Hey everyone!
Thanks for being so patient since my last chapter update. I hope that this chapter makes up for it. Please read and review and tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own Winx Club or any of the songs in this story.
'You're listening to M103, Magix's number 1 music station where we play the hottest music on the charts. This morning, we decided to wake you up to the hottest artist at the moment. Here is Musa Harmony's 'Freak the freak out'.'
Stella immediately turned off the radio in the lounge when Musa's song began playing. It had been two weeks since Musa dropped her friends for a solo career and became the new pop starlet in Magix. Her two new songs, 'Freak the freak out' and 'What the hell' have been number 1 and 2 on the music charts ever since and have not moved. Everywhere one of the girls went, Musa's face or voice always popped up, whether it was on the radio or on bill boards, she was always around. It made Stella frown a little thinking about Musa because that was the only contact with Musa they've had since she bailed on them. Two weeks since a text, a phone call, or even a visit. It was like she completely cut them out of her life for good. Stella turned her attention back to applying her make-up in the bathroom, trying to keep her mind off of Brandon and off Musa. All of the girls had officially moved back to their dorm at Alfea since the debacle and felt like they had all returned home, but Stella still felt like something was missing.
'Oh that's right, the lying, cheating of a boyfriend' Stella thought to herself.
Brandon had been calling Stella for two weeks but she had been ignoring him. Ellie may be out of their lives now since she only works for Musa, but that didn't mean that she had forgiven Brandon. To stop the calls from her ex, Stella actually had Layla steal Brandon's phone while visiting Nabu, resulting in Stella smashing it when it came to her possession. Nobody but those two knew about it. Stella had finished applying her make-up and went back to the lounge where Layla and Bloom were sitting. Flora was out on a date with Helia, for the first time in a while, and wasn't expected back till late while Tecna and Timmy were at Red Fountain working on the designs for a new ship. As Stella sat on the couch with the latest issue of 'Teen Fairy', she noticed Musa was, again, on the front cover, dolled up in the latest Alexander McQueen outfit. She sighed upon seeing Musa once again through only tabloids and not in person and instantly thought of Riven. He hadn't taken the breakup with Musa as well as hoped. Just like Musa, he too had been off of the radar and nobody had seen or heard from him since that night.
'I don't know what I've been told; Air Force Wings are made gold'
Riven sat on the wing of an F/A-18 Hornet fighter plane wing watching the cadets running around the base in their squads chanting their military cadence. He watched in silence as the brave men trained for the next battle that they must face. The air was quiet around him, keeping it hard for him to focus on the cadets. The wind blew around him, sweeping his hair in his face. He admired the determination of the cadets all around him. They were all driven by will to survive and protect the place that they loved. Most of these cadets were Red Fountain graduates, and Riven was planning on one day coming here too. He didn't plan on being here earlier than expected. The wind blew again sending a soft humming in his eyes that sounded like someone was singing. His eyes widened at the thought and his mind instantly went back to a certain midnight blue haired angel. Riven felt his heart tighten thinking about her. How she always smiles whenever she is with her friends. How her eyes twinkle in delight whenever she plays an instrument, or how her ears slightly twitch when she hears a rhythm around her. Riven was taken out of his train of thought when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He silently thanked the caller for pulling him out of his thoughts before pulling the device out. When he looked at the caller ID, he immediately took back the gratitude and silently groaned to himself. It was Sky, again. Ever since the breakup with Musa, he had been here at the Magix Air Force Base, completely ignoring everyone and everything related to Musa. He had to get away from everything.
"Riven" a voice called from behind him.
Riven quickly put the phone back in his pocket, letting the call go to voice mail – which would be full by now – and turned around to see his friend Jacob walk up to him. Riven had met Jacob at Red Fountain where Riven was a freshman and Jacob was a senior. Riven saw Jacob as his mentor for he was the only one that gave Riven a shot at proving that he belonged at Red Fountain, giving him a chance when no one else in the school would. When Jacob graduated, he joined the Magix Air Cadets, slowly growing in the ranks to Corporal. "Hey man" Riven greeted half-heartedly before turning his attention back to the cadets training. Jacob smiled sadly as he walked up to Riven and lent against the wing.
"It's been two weeks" Jacob began attempting to strike up a conversation with Riven.
Jacob's attempt proved to be in vain since Riven didn't respond.
"You haven't spoken to anyone, except me, since you got here, Riven" Jacob said sadly.
Riven continued not to respond to his best friend and kept his attention away from him.
Jacob sighed sadly. "You thought about her again, didn't you?"
"I thought coming here would keep her out of my head, but she keeps coming in like a disease that I can't get rid of" Riven replied without emotion.
