being shown on a small TV in a humble home. A teenage girl about sixteen years old sighed with idolizing admiration, her eyes glued to the screen.

The girl had on a rainbow-splattered T-shirt, worn-out jeans with old paint stains on them, and multi-colored sneakers. Her skin was pretty fair, her eyes were both different colors; one of them was an auburn color and the other was green. Her hair was dyed an indigo color and pulled into a simple braid, but there were a few colorful paint splatters of pink and yellow on the tail.

"Isn't Poppy Summers amazing?" She sighed.

Just then, a taller figure appeared in between her and the TV. The girl tried to look past it, but it was no good.

"Branch!" She called out to the young adult man in front of her.

The young man turned to face her. Unlike the colorful teen sitting behind him, he had plain, stark, inky black hair, his fair skin tone a couple of shades darker, and bright sky blue eyes. He had on a simple dark green vest over a plain black T-shirt, dark wash jeans, and black shoes. He looked about the same age as Poppy herself, if not a couple of years older. But it was pretty obvious, just by appearance alone, that they couldn't be any more different.

"Oops." He said sarcastically. "Sorry, Harper. Am I blocking your view of what's-her-name?"

Harper nodded. "Move it or lose it, big brother." Well, technically, he's her adoptive older brother since the girl was adopted by Branch's family as a baby before their parents died in a car accident, and the two of them went to live with their grandmother when Branch was twelve and Harper four.

Branch rolled his eyes and moved away from the TV and his obsessed teenage sister. It wasn't that Poppy Summers was a bad cover artist, she was actually pretty good; but it's just that Harper puts a new meaning in the word, "obsession," when it comes to the pink-haired superstar, and it drove him completely nuts.

Just then, a strong but elderly woman entered the living room, holding a basket full of laundry in her arms. She had sea green hair dyed from her younger years tied up in a bun, matching jade eyes, and a warm peach skin tone and wore a cream-colored dress with a red shawl over her shoulders.

"Branch, Harper, my little angels." She said. "You two better start packing your bags. We leave for the airport tomorrow right when Harper's done with school."

Harper squealed with excitement. "Thanks, Grandma Rosie." She said, hugging her adoptive grandmother and taking the laundry basket and began looking through it to pick out her clothes.

"Just think!" Harper said excitedly as Branch got out a cup from the cupboard and then a carton of orange juice from the fridge. "In less than a day, I'll be in Los Angeles where Poppy lives!"

Just then, a thought came into her head. "What if she picks me up at the airport?"

Branch raised an eyebrow. The idea of that just didn't sit right in his mind.

"Why would she do that?" He asked her.

Harper looked over at her older brother with a scoff. "I'm an original member of her fan club." She said. "I follow her daily blog posts, and I message her every week. Trust me, she wants to meet me."

Branch resisted the urge to groan and turned over to his grandmother. "Is it too late for me to be an only child again?" He asked her.

"Yes, Branch." Rosie answered.

"Then can I please stay home?" He asked.

"No." Rosie shook her head.

"Why not?" Branch continued to question.

"Because you've been working non-stop for three months, almost four." Rosie answered him.

Branch had been working as an apprentice carpenter for a nearby furniture and restoration shop for the past year ever since he graduated from college to help support his family, especially because their grandmother was getting on in years and had to retire from her own job as a teacher at the elementary school a few months earlier, and Harper was in her second year of high school. It didn't pay a whole lot, but at least it keeps the bills from piling up.

"And it's not just you." Rosie added. "We can all use the break for Harper's spring break."

"Guys!" Harper called into the living room. "There's more about Poppy!"

She turned up the volume of the television with the remote as two news reporter women appeared on the screen. They seemed to be identical twins, with them having the same facial structures and pale skin tones, their hair dyed lavender purple at the roots and then transitioned to light blue at the ends of it, and blue eyes. But one of them wore a pink jumpsuit with cream colored boots while the other wore a light blue sundress with white heeled sandals.

"The amazing Poppy Summers picked up six Music Association Awards last night, just in time for her latest CD, "Summers of Fun", to hit double platinum." The one with the jumpsuit, Satin Vega, said.

"That's quite impressive." The other one in the dress, Chenille Vega, added in. "For a cover artist, she is an inspiration for people all over the world, and she did include a couple of original songs in her latest album."

