"You mean like boo-hoo?" asked Stella.
Musa growled. Somehow, she had known gossiping about Riven was a bad idea.
"And that's the reason you spend the entire night and morning there?" Tecna added skeptically. Musa glared at her. Just because her love life was going at the rate of a snail's, it didn't mean everyone else's was, too.
"He had a bad dream that's all," Musa, said, dismissively, trying to avoid the topic. "Did you guys see what Miss Faragonda was wearing today?"
"Who cares?" yelled Stella, with obvious apathy. "We were talking about you and Riven spending the night. I think that's more important than an old bat's fashion sense.."
"Stella!" Flora finally said something. She and Bloom had been quiet the whole time.
"Well…I don't think Musa wants to talk about it." Bloom intervened. Layla nodded. She would otherwise have been the first to come down hard on Musa, but she was too busy texting Nabu—they were planning their wedding in less than a day. Everything had to be perfect, and she couldn't worry about trivial problems right now.
"You all are coming for the wedding, right?" she asked, for the hundredth time.
Stella glared at her. "Yes, honey,we are. And so are Brandon and Sky and Timmy and Riven. Unless you don't want them to."
Musa blushed. Stella just had to overemphasize his name.
There was a moment of silence, where the Winx eyed each other carefully. And then….
A sudden blast of music cut through the air, accompanied with ringing.
Musa's cell phone.
She blushed when she saw who was calling.
Riven.
Running out of the room, she pressed, 'Yes' on her phone. Two calls in two days? What was up? She wondered if there was anything to worry about, again.
"Hi," she said, breathlessly.
"Musa…" his voice was soft and husky, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine.
"Riven," she said, stupidly.
There was silence. But it wasn't awkward silence.
He let out a sigh.
"Riven….what's up?" Musa asked.
"Babe…I need to see you…"
"Did you get into trouble?" her tone was worried. She could feel him smirk.
"Red Fountain couldn't catch me if I had a hundred girls up there."
His tone got more serious. "You?" he asked.
"I didn't, but couldn't escape the moral lecture from Flora, Bloom and…."
He groaned. "You told them!" he said, a little sternly, as if they had agreed to keep it a secret all along.
"Yes."
He groaned. "Musa…"
"Riven….they are my friends…I tell them everything…"
He gasped. "Did you tell them I was crying?"
She was silent.
He growled. "You did! Oh no….oh man… Musa…those freaking fairies…oh how will I face them…argh…"
"I didn't tell them why you were crying, well…I said you had a bad dream," Musa said, as if it was some kind of consolation.
"Oh, oh that's great…just lovely Musa…"
The line went dead. Staring at the phone in confusion, Musa dialed Riven's number. A polite, pre-recorded stern voice told her that the number was unreachable. She tried again she got the same response.
She went back to the room.
"Tecna, may I use your phone?" she asked, stiffly.
Riven Elementarian's eyes were black, darkened with anger as he sat in his dimly lit room, with the curtains drawn and the lights turned off. The only source of light came through the curtains. He put his hands on his head, and tried not to feel betrayed.
It's not like I told her not to tell them… we never discussed it…at least she was being honest with me…none of these thoughts helped him feel any better. Women. Women always told everyone everything. Women would always betray him. He'd set the phone on offline mode as soon as he'd hung up on her. He'd wanted to see her so badly…he'd played the night repeatedly in his mind…and he realized he needed to be with her, hear her voice, talk to her, touch her…
He was becoming one of those guys he made fun of, and hated. The one's who'd wait hand and foot on their girlfriends, only to be treated like dirt and be made the object of ridicule by her friends. He imagined them discussing him. Why and how much he had cried, and whether it was a cheap scheme to get Musa to sleep with him. He wondered who else they would tell, and what Musa would tell them about their conversation. Would the news reach Brandon and Sky? Maybe, they'd come barging into his room any minute now.
As if on cue, there was a knock on his door.
"It's Timmy," said Timmy. "It's Musa on the phone for you…she says she can't reach you…so Tecna called mine. Can you open the door?"
Riven grabbed the handle of the door violently and swung it open.
He cut the call and tossed the phone back to Timmy.
"Thanks."
Author's Note: angry young men are so interesting to write about! Seriously…they are confused and disturbed, and so interesting to write about.