My Musical Flower

Chapter 19 - Kaia

As soon as I get home, I head to find Harmony.

And where is that fat cat, Bubbles? Harmony probably kidnapped him again.

I go over to her room, and see her holding onto Bubbles like her life depends on it while she scrolls on her laptop. Once she finally sees me, she lets out an ear-destroying screech, making Bubbles skitter away.

"Oh my god, you psycho!" I say, my hands covering my ears as I make my way over to her bed.

"Kaia, you won't believe this," Harmony sits up, making way for me to sit beside her, "I owe this all to you for making me sign up to be apart of Eclipse and—"

"Hold on, hold on. What happened?"

She takes her phone, searches something, and shows me a video that's titled: "Ivan Brookes' new girlfriend, Harmony Ryu, Singing Duet at Wedding!"

Now I can't blame her for screaming because I'm about to do that myself. "Oh my god, is that you? You're singing with Ivan!" I say, and as the video plays, my talented best friend is actively capturing everyone's attention.

Thousands of views in just a couple hours, singing with one of the most popular bands. I take the phone from her to scroll into the comments section, and see everyone praising Harmony. Her name is trending everywhere. "Harmony, I'm so proud of you! Look at you go, you're amazing!"

"You're gonna die when you hear what happened next."

"What? You're scaring me now."

"Ivan also kissed me today," she says, and my jaw is literally on the floor even as she continues, "It was for show, though, and only on the cheek. But I returned the kiss, so I'd say that's a win-win."

"Holy shit, I would've thrown up from the anxiety. You performed with the band for the first time, started trending, and kissed Ivan? This is manifestation at its prime."

"No, it doesn't count, though. It was just to prove to his friends that we were actually dating."

"That's true," I admit, "Maybe you shouldn't get too caught up into it."

"What do you mean?"

"You told me that he's using you to make Alice jealous, right? To prove he moved on? But what about your side of the deal? Are you getting enough in return?" I ask, catching her off guard, and making myself comfortable under her covers with no shame.

She looks focused on her thoughts and it makes me worry that the idea of never doing work for free completely slipped her mind. She tells me, "I'm getting enough in return. Don't worry about me, Kaia! Anyways, what about you? How was your day?"

"Fine, I guess. Nothing too interesting," I admit, "I saw Akai, though, at the convenience store. He was acting a little weird, maybe he was drunk or something."

She gasps and I'm worried she's about to let out another scream, but she composes herself and lets me know, "That reminds me of something! After seeing you earlier today, the band kept talking about how Akai supposedly has a thing for you."

I make a face in response to that, and Harmony starts giggling at the sight. She closes her laptop, sets it aside, and gets up, "I'm going to go check on Bubbles, I'm pretty sure I gave him a heart attack earlier."

I barely hear her, I'm still thinking about what she said a couple seconds ago about Akai.

Sure, it's probably true, especially with how weird he was acting earlier. Definitely a cute sight, but there's literally no way. There's a better chance of me winning an Olympic medal for a random sport than Akai and I ever happening. Nope, I won't allow such a distraction when I'm in such an important time of my life.

But, his dimples are adorable.

I'm allowed to think that, right? Doesn't mean I like him.