Branch couldn't help but be curious about the popular cover artist as he moved from the kitchen with his glass of orange juice and to the dining table that was placed behind the couch where Harper was sitting. He didn't really hate the superstar; she seemed much too nice, even on TV, but he had a feeling that even the nicest people get caught up in the world of fame and it's easy to forget about reality.

"We did catch the bubbly-pink star in pink out on the red carpet." Satin said as the screen changed to show a video of Poppy doing an interview, with about five microphones pointed at her, and in her arms, there were her six awards.

"First off, I would like to say thank you for listening to my music and supporting me." She said. "You guys are the reason that I love what I do. You're the greatest fans in the world."

Harper sighed in admiration. "She is such an amazing person." She said.

Branch rolled his eyes. And there she goes again.

"How do you know that, Harper?" He said. "She doesn't seem that amazing."

Harper just lightly scoffed. "She is amazing!" She retorted. "You can just tell! If you know her like I do, you wouldn't say that."

Branch narrowed his eyes at the back of his sister's colorful head. "Hello? We live in Kansas!" He said. "You don't know her."

"But I do." Harper said, her eyes back to the TV. "I know everything about her. I know where she works, eats, shops, relaxes, and parties. There's nothing about Poppy Summers that I don't know about. And soon, I'll have the chance to actually meet her!"

Branch once more rolled his eyes, scoffing lightly. This was going to be a long week. If his sister doesn't shut up about Poppy Summers within the next few days, he'll move out of the house and find himself a drabby apartment on the other side of the city.

But then, how will his sister and his grandmother support themselves? Harper hasn't found a good enough job yet for a high school sophomore that will pay nicely, and her dropping out of school just so she can work full-time and help their grandmother was simply out of the question. Neither Branch nor Rosie would allow it. That's the reality of Branch Hawthorne's life.

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

That night, in Los Angeles, Poppy was sitting inside a bright, golden orange painted convertible car, parked outside a lively nightclub. She wore a simple dark teal dress with a matching headband on her head with light green flowers on it, her hot pink hair pulled up into a ponytail.

Next to her was a woman about her age with twin high pigtails, her hair having light pink highlights in it. Her eyes were purple and her skin was pale with some minor freckles on her cheeks. She wore a bright pink jumpsuit with a black checkered pattern with white high heels.

"You ready, Bridget?" The superstar asked her best friend.

"As I'll ever be." Bridget said. She wasn't quite that big on parties like her superstar best friend, but it was fun to hang out with her.

The two friends got out of the car. Poppy then nodded to her chauffeur as he went to find a better parking space and wait for them.

"You know, out of all your cars, I think Amber is my favorite." Bridget said.

"Yeah, I know." Poppy said, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. "But come on, Bridget. Let's see if we can find you a man. Maybe we can find Griffin Gristle somewhere around here."

Bridget blushed bright red at the name of her crush. "Yeah, right." She said. "Why would he like a girl like me?"

"Come on, Bridget." Poppy assured her. "You're a great girl, and one day, Griffin will see it, too."

Bridget sighed. "Well, I'm not like you. Pretty, popular, talented, inspiring."

Poppy opened her mouth to speak against her friend's self-downgrading, but then a smooth voice cut her off.

"Ah, there you are, love." Both girls turned over to the side and saw a man about their age with odd, teal-colored hair, smooth tan skin and bright purple eyes coming towards them, wearing a nice white polo shirt and khaki pants. Poppy smiled brightly at the sight of him, making Bridget roll her eyes.

"There he is." She said, waving her hand while trying to sound enthusiastic about his appearance. "Poppy Summer's boyfriend, the wonderful Creek Overton."

For some reason, Bridget didn't quite like Creek, but she didn't dare say it because Poppy was too infatuated by him to listen to her if she even tried to tell her that she kept getting weird vibes from him. And even if she did, Poppy would be largely offended.

Creek gave Poppy a quick peck on the cheek, and she returned to his other one. "You look lovely, as always." He said.

Poppy blushed lightly at his compliment. "And you look very nice yourself." She returned the sentiment.

"Are you coming tomorrow?" Creek asked Poppy. "It's our six-month anniversary."

