Fly Girl | [Novel] (Wattpad Version)

Interlude #1 - A Review With Torii

May 2004 :

Sitting in shock as she'd listened to each account in full detail, Andrea couldn't imagine how things could have gone from seemingly good to the state the four women of Fly Girl were in today.

"You look surprised by all that you've heard so far, though most of that is just basic."

Andrea cleared her throat, nodding her head as she smiled in Torii's direction. "Well, I surely didn't know that there were other girls in the group before you, Ava, and Leann. I was just wondering though; didn't all of the pressure to do well for Chauncey, knowing that group members were interchangeable and the personal struggles thus far bring you all closer?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ava not having her parents, afraid to trust her husband. You all being there for Leann for events when she normally had no one else. You and your sister learning the hard lesson of who your true friends were, and who were secretly wishing for a downfall. If it were me in a group; I know that would have tightened our bond once we got back around one another."

Torii nodded, now understanding Andrea's question. "Everything that happened to us in that year, it brought us as close as two siblings and former strangers could get. We were around one another, essentially, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We worked together, ate together, cried together; we had no choice but to get close with one another. Of course, we felt for Ava and what she was going through. But we also knew that the things going on in her marriage were not our business. We could only offer our opinions, give advice when we were asked, and then we had to mind our business. Same with Leann and the slight battle she went through to get her brother to California. As well as her little relationships and the circle of friends that came with those. It wasn't our business, and we only spoke on it when she asked our opinions. My sister and I, we kept our relationships and our business, for the most part, private, even kept things from one another, so there wasn't much that could be said to us."

"Okay, you were close, but did you all trust one another?"

Torii sat back, thinking honestly about the answer to that question. "As always, I trusted my sister. I knew that no matter what, in the end, I had her. As petty as it probably sounds; after that last holiday trip back to Tennessee, we both decided that we would take things and what people said to us at face value. You know; actions speaking louder than their words. Anybody could tell us anything, but we watched for how they went about keeping their word or promises to us. Sadly, that went for everyone within the Fly Girl circle as well. My sister and I, we've always been super trusting of everyone. Friendly right off the bat, down to help anyone that needs it. And we're still that way, but we were more cautious after that incident. I, personally, trusted no one away from home except for my sister, Brandy, and Kyrie because he was just a giant teddy bear. He was loving and kind to everyone."

"Not even Raj?"

"No, not even him in the beginning, but he knew why and it wasn't long before he earned my trust."

Andrea nodded, clearing her throat as she moved on to her next statement and question. "They've already explained why they felt you weren't trustworthy; but why didn't you trust Ava or Leann, if you'd all grown close to one another?"

Torii smirked, shaking her head. The fact that they didn't trust her back then was news, but not completely surprising. "Like I said, it was all about actions and how people behaved around me. I've always been a people watcher, an observer; and I peep a lot without people even knowing it. I loved Ava and Leann dearly. But, Ava was always distant. She chose to separate herself from us at times, which was completely fine with me; but, she always came back and made it seem as if we'd pushed her away or kicked her out of the circle or made attempts at replacing her. Dumb things and accusations when she was the one always saying I just need a breather or I just need my space."

"And Leann?"

"She was trustworthy in the beginning; at least, I thought so. But there are some people who act one way around you, and then they get a new circle, separate and totally different from everything that you are... and they change. Not always for the best either. She slowly became one of those people who you couldn't trust their word or their actions. Flaky, phony at times; I learned the hard way that it was better to keep a strictly business relationship with her. That's not what I wanted, that's not what I wanted with any of my girls, but that's what it became after a certain amount of time. It was better than stressing myself out, constantly trying to appease people who added nothing to my life. If it wasn't my family, my boyfriend, the fans, or something that Brandy needed... I wasn't going to bother or make a huge fuss over keeping up facades or trying to please people or make them happy. We spent way too many years doing that, and after a while it got old. I was over it."

Andrea looked at Torii, wanting to ask another question, but she held it back. Sitting up straight in her seat before she moved on to the question she had jotted down at the top of her notepad. "So, after that Thanksgiving beak, when you all went back to begin work on your second album..."

"Mmhm."

"Is that when things changed; the attitudes, the dynamic of the group?"

"Nope. There was the album, a couple of award shows, and then something that neither Troy or I knew about until recently. Of course, I'm not the right person to tell you about that specific scandal."

Andrea turned to a fresh sheet of paper and nodded slowly, hoping and praying that the person she did need to talk to would be honest when recalling that moment in time.