𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒚𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 | Riven

𝟎𝟖

═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓━═

Fallin sat lazily on the couch, scrolling through her phone, the dull hum of the girls going about their own business in the suite filling the air. Musa was listening to music in her room, while Aisha was studying on the couch opposite of Fallin. Bloom had her door slightly ajar, flipping through some notes on her bed. 

Suddenly, Terra walked into the suite, accompanied by another girl. Fallin glanced up from her phone, taking in the unfamiliar face—a Latina girl with short, curly brown hair. She looked kind but had something rebellious about her.

"Hey, can I get everyone's attention for a second?" Terra called out, her voice slightly nervous. Musa poked her head out of her room, Bloom stepped out from her door, all of them curious. As Aisha stopped reading, Fallin put her phone down and straightened up a bit on the couch, sensing that this was something important.

"This is Flora," Terra announced with a grin, motioning to the girl beside her. "My cousin. She just transferred to Alfea." Flora gave a small wave, her warm brown eyes sweeping over the group. "Hey, nice to meet you all."

"Flora's going to be moving into our suite," Terra continued, looking at everyone, gauging their reactions. "I hope that's okay with everyone." The girls exchanged excited murmurs, welcoming Flora with smiles and nods. Fallin gave her a friendly smile, happy to see Terra so excited.

"Of course!" Bloom said enthusiastically. "We'd love to have you." Musa nodded, "Yeah, the more the merrier." But then Terra added, almost as an afterthought, "Oh, and she'll be sharing a room with Stella."

At this, the mood in the room subtly shifted. The girls exchanged worried glances. Musa and Aisha glanced at each other, and even Bloom's smile faltered slightly. 

Stella, standing by her door, simply smiled sweetly, as if she hadn't noticed the tension. "It'll be fun," she said in a sing-song voice, and without another word, she turned on her heel and disappeared into her room, closing the door gently behind her.

The room fell into an awkward silence for a moment. The girls glanced around at each other, unsure of how to react. Fallin decided to jump in and lighten the mood, clapping her hands together and flashing a bright smile. "So, can we help you with unpacking?"

Flora smiled, a little unsure but clearly grateful for the offer. Terra shot Fallin a relieved look, glad that the vibe was being steered back to something positive. "Yeah, that'd be great!" She replied, and just like that, the mood lightened, the girls coming together to help her settle in.

◇

As the girls sat around the couch, surrounded by unpacked boxes, Fallin leaned back, amused by how quickly everyone had jumped into action to help Flora. She tossed a glance at the Latina girl, who seemed overwhelmed by how "helpful" everyone was being.

"Really, can I please convince all of you to stop being so helpful?" Flora said with a smile. "I could've gone six months without unpacking." Fallin chuckled, "Trust me, you'd last one week tops," she teased.  Bloom joined in with a laugh. "Then we'd find Terra at night with a headlamp, doing it all herself."

Terra laughed at that, clearly proud of her organizational skills. "As I was saying," she continued, "Flora grew up all over. Bit of a wild lifestyle for my aunt and uncle's work." Fallin watched as Flora pulled out a few pillows from her bag, raising an eyebrow. "Horticultural research is 'wild' now?" Fallin teased, and Flora laughed softly.

"As wild as horticultural research fellows can be," Flora added with a wink. Musa, who had been listening from the other side of the couch, piped up, "So, extremely wild?" Her tone was playful.