"Of course." Poppy said. "But remember, I can't stay long. My manager has something pretty big planned for the next couple of days for what she thinks is the next step in my career, and she wants me to be completely focused for it. I'll just be singing a song for us."

Creek gently placed his hand on her cheek. "I'll look forward to it, love." He said.

Bridget rolled her eyes. "So much for girl's night out." She muttered under her breath.

It seemed that she and Poppy could never catch a break as of lately, if they ever wanted some time away from news reporters that wanted everything about the pink-haired superstar.

Just then, Creek saw a large black van coming in their direction. One that he had seen multiple times before.

"Hey, isn't that the paparazzi?" He asked his girlfriend.

Bridget gave Poppy a dry look after she saw the ever-familiar van that belonged to the Vega Twins; the news station that knows everything about every superstar in Los Angeles. And for the past few months, they had been talking all about Poppy and every single little detail about her life.

"Did you blog about it again?" She asked her. Her best friend has a bad habit of blogging too much about her personal life.

Poppy gave her an apologetic shrug with a sheepish grin as the van quickly pulled over in front of them. Then, a horde of people came out as cameras were flashing rapidly and microphones were being shoved in her face, questions firing at her left and right at a fast pace.

However, Creek didn't seem to mind the sudden appearance of the paparazzi as he wrapped an arm around Poppy's waist and pulled her closer to him, smiling coolly at the cameras, which seemed to be snapping pictures every second when they saw the gesture. Bridget on the other hand, felt like she might go blind from the rapid white flashes of light.

Poppy rolled her eyes and began to try and push the paparazzi away. "All right, that's enough." She said. "Back away!"

But no one seemed to listen to her, making her get tired and a little annoyed. As much as she loved being famous, there were times when she wished that she could have a normal life again, if she was ever to get some privacy. Though her blog posts were getting out of hand, but she'll work on that. However, with other things, it feels like it's almost impossible.

Finally, with Bridget's help, she managed to get them to leave in the van, and it drove away. But before Creek or Bridget could say anything, Poppy grabbed her best friend's arm and pulled her away from the entrance line.

"Where are you going, Poppy?" Creek asked her.

"Sorry, Creek." Poppy said. "But I suddenly feel like not partying. I'll still come to sing tomorrow night, I promise."

Before her boyfriend could say anything else, the pink-haired superstar left the area and towards the quiet parking lot over at the back of the building, with her best friend in tow. Bridget didn't argue with her, though. She already had enough for the night, and they never even got inside the nightclub. As much as Bridget wanted to see if her crush was there, her best friend needed her more.

Even a superstar needs to have some privacy in life, but she had noticed that her best friend had been less inspired lately, coming up with less original songs and ditching parties earlier than usual. Sometimes not even going to one at all. Maybe the desire of a more normal life was getting to her. She could relate to her on some level, but she's not quite as popular as Poppy. The news only saw her as Poppy Summers' best friend, and that was it. But at least she could have some time to herself. With Poppy, it's another story entirely.

Poppy sighed heavily as she and Bridget came back inside the car, and the chauffeur started it up, not saying a word. The roof of the car came up, and Poppy rolled up the tinted window, Bridget following her lead. No one said another word for the rest of the trip back towards Poppy's Beverly Hills mansion, the silence tense, but needed.

The pink-haired superstar looked out the tinted window, watching the blinding lights flash by her vision. All she really wished was just one or two days off from being a superstar, and just being a normal young woman. But it seemed that it was too late now. The line was drawn, and Poppy Summers will never be normal again since she had crossed it years earlier when she decided she wanted to become a singer.

A/N: Does this seem good? For a newbie to the community?

Actually, I wanted to wait until "Trolls: World Tour" was in theaters or on demand or whatever. But I got way too excited to wait until April 10th. Well, at least I'm in the home stretch for one of my stories, with only about two chapters left, and that will be done soon. I hope. Once that's done, I can have a bit more free time to write this, along with a couple of other stories. At least, that's what I'm hoping for.

But I guess what I'm most hoping for is that this whole COVID-19 virus blows over soon. I think my brothers are getting more stir-crazy than me. They even want to go back to school just so they can get out of the house more often. That's a new one for me. Well, I'm gonna keep hoping and praying that this will end soon.

Until next time! See y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think. And keep healthy!

Got to fly! ;)