Updated like three weeks ago! Wow didn't realize how much I've been neglecting this story! Truth be told, I knew I was doing it, but it is the call of summer! And I had to answer it, I mean who is going to give up a trip to East Hampton? I was hoping to finish this story before I move out to go to college because I know I'll get super busy after that so I'm gonna try to do like a chapter a week….key word here being 'try'. Okay so I'm back and ready to write!

So I was about half way though 'meant to be' when I realized that I had yet to start this chapter. And while on the subject, this is not exactly my favorite chapter because I had a lot more fun writing the other one and this one seems to pale in comparison. It's just that nothing really happens around this time in my 'plot outline' I mean there is some serious drama to come (hint hint) but for now I need some peace. (think of it as the calm before the storm). Anywho…this is when Stella competes in the Miss Magix pageant and basically all you get is a little insight into things to come and it will make a lot more sense when you read the next chapter (that is nearly done). I never really like the episode that much either when I think about it. I mean this is a kids show and the only reason that Lucy won was because she was dressed like someone else and the second they found out that she wasn't that girl, they took away her prize. What type of message are they trying to deliver to little girls? I mean I am all for being pretty and stuff, but come on. Don't tell seven year olds that they can only win something if they're pretty.

With that said (ranting and all), I do like this chapter, but it is a lot of filler conversation and stuff like that, but read it! For two reason, I wrote it and you'll make me happy! And because you'll be able to go 'Ah Ha!' next chapter when you put some of the pieces together.

So without further adew…

Miss Magix

"You know," Musa said as she sat down on the couch in the common room. "That test was not as hard as everyone played it up to be,"' She said to Techna and Flora after they finally got back to their room after a long testing session for magical defense class. The test had actually been exactly what she had studied for and everyone had passed it, except for Stella, who hadn't shown up for the crucial exam.

"Yeah," Techna agreed. "I'm glad I didn't waste time dilly dallying, I remembered everything I studied,"

"Hey don't diss procrastinating," Musa said as she kicked her feet up. "I've made it of life," Instead of lecturing her with the long winded rant about how procrastination is never good, like Musa was expecting, Techna rolled her eyes as Bloom walked in the door with a worried look painted all over her face.

"Hey guys guess where I just was?" Bloom asked as she walked into the room and straight over to the girls. After a second of silence, she figured out that nobody was going to answer, she continued. "The nurse's office turns out that Stella was never there. She totally lied to us,"

"Maybe she went shopping or something," Musa said casually. It was hardly out of the ordinary for Stella to skip class in order to satisfy her shopping needs. She had just figured that Stella was buying clothes in order to escape taking the mid term.

"She's gotta be hiding out," Bloom said trying to come to some conclusion as to why Stella had lied to them and skipped a very important exam. "Avoiding the exam, right?"

"Well we should tell her it wasn't that difficult," Flora offered. She and the rest of the girls had done pretty well on the exam and it was clear that they were all pretty relived that the test was over with. "I did pretty well,"

"You studied," Musa pointed out. Even though Musa had procrastinated a lot, she had managed to get herself to the library and cram for a long time the night before. "Stella hasn't,"

"Well then she should be hiding out," Techna pointed out. "Because the magical reality test requires real skills,"

"So true," Bloom agreed as she began to make her way to Stella's room. "You know what, she needs a magical reality check, I'm not leaving her room until she's learned ever spell, potion and move out there,"

Just as Bloom marched into Stella's room in a determined stride, Musa looked up and noticed Stella walked into the common room with bags full of what Musa assumed was clothing. "Do you like this outfit?" Stella questioned as she did a spin to show off the new outfit she had just bought. "I mean does it work with these shoes?"

"You're in trouble," Musa said in a sing song tone as she flipped through a magazine. After that test in Magical Reality, Musa didn't have much to worry about studying for much since they would all be leaving on spring break in a week, so she had this week to kick up her feet and relax for a bit. As for Stella, it was as if she were determined on making everything harder for herself. "Where have you been missy,"

"I've been very busy, come on I'll explain," Stella said as she walked in the direction of her room and gestured for her friends to follow.

