I am a high school senior, so I know all about the little games boys and girls play when they like each other and after almost four years in high school, I seem to have mastered some of my own. This fanfic is based on the games we all know we play. (Get off your high horse you know you have).

Anyway…this is the sequel to my oneshot 'Stranded' you should read it to get how I am filling in the blanks on Musa and Riven's relationship, but this picks up right after 'Stranded' ends.

I love the relationship between Musa and Riven because they are the perfect example of a couple who you would see in real life. (I'm sorry but I don't buy the whole 'we met and fell in love and I don't mind that he was engaged while he was with me' thing. It is too perfect and convenient and so unrealistic. This story is set in the second season, but I decided that I want the girls to already know Layla. Also, I want Musa to have long hair because she looks so much better with it. One more thing, I got inspiration for this fanfic from a very popular satiric novel written by a popular female writer. I'll give you a hint, one of her most famous female characters is full of pride and hypocritically she condemns the man she loves because he also hold the same flaw. The novel I am talking about will become more apparent as the story goes on, it resembles it a bit.

I hope you enjoy!

New Beginnings

In one of the dorm rooms in one of the most prestigious fairy academies in the magical dimension was the princess of the Harmonic Nebula. She stood in the same dorm room that she stood in the year before at this time, except now she was a sophomore. It was completely empty except for the two desks and two beds in the room, Musa stood in the middle of the room and put down the one bag she had in her hand and smiled as she waited for her servants to bring up the rest of the bags. She was the first of her whole group of friends to arrive and she decided she would take a head start on unpacking especially before Stella got there because she knew the princess would make them all go shopping. Musa smiled at the thought and then opened the door wider when she saw all of her bags coming in with her servants.

"You guys can put them down there," Musa said and pointed to the center of the room. And her servants nodded and put the bags down. When some of the maids began to unpack for her, she told them they could go back to the palace, there were some things she wanted to do on her own. Musa began to unpack, first was her favorite ipod and the speakers that connected to it, it began to play some of her favorite music and unpacked the rest of her belongings. A couple hours later Musa was putting her CD's on the carefully organized rack that probably couldn't hold all of the music she was attempting to pile on it, when she heard the door to the common room open. She walked out of her room to see Stella walk in holding a bag in her hand.

"Stella!" Musa said happily and walked over to the princess to give her a hug.

"MUSA! I missed you!" Stella said and began to unpack as well. Musa decided to help her since most of her room was unpacked and organized.

The two chatted for a bit before the rest of the girls arrived that afternoon. When all the girls were finally there, they all congregated in the common room and chatted about their respective summers. Bloom and Stella had visited their respective boyfriends over the summer, Techna hadn't seen Timmy at all and Flora and Layla were still single. As for Musa, she had spent some time with her ex, but that was so over. The girls sat in the common room for hours to catch up with each other and they all told each other what they had done over the summer. After awhile Stella got a text from Brandon asking her to come to Red Fountain since the guys had just arrived and were unpacking.

"How about we go to Red Fountain and see the guys!" Stella exclaimed happily. Stella had tried to set up Flora and Musa with different guys a million times, especially after Musa broke up with her ex during their freshman year. She was like the pushy mother that wanted her daughters to get boyfriends.

"We will see them tomorrow at the dance," Bloom began "Besides, I'm having fun catching up," The girls were now in a circle on the floor eating a bunch of junk food.

"Yeah, we can see them then," Techna said and began to blush a bit when she thought about Timmy and seeing him again.

"Fine, we don't have to go…" Stella would have made a comment about Techna and Timmy when she noticed that Musa had been quiet all night. She had wondered why Musa had become quiet when Stella broached the subject of dating and boys about 20 minutes ago. She didn't know if she could call her out on it in front of everyone, but she pushed away the brief moment empathy and asked. "So Musa, you've been quiet,"

"No I haven't, its just in comparison to you…" Musa joked instead of telling the girls what was really bothering her.

"Hey!" Stella shouted in disagreement.

"Stella, who are you trying to kid? But, she's right," Bloom said turning her attention away from Stella and focusing on Musa. "You have been a little quiet,"

"I'm fine, really" Musa insisted.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with a magenta haired hero with a bad attitude would it?" Stella asked. She knew that Musa and Riven had left their relationship very undefined last year and if it were her, she would probably be very sick of the mind games he was playing.