When Riven arrived on the base that night, he didn't say a word to Jacob, except that he had left Red Fountain and wasn't going back. Jacob had never seen his friend like that before. Riven's eyes were lifeless and dark. He had dark circles under his eyes, his skin was pale, and his temper was worse than usual, way worse. The first day at the base, Riven picked a fight with one of the captains. To release Riven of all his anger, Jacob did the only thing he could do, chucked Riven into a boxing ring with a punching bag and left him for a few hours. Riven had been at the base ever since; joining in on training sessions and acting like a new recruit. Riven never once talked about the real reason why he was there until Jacob noticed all of the missed phone calls from his friends. Jacob had never been so worried about someone in all of his life. Riven had never been as angry as he was when he turned up, even when he joined Icy and the other witches and brought about the Army of Decay.
"You can't keep hiding here, Riven" Jacob said gently.
The hours at the boxing ring may have helped his anger issues but it didn't solve his new short fuse that brought about psychotic rage now and again.
"Who said that I'm hiding?"
"Fine, you can't keep running" Jacob rephrased.
"You don't know anything" Riven said calmly still not giving any eye contact.
"I know that you showed up at my door step two weeks ago. I know that you dropped out of Red Fountain, and I know that you are here because of Musa."
Riven's eyes instantly widened and Jacob saw a quick flash of anger spread through them before Riven immediately jumped off the wing and pinned Jacob against the side of the plane, gripping his shirt in his hands.
"Don't you dare say her name in front of me" Riven growled dangerously.
"Corporal!" a voice yelled from behind them.
Riven turned around and saw three cadet sergeant's running towards them. Riven growled under his breath before releasing his friend.
"Is everything alright her, Corporal?" one of the men asked.
"Yes, everything is fine" Jacob replied. "Go back to your posts, sergeants."
The three men saluted Jacob before returning to their training. Jacob turned back to Riven who had his arms crossed over his chest staring at the ground.
"Sorry" Riven whispered loud enough for Jacob to hear.
"You're getting better" Jacob replied looking at his squadron of cadets.
"That's the first time you haven't taken a swing at me upon hearing her name."
Riven didn't respond and looked at Jacob's squadron too.
"Look Riven" Jacob sighed looking back at Riven. "I know that this whole thing has hurt you, and as a friend I am more than happy to help you and let you stay here, but you should know that this place is not the type of place of healing or to runaway to. These men chose to be here to save lives. By signing their names, they are signing the acknowledgement that they are risking their lives for peace and harmony. You can't use this place as an escape from your life when we are risking ours for people like you. Call your friends, go back to Red Fountain, and be the Riven that I befriended because this Riven is not the guy I know and isn't the one you should be. Don't let Musa take away who you really are."
Stella flipped through the Teen Fairy magazine when she came across to a two page article on Musa. She scoffed out loud causing Bloom and Layla to look at her.
"What's wrong?" Bloom asked.
"Another article on Musa" Stella replied.
"What's this one about?" Layla asked annoyed.
This article was the third one on Musa since her solo career began and had started to get on the girls' nerves. The first one was about her life before the music career, where she mainly talked about herself in the battles, while the second article was about her love life, conveniently leaving out Riven entirely and exclaiming that she's single.
"It says that it's about Musa's transition from a band to a solo career" Stella replied.
"You have got to be kidding me" Layla replied.
"No" Stella answered. "'The transition from being in a band to having a solo career wasn't that hard' Stella quoted from the article. 'My friends didn't have their hearts into the band idea like I did.'
"What a load of lies!" Bloom yelled angrily.
"She is totally making it up!" Layla joined.
"There's more" Stella said.
"It gets worse?" Bloom asked horrified.
'I feel like having a solo career is better than being in a band. There is nobody that will put you down or trash your ideas. I can be who I want to be without people pulling me down to their level. There are no fights with a solo career, just me and my music, the way it should be.'
Layla and Bloom were gob smacked. Musa would never say that her friends had brought her down or messed with her ideas. The only thing that was messed with was Musa's twisted ways of writing songs from people's personal lives.
"I can't believe that she said that" Bloom said shocked.
Stella was about to continue with the article when a knock sounded at the door. Layla got up from the couch and walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole.
"Uh oh" Layla said to herself.
"Who is it?" Bloom asked curiously.
"It's Brandon" Layla replied.
"What? Brandon's here?" Stella said shocked.
Layla and Bloom were silent. Stella's mood instantly changed and she picked up the nearest phone and smashed it to the ground.
"Hey!" Bloom cried. "That's my phone! If you're going to smash phones, then maybe you should smash Brandon's."