"There is no way a beauty pageant is more important than school," Musa and the rest of the girls had gathered in Stella's room and listened to Stella rant and rave about how excited she was about participating in the 'Miss Magix' beauty pageant. The entire idea of a beauty pageant was so ridiculous to Musa. Sure she didn't mind getting compliments from others, but basing an entire event solely on someone's looks was stupid, especially since when you talk to half of these girls, they were complete airheads. And yet, Stella wanted to put herself though that.

"I knew you would say that, that's why I didn't tell you guys," Stella complained and crossed her arms and sat on the side of the bed. "The pageant is also about poise, grace, personality and talent,"

"Why is this so important to you?" Flora ventured. It was a pageant and the concept of it seemed like something that Stella might be interested in. But still, it was not worth being kicked out of school.

"I was first runner up last year, this year the crown is meant to be mine, "Stella said with passion. While a part of Musa didn't know why anyone would want to participate in a pageant, the competitive part of her understood the need to win something that you hadn't yet accomplished.

"If you don't pass this class, they might kick you out," Flora warned reminding Stella of the consequences of her actions.

"Again," Musa added with a smirk, she knew how it pushed Stella's buttons when someone brought up how she was kicked out the year before and Musa got a bit of a kick out of it. It was harmless fun.

"Okay, I know I know," Stella said in an annoyed tone.

"We're only looking out for you Stella," Techna reminded. "You can't keep neglecting your studies or else Flora is right, you will be kicked out again. This is a serious matter,"

"Tech is right," Musa agreed as she stood up and walked over to Stella. "You have to study, this test is a huge deal and the longer you ditch, the more material you'll forget and the more you'll have to study. Not to mention you'll have the stress of this test hanging over your head until you finally take it,"

It took another ten minutes of lecturing Stella before it looked like it all stuck and she finally came to a compromise with the girls. After the pageant, she would spend every waking moment cramming for the test and the girls agreed to help her study and get ready for the pageant. And after another hour, Stella had finally made all of her choices on what she was going to wear during the pageant.

"Okay, I need to get my outfit just right, and we have to be super careful with my makeup," She said as she sat down in front of a vanity in one of the dressing rooms. The girls had just seen on of the other contestants in a panic because something had happened to her voice and Stella was not going to let that happen to her. She turned to Musa and continued. "Remember Musa, less is more,"

"Calm down Stella, I know how to put on makeup," Musa said trying to ease Stella's nerves. "You need to relax,"

"Well then, why don't you ever wear makeup?" Stella ventured, it was rare that Musa ever let on that she was an expert at coordinating outfits or applying makeup, since she had learned from the best, so Stella used the opportunity to gain some insight. "I mean you can apply it pretty well, hey you should entered the pageant! I mean your talent could be singing or dancing! I mean how much fun would that be?"

"Let me stop you right there," Musa said. "I don't do pageant, no offense and as for putting on makeup, "Well," Musa said as she applied eye shadow to Stella's upper eyelid. "I figure, you put on makeup when you want to impress someone or hide something on your face. I've got nothing to hide and who at Alfea am I going to impress?"

"Not Alfea," Stella said with a smirk. "I was thinking Red Fountain,"

Musa didn't answer since she knew what Stella was hinting at, Riven. But Musa refused to even acknowledge the fact that she had, and secretly still has, feelings for him since he decided that he would be better suited with the psychopathic trix sisters, and Darcy in particular. Instead of saying anything, Musa hit Stella on the back of the head, signaling her to back off the subject as she continued to work on her makeup. "Well, that hardly matteres since you are already the apple of someone's eye. I wish Sky could be here to see me," Stella said changing the subject as her eyes went starry at the idea of Sky being here for what she hoped would be her crowning moment.

