Candy- Chapter 13
Flora X Riven Modern Day AU
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The week had went by quickly, and Flora's fever soon faded. She assured her friends that she was still up for the sleepover at Stella's, and here they were, laughing like they never did.

The blonde's house was not big. It was enormous, and resembled the structure of a castle. Apparently, Stella's great-grandmother's cousin's aunt's daughter was related to royals, but Flora didn't know what to think of that, seeing the smug look on the girl's face as she counted the story of how she would have been crown princess of a small state near Seattle if she wasn't grounded during the crowning ceremony.

"I promise, it was called Sunaria, or sun something… Solaria!"
All the girl's laughed in an echo of joy.

Flora looked at Stella's genuine expression. She was so similar to Brittany in looks and demeanor, but the honesty in her eyes changed everything. Hell, Bloom looked more like the girl, with both being redheads.

"So, any gossip?", asked Aisha, finishing a pack of chips while tying her hair.
"Oh, my, god!", cried out Stella, "Our resident tomboy asking for gossip?"
Aisha chuckled, shoving her gently.
"Hey, knowing about a crush or two won't stop me from winning the Olympics! I'm still a girl!", she joked.
"Well, actually, there haven't been anything, really.", Stella said, looking pensive, "Anyone? Or I'll start over how my nails match with my hair aga-"
"I have something!", cut Flora, laughing.

All the girls looked over, smiling curiously.
"Spill the tea, well not really, but…"
"Is it a crush? Tell me it's a crush!"
"I don't expect anything about the new technology improvements-"
Flora hesitated, before breathing in deeply.
"I have a crush. On Helia."

The girls opened their eyes wide, before smirking. Well, Tecna looked more pensive than anything, but when didn't she.

"Like Helia, Helia Stanford?", asked Aisha.
"The sophomore?", added Stella.
"Yeah."
Flora's shyness had made a grand return, and suddenly she didn't know what to say anymore. So she laughed. It really did feel good.

"Congrats! But isn't he, like, with that girl, Ruby? Sapphire?"
Flora felt it was strange they didn't know about their classmate, but decided maybe they didn't get along so well.
"Krystal.", The girl grimaced, "But they're just friends.", she let out.
"Or so he says.", cut Tecna matter-of-factly.
"Hey Tecna, stop letting out your anger on Flora because you and Timmy didn't work out!", snapped Stella, rolling her eyes with a smile.
The short-haired girl blushed a deep red, before going back to her phone.
"Timmy, huh?", smirked Flora, sitting down next to her.
"Leave it. Anyways, I saw Helia the other day. He was with a girl with lavender hair."
Flora shrugged. Krystal.
"What were they doing?", she asked, curious.
"He was crying. I think."
"How curious!", exclaimed Stella, before starting to suck on a lollipop she just unwrapped.
They quickly changed subjects, but Flora saw the girls throw side eyes at Tecna in a not-so-friendly way.
"Do anyone want any of these?", asked Aisha, as she passed around a pack of candy. Gummy bears.
Flora was hesitating. Should she? They were her coping mechanism, after all, for when she wanted to forget. Right now, she didn't.

She wanted to remember, actually, The laugh, the jokes, the food and the bottle of Coke they were passing around. No, she didn't want to forget this moment. How great it felt to have real friends. How great it felt to not be alone anymore. For Musa was good, but this just felt… different.

"What are you thinking about, Flo?", asked Stella, laying down next to her. By now the two other girls were busy playing video games on the other side of the room. You could hear them shouting miles away.
"Nothing much. Have you ever thought about your future, Stella?"
The girl looked surprised, before smiling faintly.
"Yeah, I think I'll be a fashion designer, or a model. If those don't work out… maybe work in production. Why?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about just how fast time is passing. All those times I felt my life would never go on like before, it did. All those problems, now don't seem like such a big deal."
A small pause.
"Then maybe we should live like the us of tomorrow."
The two girls sighed, before looking at each other.
"What's your deepest, darkest, secret?", Stella asked, putting a hand over her mouth as she chuckled.
Flora looked up, pensive. Did she trust Stella enough to tell her about…? No, she didn't. They were friends, yes, but the girl hadn't even told her own sister.
"I don't really have secrets."
The blonde next to her rolled her eyes, turning over.
"Want me to tell you mine?"
"Yeah?"
The blonde looked down.
"Sometimes… I wish I was as happy as people think I am."
Flora didn't know what to say. She had never seen this side of Stella.
"Oh, right, you should tell Riven you're okay.", the girl continued, getting up.
"What?"
"He asked me about you Friday."
Flora sat up, crossing her legs.
"About what?"
"About why you weren't in class, duh!", the blonde laughed, before walking away to join the other girls.
This left Flora to her own thoughts. Riven had asked about her? Well, it was probably about Chemistry anyways, she thought, shrugging it off.

