inFAMOUS
Summary: Amber only wanted one thing: Fame. Success, if you will. She'd destroy anything or anyone keeping that from her. How far is she willing to go to reach this goal? Ambercentric.
Author's Note: Well, this is actually based off of the Broadway musical and not the movie. So, pardon me if things don't actually match up. This story doesn't really have pairings that are all that set. I mean, since I'm an AmberLink fan, I'm obviously going to put that in, as well as BrendaCorny, so I'm just warning you in case you hate the pairings. Trink will appear, too. Thanks to Ethel/Brenda/Najet for the awesome nickname for Link. Haha.
She claimed she would be a star someday. Reach the top of the charts, have her name in lights, etc. Well, she had the talent-certainly-Amber Von Tussle was born with talent. That same talent, though, had madly and inevitably driven her into her set career path--stardom.
When asked the ever-so-trite question of, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?', Amber, rosy cheeked while twirling her fingers around her golden locks would always answer, "I wanna be a movie star," She'd smile a big, toothy grin and pose in a bratty pose, her pose as she continued to call it. Right hand on her hip and left hand curved under her mouth, as if she were blowing a kiss. She said that's how she would pose for pictures in the tabloids.
She had matured from a young, round-faced child into a more "sophisticated" woman. Throughout those years though, she always wanted the same thing. She had advantages in that "thing" over the normal sixteen year old girl. She positively did.
Number one: her mother, after inheriting a small fortune from her late husband, Rollo Von Tussle, bought WZZT station for the sake of encouraging her four year old daughter's blooming career. In a sense, Velma was like Amber's own personal agent—Mama Rose for all of you theater fans. After all, Amber, while not a necessarily talented or gifted dancer made it onto the Corny Collins show as a lead dancer partly, if not solely, because of her connection.
Second, Amber had Link. The Link Larkin—most happening guy at Patterson Park High. As long as Amber was standing by his side, as far as Patterson Park High students were concerned, Amber was royalty. The question that plagued all of the student's minds and notepads was, did she really love him? Even Amber found herself asking that question on a daily basis. She wasn't too in touch with her emotions. Amber Von Tussle was definitely not a thinker. She let other people think for her, but she said exactly what was on her mind. Although that was regarded as a bitch to some. But, as long as she was the reigning queen, however, she didn't care. She just wanted one thing. Everybody knew that. What Amber was capable of, though, nobody had a clue.
"Hand me another taco, Amber," Link directed. They were eating at their favorite restaurant, a Tex-Mex, not too far from the station.
"Sure," Amber did as she was told. Truly, she was an obedient girl but sometimes the orders from certain people (her mother included) seemed to be more than she had bargained for. "Agents are coming to see me, you know," Amber spat, moving on to her favorite subject—herself.
"I know, Amber, you've probably told me ten times already," Amber pouted. She wanted her boyfriend to be more encouraging. "But you'll do fine. You'll be famous by the next day," Link was so sweet. He always knew the right thing to say. Especially to Amber. Sometimes he felt like he knew Amber more than he knew himself. Amber looked into Link's deep brown eyes, trying to read his thoughts. Maybe if she could distinguish his, then she could distinguish her own. Did he love her? She couldn't tell. But, when he'd tell her he loved her, he sounded genuine. Sincere. People rarely sounded like that when they talked to her. They were always pretending to be someone else. Performing, rather. It made Amber wonder. Did she really want fame? Did she want people to act like that around her forever? She certainly didn't want people to pretend. Was she? Was she pretending?
"Link?" Amber decided to try out her new petname. "Linksminkypie?"
"What?"
"Do you think I'm…fake?" Of course, she meant 'do I pretend to be someone I am not' in a sense. "Plastic?"
"How do you mean, Amber?"
"Do you think that I pretend-put on a show-for people?" This was new for her, talking about something deep for a change.
"Of course not, Amber sweetie, I know exactly who you are," He smiled a warm, full-hearted smile. "And I know you do, too," Wrong. He was so unbelievably wrong. Not only did Amber not knowwho she was, but she didn't know who anybody else was, either. Her mom said that she was just like her, though. Amber was her mother's daughter. She was her mother. A spitting image, actually. And, because of that, she did have some major difficulties when showing of thinking for/about herself.
"Come on, Amber, let's get our picture taken," There was a photo booth in the restaurant and the couple had a quirky tradition of always taking a picture every time they ate Tex-Mex. But unlike other photo booths in town, this one had a special meaning to the pair. The first time Link had uttered those three powerful words was in this photo booth. Amber even had a picture of Link whispering something in her ear to prove it. Those words, in case you didn't already know were: I love you.
"Okay," Amber hastily replied. Link pulled her into the booth, dropped coins into the slot, and pressed the start button. They immediately began posing in various different ways: funny, goofy, romantic, serious, and the list goes on. Finally, though, it came time for their signature pose. The whispering picture. Amber closed her eyes tightly as she heard Link murmur, "I love you," into Amber's right ear.
"I love you, too," And for a moment, she actually believed it.