"No." Musa lied. It was completely about Riven and the limbo they were in, but she didn't want her friends to make a big deal about it, so she just let it go. Musa was positive, or pretty sure that things weren't going to progress with Riven.

Stella let the subject go for now, she didn't want to anger Musa so early in the year, she would have plenty of time to do that later. She changed the subject to other things and the girls decided to remain in the dorm for the rest of the night chatting about their summers. Musa decided to keep quiet about her little fling with her ex-boyfriend since the girls had sworn their hate towards him after he and Musa broke up. At mid night the girls decided to get some sleep, they were all looking forward to the dance, even Musa.

Musa laid in her bed and thought about Riven, she really did have feelings towards him. He may have been an ass to her, but she knew underneath all of that he was a good person, he just had a tough front. She always wondered what could have happened to him to make him so guarded, but she knew he would never open up to her. Then, she thought about what her friends from back home had told her.

Flashback - -

On the Harmonic Nebula in the royal palace, Musa was lying on her stomach on her bed idly flipping through a magazine listening to her ipod as her friends sat around her talking.

"Musa, you really need to get over Daniel. I mean it you can't just make out with him every time you come home." Leslie scolded. Daniel was the prince of a neighboring planet and he and Musa had dated for a year and at the end of Musa's freshman year at Alfea the two had broken up. They seemed to have kept things on friendly terms. "Especially not because you are depressed about that Riven guy,"

"I am over Daniel," Musa protested.

"Really, you could have fooled us," Isabelle said as she looked over to her twin sister, Annabelle, who nodded in agreement.

"Ugh! I don't know what's wrong with me! I don't even like Daniel, it's just nice to be wanted," Musa said a little embarrassed and then looked back down.

"You really like him, don't you?" Leslie inquired. She stood from her seat across the room and sat next to Musa on her bed. "This Riven guy, I mean,"

'I don't know, I guess," Musa complained and buried her head in her bed. She was so confused with Riven, he admitted that he liked her at the end of the year. But then, he did nothing about it, if anything he got more distant afterwards. Musa lifted her head and looked back at her friends. "I don't even know if he is still interested in me, or if he ever was,"

"Well there's a way to find out," Annabelle said with a sly smile and tossed the same look to her sister, who automatically knew what her sister was talking about. Both of them stood up and walked over to Musa and knelt down in front of her bed.

"What do you mean?" Musa asked skeptically almost a little afraid of what her friends were going to tell her.

"If he wants to play mind games, then you can too," Isabelle began.

"Go out with someone from Red Fountain, and not just someone, a guy that pisses him off," Annabelle continued.

"Or a guy that is better than him at something, guys hate being beaten," Isabelle said picking up right where her sister ended. "And make sure to be affectionate, but not too affectionate,"

"No, that's so silly and childish," Musa said looking to Leslie for some support on the subject. Leslie was the most level headed of the three and she figured she would get some back up from her.

"Umm…I think that would work. Hate to admit it, but the twins have a point," Leslie said after some thought on the matter. Musa had described Riven in great detail before and he seemed like the kind of guy who was a bit possessive of the things he loved. If he did have feelings for Musa, then seeing her with someone else would surely drive him crazy. Hopefully that would lead to him making a move. At the very least Musa would know if he had feelings for her.

"Hey, it had to happen some time," Isabelle said not the least bit offended by Leslie's statement.

"You guys know I hate mind games, they are so juvenile. What will my dating someone else prove?" Musa asked.

"Fine, don't take our advice. You never have to find out if he likes you or not and you can come back home during your breaks and hook up with Daniel. Who knows maybe you will get back together," Annabelle said knowing how Musa would react to the comment.

"I'll think about it," Musa said and cringed at the thought of getting back together with her ex.

- - - -

The next day, the girls spent most of the morning and the bulk of their afternoon finishing unpacking. They then began to get ready for the dance. Stella was the most excited, which was no surprise. After they finished getting ready the girls went out to the quad that was decorated very ornately with lights. The six of them stood waiting for the boys to arrive. Musa and Layla really didn't want to wait for them, but they were friends with the guys too so they didn't want to be rude. Finally, about 10 minutes later the guys started to arrive and their favorite group of specialists approached the front gate.

"Who's the new guy?" Bloom said as she smiled at Sky when their eyes met. Bloom waved for them to come over and say hello and the group of boys did just that. Flora looked over to the guy Bloom was referring to and looked at him, she felt attracted to him and the feeling made her blush. When Helia saw Sky wave, he looked up and saw Flora looking at him and smiled. The two blushed at the same time and looked away. Flora looked at her friends and eagerly waited meeting him.

