Fallin' for the Fame - Chapter 4

An obnoxious obsession.

Previously: Sam grappled with the pressure of everyone around her moving on while struggling to confront the circumstances that could potentially threaten her future.

4

As I sink onto the living room sofa, Simone’s words still echo in my mind. I shove aside a few scratchy pillows and feign interest in the game show flashing across the TV screen.

My relationship with Justin isn’t boring. Not really. I mean, maybe we could switch up our favorite date locations and be a little more spontaneous, but we stick with what works. I don’t see a problem with that.

Over in the kitchen, Simone greets Talia and Tatiana, hugging one while tickling the other. Just like our baby sisters, people often assumed we were twins when we were little. But nowadays, it’s easy to tell us apart. Simone prefers to wear her curls natural and says I should do the same—it’s the main feature that came from our dad’s Irish and Afro-Brazilian roots. But I’ve been straightening my hair since I was twelve. I simply prefer a more sophisticated look.

I’m readjusting my side ponytail when Talia and Tatiana come scampering into the living room.

“Hey, guys.”

The two girls climb into my lap, and I hug them close, the bows of their pigtails brushing against my cheeks. Each of them has the perfect combination of Mom’s long princess lashes and Trey’s bushy eyebrows. They’re wearing adorable summer dresses with ribbons at the waist. Little Tatiana is carrying a stuffed dolphin. She passes it my way, and I hug him too.

“He isn’t real,” Talia says with a giggle. “He doesn’t need a hug.”

I stare at her with wounded eyes. “Well, maybe I need a hug.”

The two girls jump down and run off laughing, not a care in the world… I remember when Simone and I were like that.

Back in the kitchen, my sister shrugs at Mom and Trey. “You really think I give a crap?”

Mom shushes her. “The girls can hear you!”

Simone rolls her eyes as she continues sharing her latest road trip adventures.

Justin is propped in the doorway that leads to the dining room, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his dark-washed jeans. I catch his eye, and he grins my way, giving me that same familiar, charming smile.

For fifteen years, it’s always been that same smile.

I nod, and he returns his attention to Simone’s dramatic story. She’s going on about some woman in a wedding gown that hitched a ride on her bike, insisting that she drop her off at a Buffalo Wild Wings. I’ll have to hear that one later.

The game show on TV fades to black, and the trailer for Legend’s latest movie, Heist in the Hills, pops up onscreen. My stomach flutters, and I sit up straight. The movie’s about a couple of teenage girls who get mixed up in the plans for a Hollywood heist before stepping in to save the day. Legend plays an arrogant, sultry version of himself. A small, but significant, cameo that I’m sure is driving sales at the box office. I must’ve seen this commercial a hundred times by now.

Everyone’s focused on Simone in the kitchen, but I cross my arms, determined to maintain self-control—just in case anyone’s watching. I sit back and watch the TV, prepared to indulge in the eye candy.

“Legend Blake,” he says, flashing an irresistible smile. “Pleasure’s all mine.” Understandably, the girls are drooling onscreen.

Goodness, the Lord made him handsome. My temperature rises as I continue watching.

Most girls fawn all over these guys in Hollywood whom they’ve never met, but that isn’t the case for me. Legend and I met in high school. I was a sophomore. He was a junior. The unforgettable moment just may have slipped his mind.

From the second I saw Legend, I wanted him bad. I had a huge crush on him, but he had no clue I existed. He’d transferred to our school the year before and with his handsome looks and sexy singing voice, it was no time before he became the most popular guy in school. I honestly don’t think it could’ve gone any other way—confidence was in the boy’s genes.

We’d passed several times in the hall, but I never got a chance to talk to him. Not that I would’ve, had the opportunity arrived. I rarely talked to anyone besides Justin or Simone.

Then, out of nowhere, my chance arrived. A talent show was coming up, and they were looking for stagehands. Everyone knew how seriously Legend took his singing—his YouTube channel had already racked up thousands of subscribers. The boy was determined to become the world’s next R&B star. It only made sense that he’d sign up for the talent show—the publicity would get him one step closer to the record deal of his dreams. So I signed up too. But not as a performer—that would be a disaster—I signed up to help backstage. And then I could gaze at his gorgeous face and admire his sultry singing voice as much as I wanted every day.

