You, Minus the Fame

Prologue

I sighed tiredly as my sister, Britney, narrowed her eyes at me. As she put a hand on her hips, I prepared myself for her rage. Just like I had been doing for the past few years, I took a deep breath in and reminded myself that she was two years younger than me. Still a teenager, while I just hit eighteen, making me a legally an adult.

"Cara!" Britney exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "We're at an amusement park. The best one in all of Canada. You can't seriously be planning on sitting on a bench the entire time."

"You know I'm scared of most of the rides here," I replied, staring at her green eyes that only hardened. "You can enjoy yourself. I'm fine here."

"But I don't want to be alone," she whined. "Cara."

"You're going to be going on the rides alone no matter what," I simply said, hoping she'd leave me alone. "There's no way I'm coming."

"Then why did you come!" Her voice raised, causing a few people to glance at us. "If you're not going to go on any rides, why are you here?"

"You made me come, remember?"

She huffed. "Ugh. You're no fun."

Without sparing me another word - thankfully - she turned around and stormed off, muttering curses the entire way. I watched her storm off, admiring her figure that was complimented by her booty shorts and tank top. She was petite - unlike me who was wide hipped and five foot six.

Once she was out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief. Running my fingers through my long, blonde hair, I then walked over to the nearest empty bench. Stretching my legs out in front of me, I pulled out my phone and checked the time.

Five o'clock. It was five and my sister was planning on leaving at ten. I groaned, realizing I had to spend five long hours at the crowded park. An amusement park filled with many eyes that could see me, which was the last thing I wanted. I hung my head down.

Not knowing what to do, I scrolled through my phone to find a game. Smiling to myself, I found the perfect game - Aa. I had been meaning to get passed level thirty three, but I hadn't gotten time to. Now that I had time, I got into the zone.

Thirty minutes passed by and somehow I was still stuck on the same level. I wasn't sure if it was my lack of patience or my slow reflexes, but I just couldn't get passed the level. My body stiffened as I tried to focus harder. Sticking my tongue out and furrowing my eyebrows, I hope I would get passed the level.

A few minutes later, I heard a voice say hi. I didn't look up, thinking the hi wasn't for me. It was a masculine voice, so that alone told me that it was for someone else.

But then a minute later, I was poked on the cheek. I jumped, thinking it was a robber and moved away. With my eyes wild, they soon landed on a tall, lanky boy who was smiling at me. I frowned, unsure of what to do.

"Sorry," he said, grinning. "I didn't mean to scare you."

I didn't reply. I just kept looking at him, wondering what he wanted. My heart was pounding due to my nerves.

"What were you playing?" he then asked. "You looked really into."

I still didn't move. My eyes wandered around his face, hoping I would recognize him. He had messy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. His smile was bright, but his teeth were nowhere near white. With his soft, boyish face, I couldn't recognize him. My heart continued to pound on. I wasn't good at talking to boys - or anyone really.

"Do you talk?" he then asked, frowning as he tilted his head.

I nodded, knowing I had to somehow get out of this situation. My mind was buzzing with possibilities.

"Oh." His jaw dropped. "But you don't speak English? I'm so sorry. How inconsiderate of me. I'm an asshole, aren't I? You must think I'm a freak. Or maybe, heartless. Yeah, that would make sense. I-"

"No, I speak English," I cut in, not able to bare his ranting.

He grinned. "Oh, so you can talk. In English too."

I didn't say anything. Looking down, I hoped he would take a hint.

"I'm sorry. Am I scaring you?" I then heard him ask.

Looking back up, I noticed that his eyes had softened. He looked almost sad as he stared at me, which caused me to blush. I was used to these pitied looks, but I hated them. Just because I was shy, it didn't mean I was something sad.

"No, you didn't," I said flatly. "I just rather be alone."

"Why?" He frowned. "What's so fun about being alone?"

"I'm an introvert." My eyes hardened. "Some people actually like being alone."

"That's weird."

I shook my head tiredly. Extroverts never understood. The idea of people enjoying being alone was foreign to them, so they just assumed we were insane. Little did they know that us introverts found them insane. Being social actually seemed tiresome.

"Why are you alone?" he suddenly asked. "Why are you alone at an amusement park, I mean?"

"I didn't want to be here," I replied honestly, not bothering to give him anymore flat responses. "My sister forced me to come here, and then I told her I'm going to stay here."

"Wait." His eyes widened. "You have a sister who can keep you company. Who can go with you on rides and to the bathroom, but you chose to stay alone?"

"Yeah." I shrugged.

"You're crazy. I wish I had someone to hang out with here."

"Go make some friends," I muttered.

I said it so quietly, I didn't think he would hear it. But as he gasped, I knew I had assumed wrong. Oh no.

"That's a brilliant idea!" he exclaimed. "My name is Reece. What's yours?"

I groaned. "I'm not going to be your friend. I'm not going to leave this spot."

"Please," he begged. "I'm so lonely. Most rides need a partner and I rather have you than some old, smelly grandpa."

"Gee, thanks. But no."

"Please." He suddenly dropped to his knees. "Whoever you are, I'm begging you."

My face reddened as I looked up and saw a few people staring at us as Reece continued to beg. They had actually stopped in their places to watch us, which lead to my face feeling hot. Attention was the last thing I wanted, and Reece was giving it to me on a silver platter. I sighed, knowing I had to give in for my own sake.

"Fine," I hissed, watching his face brightened up. "I'll be your 'friend'."

"Really?" He quickly stood up. "You would do that for me?"

"It's not like you gave me much of a choice..."

Reece suddenly grabbed my hand. I jumped again, and he frowned. But, his smile came back before I could blink. Pulling me up, he began to drag me away from the bench.

"We're going to have so much fun," he said, throwing me a smile as we walked.

I gulped, but somewhere in my heart I found some sort of nervous excitement building. It was really small. So small, I thought I was imagining it. But as Reece brought me out of my own little bubble for the first time in my life, I smiled. Shaking my head, I wondered what attention-hating me was doing hanging out with a boy that seemed to be the exact opposite of me.