Falling for a Star (Complete)

Chapter 1 - How it all started

I've never given much thought to the rich and famous because they're so different from me that they might as well be in a different world. They're unattainable and perfect, living in their mansions in Hollywood, while I live on the other side of the country in Sioux City, Iowa with all the normal people that are struggling just to pay our bills and get through life day by day. I could have never imagined that our two worlds would collide and my entire life would be turned upside down.

I'm a barista at the little coffee shop on the campus of the community college where I'm taking business management classes. I started working there five years ago, when I was a junior in high school, and I've become an expert at it. Most of my customers know my name and I know their order by heart before they even have to say it. I've been working really hard, taking every extra shift I can get so I can buy a house after graduation.

I don't need anything fancy, just a little starter home, something really cheap and outdated that I can gut and remodel and make my own. After five years, I have saved up $52,000, which on a barista's salary feels like an amazing accomplishment. At first I thought about giving up sometimes because my account was growing so slow that it felt like I'd never get there, but now, I'm so close I can actually see the finish line. Graduation is only a few months away and by then I should have enough saved up for a really big down payment on a house so I won't need to take out much of a loan.

Through the years my Dad has offered to help me out, but I told him no because I wanted to do this on my own, to feel like I accomplished something important without anybody's help. Plus my Dad doesn't make much and I don't want to take the little bit of money he has. We live in a small two-bedroom house, just the two of us, and he barely makes enough as a librarian to cover the bills. He works hard, and I want him to spend his hard-earned money on himself.

"Are you sure you really want to buy a house here and tie yourself down to this town for the rest of your life?" Dad asked me one morning when I came downstairs to make us breakfast before my shift at the coffee shop.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with this town?" I asked, grabbing the eggs and bacon from the refrigerator.

"Nothing. This is a perfectly good town Brenley, but you've never been anywhere but here."

"That's not true. I went on that fishing trip to Canada with you," I told him as I set a pan on the stove and turned on the heat. "And we went to Mount Rushmore that one time."

"Yeah, but those places aren't that far away sweetheart. It's a great big world out there. I'd love for you to travel and have some adventures before you tie yourself down to this place for the rest of your life."

"That's what the internet's for Dad. I can go on Youtube and watch everyone else's adventures around the world. It's safer and cheaper that way," I told him as I broke four eggs into the hot skillet and scrambled them up.

Dad laughed. "Watching someone else travel isn't the same as being there and experiencing it for yourself. That's like saying that watching someone else eat a steak on Youtube is the same as getting to eat one yourself. You can't smell the char from the grill, taste the flavor of the seasoning or feel the juicy texture of the meat on your tongue as you chew it up through a screen. Watching isn't the same as experiencing it yourself."

"I get what you're saying, but I'm really not interested in traveling the world Dad. That was you and Mom's thing, but I'm perfectly happy being here," I told him with a smile as I scooped the eggs out onto two plates and slid one in front of him before pouring us both a cup of coffee.

Dad lifted his hand and ran it through his black hair that was now peppered on the sides with grey and let out an exhale. He always got that look on his face any time I mentioned Mom. She had passed away when I was five from a sudden heart attack and Dad was left to raise me on his own.