"I called Brandon, but nobody picked up," Bloom said with obvious sadness, it was pretty clear that she had wished that he could have come there too. "I guess they're busy tonight,"

"Yeah, I think I heard Sky telling me about some exam they had battle techniques class," Stella said as she looked over her makeup and continued to eye her clothing, trying to figure out what she was going to wear. "Well, it doesn't matter," Stella said and then stood up with her makeup complexly done. She then walked over to her rack of clothing and pulled out her ball gown that she was going to wear when they announced all the girls and introduced them to the judges. She only had a few minutes before it was her cue to go on so she was less worried about the boys and more worried about winning, "I'm gonna get that crown and then Sky will not only be dating the Princess of Solaria, but also Miss Magix,"

Once at the pageant, the girls had decided to stand on the side of the stage while everyone performed. Besides, It was easier to calm Stella down in between acts since she was a nervous wreck about everything, even though she was really good at hiding it on stage.

"She's doing well," Bloom commented to Musa when she saw Stella's first talent, since all the girls were required to perform twice, but it was clear that something was bothering her.

"Yeah, she might just be the next Miss Magix," Musa said reluctantly. She really didn't think she would have too much fun tonight since she wasn't one for beauty pageant, but this was sort of fun, well watching it was fun. she could only imagine how embarrassed she would feel if she was prancing around on stage in those outfits. She had to give Stella props for having the confidence to do that. "So I guess Sky will be dating Princess of Solaria and Miss Magix…god help him,"

Bloom laughed and then looked back at the stage uncomfortably. "Hey Musa?" Bloom began in a serious voice.

"Yeah,"

"When you started dating Daniel, did it take awhile for him to open up?" Bloom questioned with a worried look. It was clear that Bloom wanted some insight ad to what might be going on in her relationship. "Like to you about stuff?"

"Well, not really," Musa said when after some that. "But that was probably because I've known him forever, so there wasn't much to open up about. Why, what's going on with Brandon?"

"I dunno, it's weird." Bloom began. "I mean we can talk about a bunch of stuff, like the other day everything was fine then when we started talking about my family, he got all uncomfortable. And he kept avoiding questions about his family,"

"Maybe there is something going on with his family," Musa offered. "He might not want to talk about and you two only met in the beginning of the year," Musa said thinking about the reasonability of her argument, she hardly liked talking about her family, aside from her father.

"Yeah, but then he got uncomfortable when I asked him where he grew up," Bloom asked then continued further. "I asked him what it was like to grow up around the palace and stuff and he just avoided all of the questioned I asked. It's like he's hiding something. I dunno maybe it's me or something…,"

"I dunno," Musa said honestly. "Lately I've been thinking the same thing, I mean it feels like Daniel is hiding something or that he's just holding something in,"

"Maybe it is just us…" Bloom said with an exasperated sign. "But, I thought everything has been good with you guys since you know – or well after you got over," Bloom stopped again, she obviously didn't want to bring Riven's name into the conversation, but Musa knew what she was talking about after her initial hesitation.

"Yeah, after that things were really good," Musa said thinking about how little they argued and she had even become good at pushing thoughts of Riven away, so she wasn't sure why she kept feeling like something was wrong. "Things are good, maybe it is just me,"

"Yeah, it might just be us trying to find a flaw when there is none," Bloom said trying to find a reason for their behavior.

"Hey, do you suspect a little foul play," Musa said changing the subject. Her eyes narrowed as she watched a girl land flat on her face after attempting some balancing move in her dance routine. That kind of stuff had been happening all night and she was thinking it was much more than an accident. The judges said no magic, but it wasn't like they were checking or anything, so it was safe to say that something was askew. "I mean, first the girl with the high pitched voice, but now all these girls are messing up their routines,"

"I think you might be onto something," Bloom said as she and Musa began to look for any suspicious figures. Just then the announcer came back on the microphone and announced the girl who had won. "Uh oh, Stella just lost," Bloom said to Musa, who quickly turned to see the girl from Popularis get a crown placed on her head and win the pageant.

