Disclaimer: And all of the people on earth read knowing that these character DO NO belong to mwah. (c) Straffi

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – HAPPENS OFTEN

Rain kept pouring down relentlessly as I absentmindedly stirred the cooking stew in the pot. I had a more important issue other than stirring stew selfishly occupying my mind against my will.

"I think I like…"

You?

I felt my heart clench and my face heat up again, and I unknowingly started stirring the stew extremely fast before I realized my strange dazedness. I sobered myself by giving myself a nice slap.

What Riven said was a result of his insanely high fever. Don't get your hopes high for nothing Flora. Just ignore and forget last night.

However, his glowing face with eyes gazing at me so tenderly popped up in my mind again. I gave myself another slap.

"What are you doing masochist?"

I looked around a felt my heart skip a beat.

"R-R-R-Riven!"

I felt my face turn flushed as I diverted my eyes out of embarrassment. Even since I realized my feelings, making eye contact with him grew increasingly harder when I became self-aware, like right now.

He lazily looked at his surroundings "We're back home?"

I nodded. I tried to compose myself and numb myself to his presence. "I drove us back early because you had a high fever." I turned off the stove and walked over to Riven, placing a gentle hand on his forehead, and gave a satisfied nod. "It's cooled down quite a bit. Good. But seriously, please start taking better care of my body."

Riven let out a yawn, walking over to the stove to take a peek at what I was cooking. "What are you doing?"

"Making stew."

Riven furrowed his eyebrows for a second as if in deep thought, threw a unreadable expression at me.

"What?"

Riven casually replied, "Nothing," and walked toward the couches and collapse on them before taking a gigantic stretch. Then he turned his head towards a box sitting next to him, and a few seconds later, he plunged back up into the air like bouncing ball. Scurrying back over, he pointed back with a muddle expression.

"What the heck is that?"

"That," I started calmly, "is called a cat."

He shook his head with a low, feminine grunt. " I mean why is the cat here?"

"It's a stray I found crouching in the bushes, taking shelter from the heavy rain, so I gave it some milk, and brought it in." I playfully grinned and walked over to the couches, to reach my hands into the box. I lifted the furry white kitten, which desperately needed a good shower, and held it in Riven face. "Isn't he cute? I call him Riven Jr. Say hi to Riven, Riven Jr."

"Riven Jr.?" Riven asked in disbelief.

"Because he's like you."

Riven narrowed his eyes in utter confusion and took a firm good look at the kitten. "In what way is he like me?" He tentatively reached a finger out to graze the kitten's ear, and the kitten gently scuffed the finger, trying to catch it.

"He acts all tough and gets misunderstood by strangers when, in reality, he's kind." Glancing up at Riven's face, I saw his face contorting into an expression of embarrassment and pleasure, and I realized the weight of the compliment I had just delivered. I turned away my flushed face.

"Ahem…so let's eat."As I lifted my hand up scratch back of my head, Riven swiftly grabbed my wrist.

"You hurt yourself," Riven said. I glanced at the back of my hand, and realized what he was referring to.

"Oh. You mean this scratch? Don't worry because it'll heal really quickly because this body, your body, has thick skin."I lifted up wrist out of Riven grip and looked at the claw mark before I dropped my hand. "I got this from Riven Jr. on our first meeting. He was hostile when we first met just like you were. Like father like son."

Riven diverted his gaze and pursed his lips though I didn't miss the subtle hint of a smile. "I wasn't that bad."

"Sure you weren't. Anyways, I'll go make the bed. You can go ahead without me and serve yourself."

I walked over to the bedroom to make the bed, but just when I finished, I could hear a key turning in the entrance door. Riven flew inside.

"Musa's back already," he hissed.

My eyes immediately widened in panic and bewilderment. "But, I thought all the contestants and judges were going to come back late tonight."

"Quickly get in the bed."

"But I just folded—"

"Now." Riven sounded urgent as he forcefully pushed me towards the bed.

I dove under the covers to cover my whole body, and enjoyed the warmth in the bed until a heavy weight fell on me. Riven literally sat on me, suffocating me underneath the blankets. I tried to speak, but my voice got muffle, so I tried wrestling even though he ordered silence, but the second I heard Musa's voice, I immediately froze.