The night quickly passed, afterwards. Too fast, even. The girls had smudged their faces with makeup and were posting selfies on insta. At least Stella, Aisha, and Tecna were.
"Please, Flora, create an account, you'll get followers in no time, and we'll add you to the group chat!", the blonde had said, shaking the girl in a friendly manner.
Flora laughed.
"You know, social media isn't really my thing."
"You could earn money from it. That's why I do, anyways.", said Tecna, closing her computer.

An idea popped into Flora's head. The ecology club had asked its members to run a social media page to make the issue more widespread, and taken seriously. She would have to create one anyways, so… why not? Plus, she was running out of money from her night escapades.

"You know what, fine.", the girl finally let out.
"Yay! Now let me tell you all about-"
Flora didn't hear the rest of Stella's tips, but she felt happy. She felt like she belonged. Honestly, it just felt so good.
"So here, you post it!"
The blonde looked over at her friend, who nodded excitedly. She then pressed enter. And that was it. The account was done, and the first post was posted. It consisted of a smiling Flora rocking a natural look, with some glitter on her eyes. The girl had insisted on not adding filters, for she had finally started to get along with herself, and didn't want to be covered in them, one faker than the other.
Stella had an other opinion.

"It's not being fake, it's enhancing beauty.", she had said seriously.
Flora just laughed, thinking of the big eyelashes and plump lips her friend had photoshopped on herself.
"Right.", the brunette chuckled, soon followed by the two other girls.

Just as all four of them had started to removed their makeup, Flora's phone rang. She went over, pulling her hair into a messy ponytail. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Someone followed me?", she mumbled.
All the other girls looked over.
"Who?", they asked, in unison.
"Inbloom1510.", muttered Flora. What did Bloom follow her for? Or maybe...
She tapped on the user's profile, curious. There were many Nirvana references, alongside a few songs the owner had wrote herself. Himself, Flora corrected, as she pressed on the play button.

The worst in life isn't when you give up.
It's when you try, and try, but they keep shutting you up.
You're just a kid, they say, a kid that knows no better.
Some people don't want to hear the truth.
They're all just hidden liars.
And people listen to them
Because they're all just the same.

You're their everything until you aren't.
They're humans before they're parents.
I don't believe in humanity.
Every day I feel a piece of me.
Fade.
Because they're all the same.

As the ending chords came in, Flora didn't know what to think anymore. The song had seen though her soul, her bones, her everything. It had so much passion, so much feelings, so much story. She didn't want to dance, she didn't want to sing. Because this wasn't a song for the body. It was a song for the head, for the heart, for the soul. She felt heard, even more than when with Helia. The song didn't only understand, it canalized all of her emotions into a musical mayhem that somehow made so much sense.

"Stella, how do you text someone on this?", she asked, still recovering from the shock that song had brought upon her.
"Dms? Here, let me show you. Who do you wanna text?"
"Him.", the brunette replied, handing over the phone.
"Him?", smirked her friend, before tapping a few times on the screen.
Faced to the girl's silence, Stella handed the phone back.
"Don't thank me!"
"Oh, right, thanks!"

Flora then quickly started typing. She needed to know why this person, this artist, had followed her. Her, the girl that only registered a few minutes ago.
"Hi.", she finally decided on sending. The girl didn't want to bombard the person with her deepest secrets all at once. At least not right now.
She didn't get a reply until the next day.