"I think his name is Helia, he's Saladin's grandson," Stella said not averting her gaze from Brandon. "And he's. Mr. Grumpy's new roommate," Stella said throwing a look to Musa when she mentioned Riven.

"What? Can we please forget about that," Musa asked as she rolled her eyes. "He is so arrogant and full of pride. Plus, I think we settled everything between us before summer started," Musa said brushing away the twig of attraction she felt when she saw Riven walking in.

"And by 'settle' you mean…" Stella asked second before the guys approached them.

"I'll tell you later, I am going to go say hi to the girls from the dance team," Musa said and then walked away from the group right before the guys got there. While all the others were distracted by the girls, Riven noticed Musa walk away just as he and the others approached her group of friends. Riven couldn't help but feel a bit hurt when she did, he didn't know if it was because of him, but he wanted to see her and talk to her. He knew he couldn't and if Musa avoided him, it would make staying away from her a lot easier. He didn't look away from her though, he might have told himself to stay away from her but that didn't mean he could admire her from afar.

While the guys were busy talking to their girlfriends, Helia approached Flora. He was beyond scared of approaching such a beautiful girl. He managed to get out a 'hello' and talk to her for a couple of minutes before she was whisked away from him by one of her friends that she had met the year before. The two defiantly had a connection which a lot of the girls seemed to notice, but the were both so shy. Hopefully this wouldn't be a repeat of the relationship that Musa and Riven had, or have.

Helia then walked over to Riven, since he was the only person he knew that wasn't preoccupied with a girlfriend. Helia walked over and stood next to him, Helia noticed that Riven didn't even realize that he was standing there. That was when he noticed Riven was staring rather intently at a girl with long blue hair, he also noticed the look of longing in his eyes. In the short time that Helia had talked to Flora, he found out about the Winx Club and how they were practically sisters. Helia may have only known Riven for a week or so, but he already knew better than if he liked the girl, especially since she was in earshot.

Musa, who had been the first freshman to become a member of Alfea's dance team, was talking to girls that were probably going to try out. She had now, in her sophomore year, become the captain, but of coarse being the princess of the Harmonic Nebula, dancing and singing were in her blood. Being on the dance team was like being in the 'A-crowd' at Alfea and a lot of girls were dieing to be in it. Musa was used to the whole vicious social circle thing, she did grow up around people who cared only about social standing, but at Alfea, everyone was a lot nicer. She talked to the girls for awhile when she noticed Riven was looking at her. She then pretended to listen to the girls, but instead she was trying to listen to Riven talk to the new guy.

"Why don't you go ask her to dance," Helia said to Riven when he was sure that Musa couldn't hear them.

At first Riven looked at Helia with a 'how dare you' kind of look on his face, but he figured if he acted like an ass that Helia might think that Riven had something to hid. So instead, Riven made it seem like he wasn't interested in anyone. "Who?"

"That girl you're looking at, the one with the blue hair,"

"I'm not looking at her, plus I defiantly don't want to be around her." Riven said acting as if he were repulsed by the thought of him being interesting in someone like Musa.

Musa, who was listening, took complete offense to what Riven had said. She turned her attention back to her friends and pretended like she didn't care, even though she did. Musa honestly didn't understand what was happening, two weeks before school ended, Riven had said he like her and after that he ignored her again. She went on with her night like nothing had happened. She didn't even talk to Riven, when she passed him, she gave him a dirty look and walked away, she knew it was petty, but he did piss her off to some extent. Musa may have had feelings for him, but she refused to acknowledge it because he was so damn proud. She was not going to be like so many of the other girls at Alfea that fell for his whole bad boy persona. But, it seemed like it was too late. Deep down she knew she had fallen hard for him, but it was obvious her feelings would never be returned so she was not going to dwell on it.

When Musa looked at the time she realized it was almost time for her and her dance team to perform. She quickly went into Alfea and got into her dance outfit and got ready for her performance.

"Attention students," said Ms. Faragonda to the crowd of students. Everyone quieted down except the seniors, who pretty much ran their respective schools. When they finally quieted, Ms. Faragonda continued. "As many of you may know, the Alfea Dance Team performs at every social event between our three schools. This year we have a new captain, Princess Musa Dannington. And now without further adew, I present the dance team," Ms. Faragonda finished. When the girls stepped into the center of the dance floor, the lights were low and everyone began to cheer. Anyone who had seen the team perform knew that the dance team was good.