"Flora! I have so much to tell you about," I heard Musa loudly cheered.

"I'm sure you do sweetie. You were lovely on stage."

"Thanks! I felt like I just came off from a rollercoaster."

"So, how are you and Jared?"

"Jared?" Musa groaned, rolling her eyes with annoyance. "Don't bring him up. I've already hear enough about him from all the interviews and speculation online. We aren't together. I just hope that Riven didn't misunderstand and knows that we aren't together."

"Alice?" he replied, blatantly ignoring the last bit.

"The girl who rejected Roy? You know…she was with the team that came in second in the final round. Blue hair. Blue eyes."

Explanation time has commenced! (Or you can skip all of this.)

The final round performances were completely different from the previous rounds because all the blocks were combined for the performances. The higher ups created four teams by grouping the remaining contenders. Musa's team was made up of Andy and The Stones, Musa & Jared, the Trix, and the dance group, Andros.

Despite the conflictions within the group, the team performed with the utmost perfection in perfect sync. Each competitor brought their own spice to the group. Musa & Jared brought the acting, the theme, while The Trix brought sensual pleasure; Andros brought their eccentric style and Andy Stoners dragged along their rabid fan group.

Together, despite all the strained tension shown in their team video and interactions after the performance, they worked together and showed us a spectacular performance lasting ten minute featuring the Bohemian Rhapsody with alternate lyrics. Their performance and the rabid applause that followed replayed in my mind.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality
Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see,
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low
Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me

Doctor, just met a girl, I once thought she's from above
Then I tripped her, and fell in love
Doctor, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Doctor, ooh, Didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters

Their performance put a smile on everyone's face including mine.

They claimed first prize.

No surprise. True professionals didn't keep relationships from providing a good performance for the crowd.

Explanation time has ended. (Done.)

Musa kept trying to trigger a nerve in Riven's memory, "You know..the girl who sang Rolling In The Deep during the first round."

"Oooh…Alice," Riven replied with fake enthusiasm which alerted that he still didn't know who Alice was.

"Oh, and guess who I met?"

"Who?"

"Guess."

"Ri—"

"I met Riven!" She wistfully sighed, sending herself off into a fanciful fantasy. "It felt so romantic. I have so much to tell you."

"I'm sure you do."

"By the way," Musa voice slowed down her words and her tone grew deeper, "what's in your bed?"

There was a long pause. "…Pillows?"

"You got new ones? Can I see them?"

"NO…well…" Riven's voice trailed off and I mental cringed at his loss of words. "They're a new brand…and well…they basically give your bed a scent, but you have to put them under the sheets and sit on them for ten minutes or else they won't work."

Riven could lie no other. I managed a crooked smile even though my cheek was pressed up against the bed.

"Oh! Like…perfume pillows?"

"Exactly! They're called Smellows," he replied before swiftly turning the conversation, "Anyways, why don't you go eat the stew I made."

"Sure. Let me go to the restroom really quickly first. "

Musa then promptly headed into the restroom. Riven immediately got up and dragged the sheets off me once Musa was out of sight.

"I almost died,"I gasped as I fanned my flushed face with my palms.

"Hurry and get out of here," he hissed.

"So…smellows huh?"

I felt my whole body go rigid.

Musa stood behind Riven, her eyes calculative and stern as she crossed her arms and drums her fingers against her skin. I shrieked and whipped around, pushing my head as deep inside my jacket as it would go and flipping my hood up.

"Human smellows? Did you get it from some kind of slave industry in the black market or something?"

Oh no. She knows. I know that she knows.

"No, silly." Riven cleared his throat. "Smellows are androids. I got it from a crazy scientist. By the way, weren't you going to wash up remember?" Riven reminded her, his voice at uncanny ease. I clutched my chest, feeling it warm up as the suspense played with my mind.

Please don't come over. Please don't come over.

If Musa saw me then, everything would grow more complicated, and I couldn't let her know the truth, that the person she roomed with was actually a male inside, and that the male was Riven, her idol. No, no, no. Definitely not.

