The can in front of the girl was given another shove until it shot out in front of her feet. Her midnight black hair trailed behind her and swayed dejectedly in the wind. Her back was slightly hunched over so she could hide her watering eyes and warm, red face. She had never been so embarrassed in her life. He wasn't supposed to yell at her like that in front of his friends. She was just the messenger. At that moment she hated Darcy. Absolutely hated her, she knew that Darcy was her friend and all, but why had Darcy told, no ordered, her to tell him? She didn't even know the guy that well, okay so that was a lie. Since her head was down she didn't see the buff chest looming ahead of her and instead walked right through the brick wall-like chest.
"Uhff," she yelled in surprise. She was sent flying back and landed on her butt. She was afraid to look up, not knowing if it was the vengeful boyfriend coming back to spite her.
Cautiously, the girl rose up her face and set her piercing dark, navy blue eyes on the man in front of her. She let a small yelp when she realized it was exactly the vengeful ex-boyfriend that she was trying to avoid.
She quickly scrambled up onto her feet, scraping both knees and her arms in the process. Internally, she cursed the pavement for being so rough.
"What do you want?" she stammered, trying to add a hint of a threat in her voice.
A small rumble came from the man's throat as she realized he was chuckling, at her. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the sound coming from the man's diaphragm.
"Why are you here?" she stuttered, attempting to get him to explain himself so that she would not have to worry. Her voice, although she was trying to hide it, was laced with worry.
"Why?" he asked simply. He took a step back as if to tell her he came in peace. As he stepped back he folded his arms in front of him and raised an eyebrow at her awaiting her answer.
"What do you mean?" the girl asked flabbergasted. She wasn't sure why he had followed her. He had flipped out and had yelled at her, steam coming from his ears and everything. It wasn't her fault that Darcy had broken up with him. He had screamed at her, had made fun of her almond-shaped eyes, and had cursed her for all eternity. She wasn't going to lie, his tongue stung her core. It hurt that he could be that wicked. She would never have told Darcy, because Darcy was, well Darcy, but she liked him. At least she thought she did. She never knew that he could be that hateful towards someone, and it wasn't even her fault. It wasn't her fault that Darcy was being Darcy and had sent her second in command to tell her boyfriend that they were done and that she had cheated on him with one of his rivals. She wasn't even sure why Darcy had decided to do that. Darcy had always seemed happy; she always rubbed it in the girl's face that she was dating him.
"Why did she do it?" the deep baritone voice that used to send her heart swooning asked again and interrupted the girl's thoughts.
"I don't know?" she squeaked. She was itching to get out of his presence. She was kind of mad at him for blaming her for the breakup. She had thought they were friends. They would always hang out whenever Darcy was late or never showed up to one of their dates. It usually went that he would pick Darcy up from the apartment the two girls shared together, but Darcy would be busy or just not there. The girl and him used to just hang out and watch a movie or would go somewhere. It was just as friends, purely just as friends, much to the girl's displeasure. She was surprised that he had thought that she had something to do with it and she was hurt that he would yell at her for something that was out of her control. She was no longer happy that Darcy had broken up with him; it was easier when he wasn't mad at her.
"It's Darcy," the girl mumbled underneath her breath while giving a little shrug to her delicate shoulders. It was true, it was Darcy. He should have known what Darcy was capable of. He had heard the rumors, had heard the stories, he should have heeded them.
"That's not really an explanation," he grumbled, running his hand through his stylized hair. Musa hadn't been looking straight at him, but stole a glance at his face. His eyes were downcast and seemed a little red. She could see the hurt, confusion and even a little bit of anger in his eyes, although most of the anger had been taken out when he had cursed at her.
"I can't offer you anything more. She didn't tell me, but she started seeing Jared a few days ago," Musa gasped and did a sharp intake when she realized her mistake, that she had just blabbed Darcy's secret, the relationship with Jared. Granted he knew that Darcy was seeing someone else, namely Jared, but he didn't know it has been for a while, when the two were still together.
"What?" his voice thundered around her being. It shook her to the core and the anger that had seeped out of his eyes was once again implanted in the dark purple pupils.
"I have to go," she whimpered as she made a move to step around him.
