Stella jumped as the girls came back from Red Fountain around 6pm. This annoyed Stella a bit since she'd been on her own for most of the day and they were 6 hours later than they'd said. But it didn't matter as they probably wouldn't say anything to her anyway. The other girls were all laughing with each other as they filed into their dorm through the main door. Nobody saw Stella since she was lying flat on the sofa with the TV on quietly in the background. She decided that she wouldn't sit around quietly by herself anymore. She was supposed to be the sociable one, not like Tecna who kept herself to herself; even though Stella was hoping that even Tecna wouldn't sit and play computer games by herself all day anymore. She sat up from the pastel sofa and combed her hands through her long flowing hair to remove the stray knots. As she looked over the back of the sofa, she saw Tecna and Musa smiling happily and disappear into their room, and Layla following Flora into hers and Bloom's room. Meanwhile, Bloom had pulled up a chair and sat at the table texting Sky on her phone, despite having seen him 20 minutes ago. So Stella stood up and hovered behind Bloom.
"Bloom?" asked Stella quietly.
"Yes Stella?" asked Bloom a little bit reluctantly. She hadn't quite forgiven Stella after how she had treated Tecna the previous night. But Stella was still her friend, so she couldn't completely ignore her, plus she wanted to find out what had possessed Stella to act how she did.
"Um? Can I talk with you?" asked Stella again.
Bloom then swivelled on her chair to face Stella and tore herself away from her phone. She looked at Stella waiting for her to explain.
"In private?" Stella muttered.
"Oh! Right. Um Flora?" called Bloom. "I'm just going for a walk with Stella. If the other girls wonder where we've gone, tell them we've gone on a walk."
"Ok, see you later," said Flora.
"Come on Stella," said Bloom as she hurried her along. They stepped outside the dorm and walked down the corridor silently for a bit. Then, Bloom took the opportunity to ask Stella about the night before.
"Stella? What got into you last night?" asked Bloom in a calm manner. She could see that something was bothering her and knew that being quiet was not one of Stella's qualities.
"You probably won't believe me, but I was trying to help Tecna and Timmy. I asked them to dance and they refused. I was really fed up of Tecna just separating herself from everyone and she was beginning to frustrate me with all of her silly little statistics." Stella could feel the same anger coming back in her voice that she had felt the night before. Bloom looked at Stella quite shocked when she heard her change in tone.
"I was being stubborn and asked them again. When they refused a second time, I said 'Fine, be boring.' And then I started saying things which I can't even remember, and then I just remember Tecna shouting at me and flying off. And then everyone looked at me as if I'd just slapped her round the face."
Bloom wasn't really sure what to say. She didn't want to take sides even though she felt like she should stick by Tecna. But she didn't really know what to think when Stella said she was trying to help Tecna. She knew full well what Stella was like when she was being stubborn, and that her opinion can be too powerful sometimes. But most of the time she meant well. And Bloom didn't even know what had actually happened since she'd been chatting to Sky when the argument sparked.
"Stella, I think you should apologise to Tecna. Because, from what you're saying, it sounds like you didn't mean to say those things."
As they got outside, they headed towards a small metal bench next to a blooming rose bush. They went and sat down breathing in the warm, summer breeze. "Well, that's what I wanted to talk to about Bloom. It's not that I meant the things that I said; it's just that what if I'm right. Tecna can't spend the rest of her life playing computer games and doing homework. This is what I mean. I only want what's best for her, even if you can't see that."
"She's happy though Stella. She's got friends like us, and she does talk, and chat when she wants to, but I think that's her way of dealing with life. It's how she was brought up. It's in her nature as a Zenithian, I don't think we can change that. I can see that you want what's best for her Stella, but she shouldn't have to change for you. We're all individuals with different personalities." Stella was listening carefully to what Bloom had to say. She didn't want to upset anyone anymore. She sat with her hands in her lap and traced with her hands the folds in her blue dress, whilst Bloom stared around Alfea, and watched the birds flying above their heads. "I just think that Tecna would appreciate it if you apologised. Brandon's annoyed by what you said and I know he'd appreciate you apologising to Tecna, and I'm sure Timmy would too. I'm not sure if Tecna forget about what happened straight away, but she'd certainly feel better for it."
Stella looked at Bloom and a small smile formed on her face. She felt far better for having talked to Bloom. She couldn't cope with being quiet and antisocial for long. She also felt better for knowing that once she apologises, everyone should start talking to her again. The thought cheered her up no end, the thought of being back in Brandon's arms. She nodded her to head so Bloom knew she was going to apologise. She then gave her best friend a big hug; after all, that's what friends are there for.
"Come on, shall we go and do it now?" asked Bloom politely.
"I think she deserves it," smiled Stella, her normal self beginning to show through again.
"Oh, and I'm sorry we left you so long. We stayed way longer than we had meant to at Red Fountain. Then we had to talk to Miss F about last night. You know with Tecna and the Trix? We figured it would be better if you didn't come with us too that because we knew you and Tecna weren't on the best of terms and Tecna needed to be there since it was her the Trix attacked."