"I didn't because smellows sounded so fake. You don't have to hide a man from me Flora. I'm your friend."

"I'm not trying to hide."

"What's his name?"

There was another tense pause. "…Raven."

" Raven. So it is a guy," she slurred with a teasing voice.

I could hear Musa footsteps slowly growing nearer. I didn't breathe. Didn't move. Didn't speak. When her face came into her vision, and her expression literally jumped off her face.

"R-R-Riven?" Musa's cheeks immediately heated up until, they burned so hotly, I could feel the soft heat radiating from them.

"Nice to meet you…I'm Raven?"

Musa just shook her head and tried to pull the hood my jacket down, but I immediately halted her and kept the hood up. Nevertheless, she kept trying to pull it down with frustration as I struggled against her. Then she did an unprecedented move and pulled my zipper down.

"Shit. What do we do now?" I heard Riven lightly curse with a growl as Musa continued looking stunned.

"Flora?" Musa eye's were wide with confusion.

"…I guess I have no choice but to tell you the truth now."

My eyes almost popped out from their sockets. Tell her? Was Riven crazy? I bit back my head and shook my head back and forth like a mad man, but when Musa looked backwards, I immediately froze and gave the most innocent smile I could manage.

"The truth is…I met Riven a month ago by accident because my mom had connections. He just came over to drop something I left behind," Riven calmly replied, fooling anyone who didn't know the truth. Musa completely bought the lie.

I sighed with relief. "Sorry about that Musa. I just let anyone know I've been here," I tried to explain to her. Musa stared back at my with stunned eyes.

"No. It's fine. I understand." Her cheeks were still red, and her eyes seemed to glaze with a strong emotion.

Passion.

I could see the affection in Musa's eyes, and I felt my heart clench as guilt rushed over me like a waterfall. Had I unintentionally sent Musa the wrong message? Did she like me now?

Then I glanced over at Riven who looked like he was calculating the world's hardest puzzle with his hardened face, and bit back my lip. I hadn't answered his confession the night before, but the truth was that I liked him too from his blunt, unsociable behavior his barely noticeable, wry smile that would pass as a smirk.

"Do you have anything else planned for the rest of the day?" Musa asked me, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"Not really."

Musa's eyes brightened. "Then why don't you stay? It's raining pretty heavily out there so why don't you stay over and eat while we watch a movie," Musa boldly proposed.

I quirked an eyebrow."A movie?"

"Yea! We have a big collection of movies. What do you want to watch?"

I paused, and then honestly replied, "…Cinderella."

I saw the instant expression of bewilderment falling on Musa's face. "Cinderella?"

"Pft! Cinderella," Riven chuckled, trying his best to stifle his laugh.

"Well, it's ok if you don't want to watch it," I quickly replied as I tried to save myself from embarrassment.

"No, it's ok." Musa turned to Flora, looking insulted. "Why are you laughing Flora? Cinderella is your favorite movie."

"It is? Of course it is. Well, not today. Today I feel like watching Jurassic Park."

"You can't stand horror movies."

"Well not today."

"But Riven wanted to watch—"

"I'm good with Jurassic Park," I quickly interrupted, hoping that Musa would just forget about what I said earlier. "Dinosaurs are…cute."

We watched the Jurassic Park from the beginning to the end while eating potato stew. I didn't have any spasms of fear till the first dinosaur appeared in that famous scene where all the character hesitantly glanced at the cup with the trembling water. That's when shut my eyes, and grabbed Riven Jr. to gently tell the kitten that everything would be all right in the end. However, the sound effects and the screams were enough to startle me.

Riven had forced me to open my eyes and let go of the kitten.

"If Riven doesn't want to watch it, then don't make him," Musa angrily snapped.

"He's a man. He should be able to take Jurassic Park, which hardly has any blood in it. Look! Even Riven Jr. is watching it!"

"Geez…when did you become so forcefully of Flora."

"It's the hormones."

Riven made me watch every second of the movie, especially when the grotesque Raptors and T-rex made an appearance. To survive the suspense, I kept reminding myself that a writer wouldn't kill of the main characters. I heaved a sigh of relief when, in the final scene, the gigantic bloodthirsty T-rex roared with all his might, and the credits started rolling.