One afternoon, I found myself backstage, watching him rehearse for the show. He was pouring his soul into a romantic rendition of Ne-Yo’s “So Sick” while playing an acoustic piano, making my heart race with every note. Settling on the backstage stairs, I swayed to the melody, mesmerized as his voice drifted through the empty auditorium.

But just as he moved to note his sheet music, he looked up and noticed me. I stood abruptly, trying to play it off by making my way down the steps, but I totally missed one and went sliding on my butt.

Legend rushed over to me. “You all right?” His hand was soft and firm. He smelled like fresh rain.

I forced myself to exhale. “Yeah, I—”

Before I could say another word, a man who looked like an older version of him appeared at the foot of the stage. “Yo, L, we gotta go. Vocal coach will be at the house in thirty.” I’d later learn the man was his dad.

Legend looked back at me. “Take it easy, okay?” I nodded, and he rushed off.

And as I watched the sexiest boy I’d ever met head out with his dad, it hit me: I just talked to Legend Blake… and somehow I didn’t die. I promised myself if I ever got another chance, I’d make a proper introduction.

I got that chance the next day.

I was making my way up the hall when I spotted him a few lockers away. He stopped and smiled before heading in my direction.

This was it. This was my opportunity! I took a deep breath, brushing some hair behind my ear. And then he walked right past me. He stopped just a few feet away and started chatting up some girl at her locker. My heart ripped in two.

I never got another chance like that. The talent show came and went, and of course, Legend won. By the time we returned from Christmas Break, he was gone. He entered the televised singing competition, Lucky Star, and his career took off.

I, on the other hand, settled into my quiet and much duller life… But I’ve never forgotten about him.

“Holy beefsteak!” Simone pops up behind the sofa, nearly scaring the confetti out of me. “Someone’s been working out.” She points to a lengthy slow-mo shot of Legend stepping out of a pool on TV, drops of water glistening across his chiseled chest like lucky little diamonds. “I bet the guy’s got an insurance policy on each butt cheek.” Simone winks at me, and I swat at her head, somehow missing again.

“Shhhh!”

No one knows about my little thing for Legend besides her. Thankfully, Justin is preoccupied with showing Trey something on his phone.

My sister falls next to me, laughing. “You still aren’t over him, hmm?”

I scowl at her. “Shut up, Simmy.”

She rests her chin in her hand, glancing back and forth at the TV and me. “Can we both agree that this little infatuation is beyond ridiculous?”

I roll my eyes and stand. I don’t need her blowing up my life with her irritating comments.

She throws out her hands as I head for the stairs. “It’s just an observation!”

I march up the steps, heading straight for my old bedroom. I need some space… and I need to talk to Legend. But as I round the corner, a wall of Pepto-Bismol pink hits me like a slap to the face. I stagger back, peering left and right. It looks like a dizzy unicorn trotted inside and barfed cotton candy all over my room.

I inch inside looking around. “What the—?”

“What do you think?” asks Mom. She’s standing behind me with a load of laundry in her arms, beaming like a child who just doodled her first crappy drawing.

“What happened to my room, Mom?”

“Well, the girls kept butting heads, and Trey and I figured Talia was big enough for her own space, so…” She sweeps her hand, presenting her little project. “Don’t you like it?”

Someone has painted a fairytale castle on the wall. Vines are dangling from the ceiling, and a giant rocking horse sits in the corner. The four-year-old has a queen-sized bed. I never had a queen-sized bed. I still don’t have a queen-sized bed. “What about Simone’s room?”

Mom waves her newly bandaged hand. “You know she drops in and needs a place to stay sometimes. You’re much more independent.” She heads off, humming to herself, not the least concerned about my feelings.

It’s gone. All of my things, all of the memories, gone. The desk where I’d study and write in my diary, the reading corner where I shared secrets with Simone, the bed where me and Justin had our first makeout session, gone.

I sink down on my baby sister’s massive bed, and the fluffy pink blankets nearly swallow me whole. Shaking myself aright, I scoot toward the edge, my head throbbing as I stare blankly at the wall.

Wait… No. My breath catches in my chest as I scan the room.

My favorite portrait that hangs in the center of the wall has vanished—the photo of me wrapped up in my dad’s arms, is nowhere… to… be found. In its place hangs a happy picture of my mom, Trey, and the girls.

It’s as if he never existed at all.

My eyes sting with tears as I swallow and turn away. Over by the window, I see a vision of my nine-year-old self, gazing at the stars.

