Monday morning, Flora walked through the Alfea courtyard to her first class of the day. She was in an upbeat mood; the sun was shining and the wind was blowing through her hair; the day was looking up.
While she walked, she heard her familiar ring tone, and immediately pressed the green answer key on her cell phone. "Hey Flora" said Helia's voice.
"Oh, hey" she said, her breath catching in her throat.
"Do you think you can meet me after school today in the forest?" he asked her without pause.
"What? Oh, yeah sure!"
"All right; I'll see you then." He hung up, and Flora walked to class in an even better mood than before, a smile lighting up her face. She ignored the tiny, insignificant voice at the back of her head which had noticed a strange tone in his voice. It had seemed almost….guilty; but that couldn't have been right.
In Flora's opinion, her classes could not pass by fast enough. At the end of each period, she was on the edge of her seat, poised to sprint out the room the moment she heard the bell ring. After school finally let out, she practically ran to their spot in the woods. She stood on her tippy-toes, straining her neck to find Helia through the green wonderland.
After five minutes or so, she heard a crunching of twigs and turned to find Helia's willowy form walking slowly toward her.
"Hey" she breathed.
"Hello" he stated formally; too formally.
"What's up" she questioned him, searching his face for a foreshadowing of what was to come. He stared at her, his face serious and impending.
"Please forgive me for what I'm about to do. Please promise you won't hate me?" He asked her, a pleading and guilty presence taking over his face.
"Of course" she answered mechanically, already tense and cautious.
"Flora" he started "I can't see you anymore. There's not really a good explanation why; I just don't feel the same about you anymore." He faltered a little, but then continued. "When we started dating, there was a different energy between us that has been slowly dying as time has moved on. That energy was full of passion, and excitement; I've only just realized it's gone."
Flora stared at him, her mouth hanging open in shock and hurt.
Be strong Flora. Hold back those tears; don't let him see how much pain he's caused
She struggled a moment with this task, imaging a coke bottle in her chest and shoving all her pain and emotions inside of it, and sealing it up tight.
"Oh" was all she managed to utter.
"I'm so sorry" he said genuinely, pain also filling his eyes "please realize that it's nothing you did at all. It's just something that neither of has paid much attention to. It would be wrong to continue our relationship when I no longer feel that way anymore."
'When I no longer feel that way anymore' was what did it. Flora interpreted it as 'when I no longer care for you anymore'. Either way, Flora felt as if someone had punched her heart.
"O-o-okay" she stuttered, looking at the ground. "I have to go" she mumbled at the ground, and ran from the forest to her dorm, not daring to look behind her. She rushed into the room and burst into tears immediately; she leaned on the door, and sunk to the floor.
She felt two pairs of arms hugging her almost at once; she looked up to find Musa and Bloom around her, no words said, but complete understanding surrounding them. They communicated silently through their actions. All Flora could see were an orange and dark blue blob, caused from the swelling of tears in her eyes. She hugged them back, and cried herself out.
When Flora finally looked up, she was surprised to find tear streaks on both Bloom and Musa's faces. She gave them a questioning glance, and Musa explained. "I finally got signed-with Magix Music Co., and they want to set up a tour with me. I couldn't say no, because this is my big break!" her face lit up when she said this. "But it means I'm not going to see you guys for a year." That was when her face fell.
Fresh tears brewed in Flora's eyes, but she couldn't help feeling happy for her friend. "That's great Musa" she said, with a slightly hoarse voice, and a sad undertone. "You've been waiting to get your big break for a long time. Go and knock their socks off!"
She sniffled sadly, but honesty rung in her words; Musa smiled sadly back at her.
"There's something else you should know." said Bloom. Flora looked at her, understanding that there was more than one reason for her tears. "Well, Sky and I…….have decided to…take a break. It's only while he's studying with his parents, but who knows how long that will be? So I guess for now, you could consider us broken up."
She could tell Bloom was bottling up an avalanche of tears, so she didn't say anything else.
A thought occurred to Flora; she turned to Musa. "What does that mean for you and Riven?" she asked. Musa's chin quivered, "we decided it was best if we didn't see each other anymore. I asked him to come on tour with me, but he was too settled into Red Fountain, at least that's what he said…"
Flora was utterly miserable: her boyfriend had dumped her, her friend had gone through a breakup as well, and one of her closest friends was leaving for a year on tour, along with breaking up with her boyfriend too.
The three girls just sat their hugging each other and wallowing in their misery for a long time. Flora couldn't remember when, but at some point Layla, Techna, and Stella had come in and joined in to. They were all moping-mainly because of Musa's impending departure.
Life stinks thought Flora to herself.
The other part of her head retorted: and when life stinks, you cry yourself to sleep, and then pick yourself up and keep going--no matter how hard it is sometimes. The best part about life is that you're not unhappy forever.
Flora remembered this as she cried herself to sleep.