"Now, that wasn't too bad," Riven deadpanned.

"How could humans be so cruel and experiment with life. We aren't gods." I shook my head with a frown, and heaved another sigh.

"You experiment with plants thought right?" Riven pointed out.

"I create plant hybrids," I corrected.

"Riven, you plant too?" Musa's eyes shined with curiosity. I had almost forgotten that she was there. "Wow! Flora does too. You both have so much in common."

"…Just a little." I weakly smiled at her. Musa didn't know how ironic her statement was, which made me feel even more guilty. Sorry for lying to you sweetie. "Anyways, experimenting to that extent of bringing back a life form that went extinct can't be good."

"And preserving life forms is any different?"

"Different. Species go into extinction because of us, humans. We destroy the environment and pollute the world, killing the species, so it our duty to take responsibility and fix this problem," I stubbornly defended, the frown on my face deepening.

"You know, I totally agree."

I victoriously grinned till I saw the expression on Riven's face. Riven had a smirk on his face, which made me wonder if he had fun asking me questions that he knew I would try to refute.

"Wow, you both are also passionate towards preserving the environment too!" Musa had an infectious grin on her face, making me grin too. Watching a movie with my best friend that I hadn't been able to hang out with for weeks brought a sense of belonging to me.

The movie choice wasn't the best, but it wasn't that worst either. Like Riven said, it wasn't that bad, as long as I shut my eyes and cuddle with Riven Jr. I felt a sense of pride. Surely I would eventually get used to watching horror movies if I watched them more often.

"The Notebook!" Musa decided with youthful enthusiasm. We didn't give Riven the chance to argue. Sometime during the movie, Musa had dozed off on the couch. I guessed that she was exhausted from the trip.

After watching The Notebook, Riven and I launched ourselves into another debate, this time it was about believing in fairytales and romantic storylines.

"…creates some unrealistic fanciful, imaginary world which leaves drooling women feeling cheated when they experience the hard truth."

I gaped at the outright insult he had just delivered. "Are you saying romance movies, novel, and everything else, is fake?"

"It matters how society depicts it, and so far, they done a horrible job by making it into a whore. Women basically watch stuff like Titanic and read romantic novels to fulfill their emotional needs. I dub this severely twisted deformed entity called romance 'emotional porn'."

This impact left me raw and enlightened. I had never seen it that way, and Riven logical approach was forcing me to think, slowly convincing me otherwise.

"Do you not believe in love?"

"...I used to not believe."

Used to?

I let his reply settle in my mind for a moment, wondering what he could have meant. My eyes trailed up his figure, and met his piercing gaze, setting of sparks of bashfulness.

"H-How about love songs written from the heart? Are you going to say those aren't realistic either when artists honestly pour out their feelings into their lyrics?" I challenged with my eyes strayed.

"Not necessarily. Some portrayals of love are honest. Others are just crappy and there to suck money from emotionally hungry females. There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another (1). "

"Musa would cry if you heard you say those words from your own lips," I pointed out.

"I'm just stating my views."

My cheeks heated up as I saw a smirk tug at the corners of Riven's lips. Suddenly a smile tugged as my lips. At that moment, Riven seemed brilliantly out of my league with the way he support his words with undeterred charisma.

"That's why I was attracted." The words involuntarily slipped out against my will. My cheeks instantly heated up.

No. No. No.

Riven's brows slightly rose. "What did you say?"

I felt a long wave of relief wash over me and rejoiced. I didn't want Riven to find out about my feelings while I was stuck in such a disadvantageous situation with multiple rivals.

My body stiffened.

Rivals.

My glance flew and lingered on Musa's sleeping figure. A pang of guilt along with a slew of various other emotions slammed into me like a red walled bricks.

Musa liked me as Riven, and even if I returned to my body, that affection wouldn't disappear. Now that I knew that, what was I going to do?

What kind of mess had I gotten myself into?

Busy. I've been...busy. And who knew that a hundred days was a long time to take account for. Apparently I didn't.

(1) Last two sentences is a quote from the amazing, eccentric musician, Frank Zappa.

Renachi