The dance team always performed at events where all three schools were invited and this mixer was no different. As captain, Musa was center stage during the entire routine and her shaking around on the stage definitely caught a few eyes. Riven, who was entranced by her, didn't seem to notice, but the same wasn't for the Winx Club. They looked at their friend who seemed to be having a lot of fun and then Stella looked around at the crowd. Musa had the attention of almost every guy in the quad.

This always happened when Riven was around Musa, his entire being was different. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her shaking and moving about. She was so sexy when she hit every move perfectly and Riven seemed to jar a bit when she would do a dramatic step. Riven felt his mouth go dry and his pulse quicken slightly as the team swayed and moved into bolder dance moves that elicited a few scoffs from Griselda, Riven however did not mind watching Musa twist and turn the way she did.

"Who's the girl in the center?" said a Red Fountain senior, Jason Warren, as he turned his attention away from his friends and onto the blue eyed fairy on the stage. He was leaning against the wall in the quad and didn't pay much attention to anyone else, since he was always the center of attention anyway. But Musa, Musa was so hypnotizing, he had to know more about her.

"That's Princess Musa, she's captain of Alfea dance team," said his best friend Gideon who was standing next to him. Gideon was a little surprised that Jason was looking at Musa when so many other girls were practically throwing themselves at him.

"She's…hot," said Jason as he watched Musa sway her hips and do the dance routine flawlessly. He was in a trance very similar to Riven's, but he probably had a better chance with Musa now that

"She's a sophomore," Gideon stated thinking it would deter Jason's interest.

"Your point?"

"Nothing man," Gideon said and then talked to the other guys as Jason watched Musa. The girl intrigued him, to say the least.

"I think I want to get to know her," Jason said with a smile as he walked away from his group of friends and towards the princess as she finished the routine. Gideon nodded his head in amusement, Jason may have been really good with the opposite sex, but he didn't know about Musa's record for turning down almost every guy that approached her.

"Musa, right?" Jason said from behind Musa. She was talking to some girl that excused herself when Jason interrupted. He gave Musa a dreamy smile and Musa couldn't help but smile back at the very good looking man in front of her.

"Yeah, and you are?" Musa inquired. She had seen him before, but they had never met.

"Jason Warren, I'm a senior at Red Fountain," Jason said charmingly and took Musa's hand and kissed it. "Very nice to meet you,"

Musa couldn't help but blush, she was not used to this type of attention. "It's nice to meet you too," Musa said and felt a bit awkward when she didn't have much else to say.

"You are an amazing dancer," he said breaking the ice, he decided to leave out that he thought she was the sexiest thing when she was shaking her ass on the floor.

"Thanks, I don't mean to be rude, but I have to talk to some people," Musa said trying to get away from Jason. She thought he was nice but she knew his type and there was no need to get into that.

"I don't want to keep you, or do I?" he said with a smirk growing.

"I'll see you later," Musa smiled trying not to show him that she was a bit on edge.

"You can bet on it," Jason smiled back and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she walked away.

For the rest of the night Musa and Jason seemed to run into each other and Musa figured out that it was no accident. The girls hadn't noticed that she and Jason had been dancing around each other all night, except for Stella. She would badger Musa about it later.

Riven had been keeping his eye on Musa all night as well and he was admittedly jealous when he saw Musa and Jason together. But, it seemed like she wasn't interested in him so he didn't have anything to worry about just yet. He would however, keep his eye on Jason, Riven wasn't ready to see Musa with someone else. When all the guys left Musa said goodbye to them, except for Riven who she ignored because she was still angry about his comment earlier.

Everyone went back to their respective dorms and all the girls chatted about the night for a couple minutes and the girls mostly asked Flora about Helia since the two talked for awhile towards the end of the night.

Before anyone could broach the subject of Jason, Musa excused herself and went to bed. She was thinking about Riven, then Jason and then about what Annabelle and Isabelle said. Maybe she wasn't above playing a simple little game, but she couldn't do that. It wasn't like her to play with emotions.

But everyone is entitled to know if someone had feelings for them, right? And all is fair in love and war.

Musa is considering this Jason Warren fellow. I hope it doesn't blow up in her face…

xoxo,

princessm