"I did! I smashed it earlier this week!" Stella replied angrily. "What's he doing here?"
"He probably wants to talk to you" Layla replied as Bloom picked up the remains of her phone.
"So, what, he ambushes me? Why didn't he call?" Stella asked in hysterics.
"Maybe because somebody smashed his phone" Layla replied.
"No, no way. We are not going to talk when he's ready to talk. He did that at the concert. We are going to talk when I'm ready" Stella informed.
"You have been ignoring him for weeks now" Bloom replied.
"Because I am not ready" Stella answered.
Brandon knocked on the door again.
"Get rid of him" Stella ordered.
"I am not your servant" Layla retorted.
"Is this your phone?" Stella asked picking up another phone on the table. "It looks very expensive."
"Okay, fine!" Layla said opening the door and closing it behind her.
Stella released of breath she didn't know that she was holding and looked down at Bloom holding her phone in pieces.
"I am really sorry, Bloom" Stella apologised sitting next to Bloom on the couch. "I promise that I will buy you a new one."
"It's fine. Tecna and I will find a spell to repair it" Bloom replied."I just want you to sort things out with Brandon."
"I don't think it's that simple, B" Stella replied sadly.
Brandon stood outside the girls' dorm room waiting for an answer. He hadn't spoken to Stella in a few weeks and losing a phone made it all the more difficult. He had been feeling guilty and horrible ever since that dreadful night and wanted to make it up to Stella. What he didn't figure yet was how he was going to do it. He just hoped that talking to Stella may help a little. When no response came, he was about to knock for a third time when Layla walked out and joined him.
"Hey" Brandon greeted.
Layla didn't reply. Instead, she looked at him with a death stare that sent a shiver up and down his spine. Layla was probably the one girl out of the winx that could scare him when she was mad, especially when it came to her friends.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here" Layla said angrily.
"Layla" Brandon began. "I just need to talk to Stella."
"She wants you to go, Brandon" Layla replied cutting to the chase.
"I need to talk to her, please"
"You not going anywhere near her. You're going have to get passed me for that, boy."
"Layla, I know you hate me, and you have every right. I betrayed Stella, and I betrayed you girls because I hurt Stella when you all trusted me to look after her, I know that. I messed up, but I want the chance to make it up to her, please. Even just to give us closure would be fine."
Layla looked at him still not moving from the door.
"I know that I don't have any right to be asking this"
"You're right about that" Layla interrupted.
"But I can't live without her, Layla. I can't live with her being mad at me or holding on to the fear that something like this will happen, preventing her from moving on."
"Brandon, I'm going to say this one last time" Layla said threateningly. "Stella does not want you here. I don't want you here, and as far as the other girls are concerned, they don't want you here. So go back to Red Fountain, crawl back into the arms of that two-face ex-friend of ours, Ellie, and share the shadow of shame that is hanging over your heads."
Once that was said, Layla turned back around and walked back into the dorm, slamming the door behind her.
"You know you want my life" a voice echoed.
A bright spot light shone down on a dark room revealing Musa on a stunning silver one shoulder dress (1) lying on a black and silver chaise couch (2). Her hair was in a side bun that covered part of her left ear as she was silver high heels. Musa smirked before the whole place lit up with bright lights revealing a grand stair case behind the couch. Music began playing and eight male and female dancers began sauntering down the stair case as Musa began singing.
"G…L…A…M…O…R…O…U…S" Musa sung from her place on the couch.
The dancers finished sauntering down the stair case and walked over to Musa. The four male dancers were dressed in black tuxedos and lifted Musa from the couch and held her above their heads. The four female dancers were dressed in black strapless cocktail dresses dancing around the guys carrying Musa.
"G…L…A…M…O…R…O…U…S. We're flying first class, up in the sky" Musa continues singing as the dancers did their routine.
"CUT!" a loud voice echoed.
The dancers immediately stopped dancing and placed Musa back on the ground.
"What's wrong, Tony?" Musa asked concerned.
"Nothing, you were fabulous sweetheart" Tony said to Musa. "It was the whole set! It looks nothing like I planned."
"That's because I planned it, Tony. Remember? It was my choice for the set. This screamed 'Glamorous'" Musa explained.
"Of course you picked it" Tony said spitefully. "Everyone take a break."