He stepped into her path and uncrossed his arms. She could feel his hot breath on her face and started to prepare herself for the onslaught of words she was bound to get in a moment.
"I can't believe this," he shouted. She flinched at the loudness of his voice and tried to see around his hulking frame. No one else was walking on the sidewalk and the building that he had followed her out of was surprisingly quiet.
Something snapped inside of her. Call it her temper, call it the pent up emotions she had to hide in front of him, call it the emotions she felt towards Darcy and Darcy's relationships, call it whatever you will.
"Well believe it! You knew the stories about Darcy. You knew what she was capable of. Why didn't you heed the stories? You're so aggravating. You didn't even realize that your whole relationship was a sham. She cheated on you, great; she's been cheating on you. Where do you think she was when she wouldn't show up for your dates? She would call me and tell me to keep you distracted for awhile while she got back. Some days she would just tell me not to bother and tell you that she was visiting her family. You're so gullible, so fucking gullible," she raged on, not caring that she let a curse word fall from her usually innocent mouth. Her chest was heaving up and down and her face was flushed with red rage.
"She wasn't visiting her family?" he asked slightly taken aback.
"No," she replied in a steely voice, "I would always feel bad so I hung out with you."
"I can't believe this," he said again in surprise.
The girl rolled her eyes at him.
"I can't believe you didn't even notice the one person that actually cared for you in front of you all this time," she bitterly whispered under her breath so he wouldn't hear her.
"What?" he asked, looking into her emotionless eyes.
"Nothing," she brushed off his and her comment. She took a step around him and started to walk down the sidewalk, leaving him in a state of shock and anger. She decided that she wouldn't care from then on. She really wouldn't, he had gotten himself into the mess, and he could get himself out. He didn't need her; he probably didn't even know she existed.
"Darcy?" the girl called out into the dimly lit apartment.
She could hear noises from the upstairs bedroom, grunting and screaming to be exact. In disgust she turned around and fled the apartment hoping that by the time she got back Jared and Darcy would have been finished by then, but she wasn't so sure.
She decided to go to the music store; she was in need of some shopping therapy anyways.
When she got there, there was a tall, lanky blond who was arguing with Andy, the manager of the store. Andy wasn't much older than her, maybe a year or so.
The girl walked up to the counter and stood next to the blond, ready to interfere if Andy needed help. Sometimes that was all she thought she was good for, to be someone's sidekick, to be their help.
"I can't believe you don't carry her," the blond gasped in surprise.
"I'm sorry, but I haven't even heard of her," Andy shrugged.
"She's only one of the up and coming singers in today's music and I need to get my hands on one of her CD's," the blond chided Andy.
"Who is it?" the girl piped in.
Both the blond and Andy turned to look at the girl. Andy smiled in his genuine way while the blond looked at her suspiciously.
"Are you trying to get her CD because it's only for me," the blond snapped threateningly.
"I told you we don't have her CD," Andy frowned and sighed in exasperation.
"Who are you anyways?" the blond turned from Andy to the girl.
"My name's Musa," the girl replied.
"Oh my goodness! You're her!" the blond squealed.
"What?" Musa asked although she was pretty sure of the response she was going to get.
"I am like your number one fan! I can't believe it's you," the blond shouted in delight.
"Who is she?" Andy asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"Nevermind," Musa quickly said while pulling the blond from the counter to a section far from the counter.
"I can't believe it. It's you right? Musa, the up and coming singer of tomorrow," the blond laughed hysterically in joy.
"Yes," Musa conceded. She was met with another squeal of delight.
"My name's Stella," the blond said.
"Nice to meet you Stella," Musa replied. She figured that she couldn't keep the secret any longer on who she was. She was glad that her manager agreed to not show her face on the CD cover. Apparently the CD and her music had tested better than she had thought though. Musa wasn't exactly happy with the notion that her life would no longer be private because of screaming fans.
"Do you know when I get my hands on your CD?" Stella asked.
"They're not coming out for another week which is why Andy probably didn't know who you were talking about, but I have a few extra copies at my apartment if you want one so badly," Musa smiled. She kind of liked the bubbly blond. Stella was to say the least amusing.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Stella screamed.
"Come on, it's not that far away from here," Musa shrugged nonchalantly.