Dad snuck up behind me and hugged me tight, nuzzling my cheeks with his goatee. He was a slender man with wavy black hair and the arms of a center basketball player. His skin was light, like butter mint candy, and he smelled like cinnamon apples.

It was a chilly night in January, and he’d come to check up on his 10-year-old.

I giggled. “I’m not ten yet, Daddy!”

He smiled, brushing back my curls. “I know, but tomorrow you will be…” His words trailed off as he gazed at the floor. At the time, I was too young to know what his silence meant, but I knew that something wasn’t right.

“We’re going to the movies tomorrow,” I said.

Daddy nodded. “I know, Sweet Pea.”

“Justin’s coming too.”

He let out a soft chuckle. “That’s great. I’m glad you’ve got such a good friend.”

“You’re coming, right?”

“Actually, I got a last-minute assignment in Tokyo. You remember where that is?”

I nodded, trying my best not to pout.

Daddy lifted my chin. “But I promise, I’m gonna be back to take you out for ice cream—just like we do every year.” My little heart was already sinking.

Daddy dusted my forehead with light kisses. “You’re gonna have a great birthday. Be sure to have your mom record you blowing out your candles—and just you, all right? Not Justin this time.”

I agreed. But the thought of Justin gave me pause. “He’s been kinda sad lately. He misses his mom, so I’ve been trying to cheer him up.”

Daddy smiled with sad eyes. “That’s sweet of you to care so much, honey.”

“They found her last week… She was in the water.” Justin’s mom had been missing for a while, and everyone thought she’d run away. But that wasn’t the case.

Daddy pulled my face into his chest, breathing a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry you had to hear about that, Sweet Pea. Sometimes parents just… have a hard time.”

I’d heard Justin’s dad talking to my mom. They said she jumped off a bridge. I figured that maybe she wasn’t a good swimmer.

“He’s just been so sad, Daddy.” I looked up, blinking into his eyes. “I don’t want you to go away and never come back.”

“Of course not, honey.” Daddy pulled me back into his chest. “I might go away sometimes, but I’ll always come back. I’ll always be here for you.”

As a naïve child who knew nothing about the harsh realities of life, I believed him.

And then his plane disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.

I press my palms against my eyes, willing the tears to leave. I let out a deep breath and take out my phone, but Legend still hasn’t hit me up.

My temples throb as my heart sinks into my belly.

Simone always says, “I’ll never understand this obnoxious obsession. His singing is trash and his acting sucks.”

Simone wouldn’t recognize true talent if it hit her in the face. Her idea of quality music is someone who hasn’t washed their hair in a week, imitating demonic growls while their death metal guitar shrills at eardrum-piercing decibels.

But she’s right about one thing: This is an obnoxious obsession. How much longer can I do this? Until I have children? Until he starts dating again? I run my tongue across my teeth, shaking my head. Maybe I should just let this go.

I’m leisurely scrolling through my feed on Instagram when I receive a new message. I go to my DMs without thinking. But it isn’t from Legend at all. It’s Professor Natalie, forwarding some lame chain letter: Today your life is going to change! Give a double-tap and forward to four people. Make a wish and watch it come true!

I hate this sort of thing. Downstairs, Simone has started another tickling session with the girls. Justin’s going on and on about some software glitch with Trey. It isn’t like I’m in a rush to head back down. I forward the letter to my mom, two of my cousins, and Simone. Then I close my eyes and make a wish:

One more shot with Legend Blake.

A few seconds pass before I open an eye, peeking out. Nope. No Legend Blake with washboard abs standing before me in a shimmering haze.

I giggle and toss my phone on the bed. Such a silly idea. I really should consider distancing myself from Legend before I lose my mind. I mean, I’m a nobody. Why would he even…?

And then my phone chimes.

My fingers tremble as I check the message...

Legend: Let’s meet.

Copyright © 2025 Kimberly R. Vargas. All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission from the author.

Author’s Note:

Hey y’all! 💕

Thanks so much for checking out this chapter of Fallin' for the Fame! I hope you’re loving Sam’s journey as much as I’ve loved writing it.

New chapters drop every Wednesday, so be sure to stay tuned! And if you're enjoying the drama, romance, and all the twists in between, don’t keep it to yourself—hit that subscribe button and share with a friend who loves a good love story.

I’ll see you next Wednesday!

Kimberly R. Vargas
Romance Author | Storyteller of Healing & Love

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