"We're going to have a long night," Musa said cringing at the thought of the hours of whining she knew she would now have to endure since Stella had now lost the pageant…again. And by the look on Stella's face, it was clear that Stella was not going to take another lose very well.

"Wait just a second," Bloom said as she cast as spell. And revealed the truth behind what was going on.

"Wait till Sky finds out I'm Miss Magix!," Stella squealed happily as she continued to gallivant throughout her room. It was the day after the pageant and Stella managed to not only win, but she passed the test as well. Musa and the rest of the girls had decided to hang out in Stella's room after they got manicures and milkshakes. "And I also passed the exam with flying colors!"

"I hardly call three points above failing 'flying colors'," Techna pointed out and continued to type away on her computer. She was working on a paper that was going to be due a week after spring break, and while some might call it over obsessing; she called it being careful with her time.

"Well I passed," Stella said stubbornly as she continued to strut about her room with her new tiara. "And did you ever consider that you study too much? I mean come on spring break is in like three days! Loosen up Tech, and have some fun,"

"Actually we have a week and it wouldn't hurt you to get a head start on your assignments." Techna lectured. "Considering you just barely passed this class,"

"Well, maybe if you lightened up a bit then you could spend some more time figuring out Timmy instead of your calculus homework,"

"Well maybe if you spent more time on homework and less time with boys, then you wouldn't constantly be under the threat of getting kicked out again," Techna shot back.

That was when Musa, Bloom and Flora took the hint and left the room before things got catty. Although Techna was just looking out for Stella, and Stella was just trying to bring Techna and Timmy together, the two had unique ways of showing their concern, which usually left them bickering with each other.

Musa walked into her room after a night with very little sleep, since she and the rest of her friends were up all night trying to stuff a semester's worth of knowledge into Stella's head, luckily there was a lot of empty space in there. "Ahhh," Musa said as she laid down in her quiet room on her comfy bed. Just as she felt herself falling asleep, a shrill ring woke her up.

"Hello?" answered with an irritated voice.

"Well you have some explaining to do," Annabelle said from the other end of the phone.

"Excuse me?"

"Okay so you can tell Leslie that you liked some guy, but can't tell us!" Isabelle said when Musa realized that she was on speaker phone. She had told Leslie everything and she knew that if push came to shove the twins had the capability of getting any secret out of anyone. They should be working for the secret service instead of lounging around all day.

"Okay, I'll explain, just you have to promise not to tell anyone," Musa compromised. She knew she was not going to be able to get out of an explanation so she figured she would give them one, plus it was nice to be able to talk about this with someone since she refused to tell her friends here that there were still lingering feelings for Riven. It was just too embarrassing, she felt stupid for liking a guy that basically rejected in front of everyone and then humiliated her in public. That was why it was easier to explain it to her old friends, all they knew about that day was what Musa had told them. She said that she pissed off some witches and they decided to pay her back for it, she conveniently left out the part where Riven completely turned on her, again it was too embarrassing to talk about.

She wanted to be over Riven, she really wanted to be, but she just couldn't get over him. She didn't know why, but she was hell bent on ignoring it. Everything in her life was falling into place, there was no drama, no fights, nothing. She wanted more than anything, to keep it that way.

"Promise," They said in unison and then Musa began to explain the situation, hopefully for the last time. All she was looking forward to now was going home and seeing everyone and putting all the drama from the fall behind her, things were finally starting to become stable. She had great friends at home and great friends at Alfea, and then she had Daniel.

Things were finally okay, and Musa wasn't going to anything to mess that up.

Well, that's about it. I never really like this episode (see rant in the beginning of the chapter), but this needed to be done, so there it is.

What I'm most excited about is my next chapter! It is when they go on spring break, so this is one of the few episodes that I have to really do whatever I want!! Yay! So expect the next chapter up soon, because I am finishing it up as you read this.

xoxo,
princessm