Musa led Stella a few blocks away from the music store where her apartment was located.
Luckily when they reached the apartment Darcy and Jared had called it quits for the time being. They walked into Jared, shirtless, making him something to eat.
"Where's Darcy?" Musa asked curiously.
"Upstairs," Jared shrugged.
Musa shot him a glare before leading the blond down the hallway to her room.
"Here," Musa said, handing Stella an unassuming CD.
"Thank you," Stella said again, "you should come out with my friends tonight for karaoke. You'd probably be amazing and you'd have a lot of fun."
"Thanks, but I've had a long day. Maybe another time," Musa mumbled, "here's my card though," Musa said handing Stella a card with her information on it. Stella wasn't bad, she was pretty funny actually.
"Thanks," Stella said as she bounded out of the apartment.
"Yup," Musa replied as she shut the door.
"Who was that?" Jared asked.
When Musa turned around he was a few inches from her and she had almost rammed into his bare chest.
"A fan," Musa shrugged. She was slightly shaken up at his close proximity so she took a step away from him.
"Interesting," Jared mused.
"Jared?" a sultry voice came from upstairs.
"Well, duty calls," Jared gave Musa a wink before he ran up the stairs to where Darcy was waiting.
Musa breathed out a sigh of relief. She didn't really like Jared. He seemed nice and all, but there was something about him that Musa felt was fake.
All of a sudden there was a pounding on the door. Musa, being near the door opened it up to see a fuming ex-boyfriend.
"Where is she?" the boy raged.
"You shouldn't be here," Musa pointed out calmly despite being able to feel his anger.
"Musa, where is she?" he repeated himself.
"Riven, go home," Musa sighed. She was standing in his way, barring him from getting inside.
"I need to talk with her," he growled.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she replied hesitantly, knowing exactly what was going on in the upstairs bedroom.
"Musa, let me in," Riven ordered.
"I can't do that," Musa stood her ground. She began to close the door. She couldn't close it the last few inches though because he had stuck his foot in the door. In exasperation she grabbed her purse off the side table beside the door and walked out the door, causing him to back up and remove his foot to avoid being on top of her.
When she got out she quickly turned around and locked the apartment door behind her.
"Come on," she turned to him and grabbed his arm, swallowing a flutter in her heart.
"What?" he snapped.
"You are not going in there to talk to her right now. You can go later. Right now you need to calm down and have a little fun and I know where you can do that," Musa replied. She dragged him through the apartment building until they got to her car.
"So are you going to come or not," she released him, giving him the choice of whether or not he wanted to go with her.
"Fine," he grumbled, he pretending to look displeased with the situation.
"Alright then, get in," she said, turning away from him and concentrating on the car.
"You took me to an amusement park?" Riven asked skeptically.
"Trust me, you need it," Musa shrugged. They were waiting in line for tickets and despite his protestation he was actually slightly excited to be able to have a little fun after the whole ordeal he went through.
He had tried to pay for the tickets, but Musa had refused to let him.
"I can pay you back," Riven offered.
"Relax, I have a CD coming out so I have a few extra dollars here and there," Musa shrugged and then chided herself about bringing it up.
"So your music career has finally heated up?" Riven asked.
"I guess it has," Musa shrugged.
They strolled down the crowded sidewalk, their arms brushing each other occasionally as they walked.
"Come one let's go on this one," Riven said veering off to join the line for the roller coaster.
"I'm not sure," Musa said hesitating and standing just off to the side of the line.
"What do you mean?" Riven asked, stopping to look over his shoulder at him.
"I don't really want to go on the roller coaster, but you go ahead. I don't really like roller coasters. Go on," Musa insisted.
Riven nodded then turned back around to face the front of the line. Musa moved to stand off to the side of the line for the ride. She watched as little kids ran around screaming. The little buggers were followed by parents cooing with outstretched hands, attempting to corral them back. Musa turned to look up at the sun; the warmth beat down on her face. She definitely needed the day off.
"Musa?" a voice wafted up to her ears.
Musa turned around and discovered that it was Andy who was behind her.
"Andy? Weren't you just at the music store?" Musa chuckled.
"I was, but Mitzy and I had this day planned so I closed the store," Andy shrugged.