Musa rolled her eyes and Tony before walking over to her chair and sitting down. Today was just another average day for Musa; going to studios, performing live, rehearsing for music videos. Nothing was a dull moment in her life now. Musa smiled as she watched the camera and make-up crew run around for her music video. Her songs were still number 1 and 2 on the charts, her 'Freak the Freak Out' single sold over a million copies and 'The Winx' album had been sold out everywhere. Musa was the hottest sensation in Magix and she loved it. Photographers always wanted to take her photo, interviewers were constantly calling Ellie and Tony begging for interviews, and desperate music agents pleaded for Musa to show up at charity functions and events to perform. To say the least, Musa was living the dream.
Musa was pulled out of her thoughts when Ellie walked up to her with a latte in her hand.
"Hey Musa" Ellie greeted handing the coffee drink to Musa.
Musa smiled gratefully for the caffeine fix.
"How is the rehearsal going along?" Ellie asked.
"Okay I guess, but Tony doesn't like the set that I chose" Musa answered.
"Shame, but I happen to like it."
"Glad someone does" Musa sighed drinking her latte.
Tony walked over to the two girls and smiled.
"Well, Musa, don't worry. We should have everything fixed before long" Tony said with a smile.
"What do you mean fix everything?" Musa questioned.
"The set" Tony replied. "It did not match the song."
"Of course it did. The song is about a glamorous life and that portrayed a glamorous life" Musa defended.
Tony chuckled.
"I know you think so, Musa, but I've been in the music business longer then you have, so trust me."
"But it was my idea" Musa said.
"Yes it was, but no offence darling, it sucked" Tony said patronisingly. "A lot of your ideas do not help your career, except the one about selling your friends out to get ahead."
Musa felt her heart tighten at the thought of Tony saying something that nasty to her. These last two weeks had been amazing but Tony had been changing a little. He became a bit more aggressive in dealing with her and her career. He had short fuses and treated her like she was stupid and spoilt. Musa didn't think that she was spoilt, she considered herself privileged to be living the dream that she always wanted.
"I'll be back in a bit" Tony said not noticing Musa's demenor change. "I have to sort some things out with the director" and with that he walked away.
"Anyway" Ellie said softly trying to change the mood. "The latest article of yours, Musa, has been released and has already sold more than one hundred copies."
"That's great" Musa exclaimed happily.
"Your songs on iTunes have hit number 1 seller, and tomorrow, we will be heading down to the 'Magix Got Talent' studio where you will be performing your new song during the grand finale, live."
"Sounds like a plan" Musa said with a smile.
"Is everything okay, Musa?" Ellie asked concerned.
"Yes, everything thing is fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? I have the perfect job, perfect life, what more could I ask for?"
"How about the perfect boyfriend?" a male voice said.
Musa and Ellie silently groaned to themselves identifying the voice. They both turned around and saw Joshua Bennett walk into the studio with a smug look on his face. About a week ago, Tony had fixed Musa up with Joshua, a high profile actor, to be her pretend boyfriend to boost her popularity. To say the least, it worked but Musa thought he was too arrogant.
"Hey beautiful" Joshua greeted kissing Musa's cheek.
Musa and Ellie made faces of disgust.
"Josh, you know that we are only pretend dating, right?" Musa asked.
"Of course I do, but if I play the act well enough, you may want it to be real" Joshua replied.
Ellie made a fag jag motion behind Joshua's back.
"Nothing would make me more horrified than that" Musa retorted.
"Ooh, feisty, I like that" Joshua said putting some hair behind Musa's ear.
"Keep your filthy hands away from me" Musa said angrily grabbing Joshua's wrist.
Joshua chuckled and retracted his hand. "Don't have to get mean" Joshua chuckled.
"Crawl back into the hole you came from, rat" Ellie butted in.
"Okay, fine, it seems that you ladies aren't ready for me yet. But when you are, I'll be with Tony talking about our first public kiss" Joshua said before walking away.
Musa made a face of disgust before pretending to grab a arrow from behind her back, loading it into a crossbow and shooting at Joshua.
"He is possibly the most arrogant big headed person I have ever met" Ellie said disgusted.
"He will be the celebrity that could choke up a whole room with his ego."
"While I will the celebrity that has to date him" Musa said annoyed.
"You could also be the celebrity who builds the crossbow that kills Joshua" Ellie suggested.
"Tempting" Musa said with a smile.
"Musa, are you happy with all of this" Ellie asked changing the subject.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, are you happy with losing your friends and boyfriend, and having to pretend date an arrogant nut bag?"
"Look, if this is what I have to do to keep me living my dream, then I will do it. Nothing stopped me before, why should it now?"
"Musa, you're needed on set" Tony called.
Musa smiled at Ellie before walking back onto the set.
"Because this is only the tip of the iceberg before crashing and burning, and losing yourself forever" Ellie said to herself when Musa left.
(1) and (2) - picture links are on my profile