They headed back to the dorm through the quiet corridors, chatting as if Stella had missed a whole year's worth of gossip. Then, Stella turned the handle to see the other 4 Winx girls sitting in the main room. She walked over to where Tecna sat chatting quietly to Musa. Bloom stood patiently behind Stella whilst Tecna looked up blankly at her.
"Tecna, I'm Sorry." The rest of the girls stopped talking when they heard this. "I didn't mean any of those horrible things I said last night and I'm sorry for having said them." Tecna continued to look at Stella. Like Bloom had predicted, Tecna couldn't fully forgive Stella, not yet. She lost some trust in Stella when she had said those things, but an apology was better than none at all. She stood up and had the strange feeling of déjà vu as she remember the night before the argument and many other occasions when Stella had apologised and it hadn't lasted. But this time felt different, it felt like the resolution of the bigger picture. She smiled weakly and hugged Stella. Tecna wasn't one to hold grudges, but she felt like she would need to keep her distance a bit for a few days before she could see that Stella meant what she said.
Stella happily hugged Tecna as she squeezed her quite hard. After hearing Bloom say 'It's in her nature as a Zenithian, I don't think we can change that,' Stella felt adamant to prove Bloom wrong, but not in a way that Bloom knew it was Stella's doing. And of course the chat they had would make it less likely that Stella had anything to do with Tecna's personality change, and instead make it look like Tecna had changed of her own accord. But she felt far happier that everyone had more or less made up with her again and that soon, Tecna would also become a social butterfly.
She's the one who needs to change, isn't she Stella.
Yes.
"Stella? Anybody home?" said Tecna as she waved her hand in front of Stella's blank face.
"Oh! Sorry, my mind was somewhere else." That was more true than Stella had ever realised.
"Who's for some hot chocolate, my treat!" said Stella as she took her plan into action.
"Oh yeah! Me please!" said Musa enthusiastically.
"That sounds nice, me please," said Bloom.
"Just some herbal tea for me Stella," said Flora.
"I'm all good for a drink thanks Stell," said Layla as she sipped her water.
"What about you Tecna, could I interest you in a steaming hot, luxurious drink of hot chocolate?" Stella tried to make the sound of a drink sound inviting since this was the perfect opportunity to add the potion.
"Ok then, since you're offering," said Tecna politely.
"Fabulous!" She jumped up in the air with excitement; everyone else was very confused as to why she was so excited though.
She rushed over to the cupboard and pulled out an orange mug for herself, a blue one for Bloom, a red one for Musa, a pink one for Flora and a light purple one for Tecna. Since their colours were individual to them, they just found it easier to colour code everything so they always knew whose was whose. She filled up the kettle with water and switched it on. The rest of the girls were chatting behind her and so had no idea what she was doing. She got a teaspoon out and placed a few heaps of hot chocolate into each cup, apart from Flora's to which she placed a herbal tea bag in. Once the kettle had finished boiling, she filled each cup up with water and gave them all a stir, also making sure she didn't leave the tea bag in Flora's. She added some milk to cool them down, and finally, her moment came. She reached into her pocket and looked back over her shoulder to make sure no one was looking and then pulled it out. She pulled the cap off and hovered her hand above Tecna's cup. She could feel her heart beating faster and harder inside her chest as she went to pour in the potion. Then she stopped.
She's the one who needs to change, isn't she Stella.
Yes.
All of a sudden, the tap let out a large amount of water into the sink making Stella jump, her hand jerked and the potion went straight into Tecna's cup. It was done. She watched it as the deep murky blue colour dissolved into the chocolaty brown of the hot chocolate. She put the lid back on the small bottle and placed it back into her pocket.
"Are you ok there Stella, you seem to be taking a while, let me help you there," said Flora as she took her own cup and Tecna's. There's no going back now, she thought. Stella the picked up her own cup, Musa's and Bloom's and handed them out.
"Umm! I'm glad I had one now, that's really nice!" said Tecna licking the stray hot chocolate from around her lips.
"Glad you like it," struggled Stella awkwardly as she forced a smile.
The girls chatted some more whilst they drank their drinks and Stella caught up with everything else she'd missed during the day from Layla and Flora.
As Tecna place her finished cup onto the table, she noticed a violent pain in her head. She placed a hand on her forehead as she felt it throb. She suddenly felt quite faint and struggled to keep herself upright as she sat.
"Guys, I'm not feeling so good. I've got a very peculiar headache, so I think I should go to bed." She took her drink to the sink, and the girls saw no more of her that night.
What have I done? How could I have been so stupid? It said 'There are no side effects'. Surely it's just a coincidence, yeah, it's just a coincidence. Everything's fine. Thought Stella as all these thought whizzed around in her head. What had she done?
Sorry this was a long one guys but I hope you're enjoying it. It all gets going in the next chapter, so don't go anywhere! Please review x