"So where is the lovely Mitzy?" Musa couldn't help but roll her eyes a bit.
"I know that you don't like her. She's off shopping and I told her that I would wait for her around the roller coaster rides," Andy shook his head at her.
"Sorry, she just was never that nice to me," Musa said a little ashamed that her feelings were made so apparent. It was true, Mitzy was never the nicest human being on earth, in fact she didn't even know how Andy, a really good person, had gotten caught up in a relationship with Mitzy.
"Why are you here?" he questioned.
"I'm here for a friend. He wasn't having a good day so I brought him to the amusement park," Musa replied.
"Aren't you nice? So did that blond ever find what she was looking for?" he asked.
"Yeah, do you what CD she asked for?"
"She asked for a singer named Musa, which is funny because your name is Musa. I thought it was just a coincidence," Andy answered. Andy was also a musician, besides owning a music store. He even had his own band that Musa would occasionally play with. Rather, she would sing with them at the local hangout whenever they invited her to.
"That is funny. Small world," Musa lied to him. She didn't really feel like telling him that the Musa Stella was asking for was indeed the Musa standing in front of him.
"Who's this?" a husky voice weaved its way over to the two friends.
"Huh?" Musa whisked around to come face to face with Riven.
"This is Andy. He's my friend from the music store," Musa replied, "Andy, this is Riven." The two men shook each others' hands and nodded in acknowledgement.
"I better try to find Mitzy, just in case she's done. I'll see you later?" Andy turned to Musa.
"Yeah, I'll probably be in there tomorrow. I need to grab a few music books," she waved him goodbye.
"So why aren't you dating him?" Riven teased, "he's practically you in male form."
"Because he's dating somebody," Musa replied, rolling her eyes, and because I like someone else, or at least I used to she thought.
"That's not a good excuse," he joked.
"I'm not a homewrecker, thank you very much" she stuck her tongue out at him.
"How juvenile," he shook his head.
"You should talk," she mocked.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not the one who threw a temper tantrum over the fact that a girl cheated on him even though he knew the stories and rumors," Musa spat. She gasped when she realized that her annoyance had gotten the better of her and she had lashed out.
Riven narrowed his eyes and suddenly looked a lot like the thunder storm he looked like a few hours earlier.
"That was low," he growled.
"But true," Musa squeaked before she lifted her hand to cover her mouth.
"Whatever," Riven grumbled. He pushed his way past the quivering girl and started walking down the path. Musa, not knowing what else to do, quickly turned around to follow him.
"Where are you going?" she risked asking him.
"Home," he replied, his voice cold and steely.
"Look, I'm just calling it how I see it. Sorry for being blunt," she said with an edge of sass in her voice.
"Whatever," he brushed aside her comment.
"Fine, I'll give you a ride," she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Musa, you're home," Darcy gave Musa a look.
"Yeah," Musa yawned.
"So how did my little Riven take it?" Darcy asked, her voice actually laced with curiosity.
This was the question Musa wasn't sure how to answer. She could be truthful and tell Darcy that Riven hadn't taken it well or she could disappoint Darcy and tell her a little white lie, the lie being that Riven took it well and was prepared to move on.
"He took it as well as you would think he would take it," Musa stuttered in response. Despite Riven's mood swings that day, he was still a friend to Musa so she figured she might as well be supportive to him as well as Darcy. It was a game of politics and diplomacy.
"Hmm," Darcy mused, "I guess that's alright," she shrugged nonchalantly.
"Where's Jared?" Musa wondered out loud.
"He went home. He had to take a nap," Darcy gave a small chuckle, her voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard to Musa.
"He got that worked up?" Musa's brain not being nice to her, it slipped up and she said what she was thinking before thinking.
"Of course," Darcy winked.
Musa rolled her eyes and shook her head jokingly in disgust, even though on the inside Musa could feel her blood boiling from anger at Darcy for hurting Riven and repulsion at the thought of Darcy with Jared.
"I think I'm going upstairs to go to bed. I'm not feeling too well. See you in the morning," Musa yawned again for good measure and then turned around without a second glance at Darcy. She made her way upstairs and when she reached her bed she jumped in and sank into the mattress in simple pleasure.