Who would have thought that I'd be going to another country?
Me... of all people?
I look out the car's window, leaning against the slightly cool glass, sitting at the back of this steely-red family car.
Well, technically, I've been abroad already, in Alarida. But I don't really count that one, Perennial Bloom exists inside its borders after all, close to the capital city Olana Green. We are what the Vatican City is to Italy. Just replace the Pope and all the historical importance with a bunch of flowers, trees, and the most pretentious of schools and you get Perennial Bloom.
Well, okay, maybe that's not even close to the same thing, but you get the idea, right?
...
The continent of Africa... Egypt...
It's strange to think that she's from somewhere so far away...
Jasmine...
I almost clonk my forehead against the glass as Jed drives over a pothole and the whole car rattles and shakes.
"Oops!"
Gloria scoffs, seated at the back with me, but doesn't look at Jed, staring only at the other front seat. She looks especially agitated for some reason before sternly facing her window again.
Mary rides shotgun in front of me, not sure why, but she insisted on sitting at the front. After getting one over Nettle yesterday at the Principal's, she seemed a little down once her victory celebrations were over. She sat the rest of the dinner in silence, glancing periodically to the other end of the table. She was a bit more muted than normal when we parted ways, I wonder if she's doing okay...
"How nice of you both to join us on this trip, I don't know what we would have done without you, Jed!" Mary speaks in an energetic voice.
"Oh, but of course, we were just wondering with Gloria where we should go this summer!"
"..." Gloria is quiet.
"Isn't that right, Floret?" Mary asks.
"Yeah! You two make this trip possible!"
I say, and Mary smiles at me through the rearview mirror and then looks away.
Maybe I'm worried for nothing, she seems fine now.
I gaze through the window, at the gentle clouds sailing in the sky.
To think, I'd be leaving Perennial Bloom once more, and so soon... but this time, of my own volition.
I'm doing this because I want to, doing it for myself. For my future...
For my own sake...
Not because you forced me to go, to leave everything behind...
A bit later, we arrive at Iris' two-story detached house in the middle of town, with the flower shop next to it as a separate building hugging the house's side.
We wait five minutes, which then turns into ten, but Iris is nowhere to be seen despite us arriving on time and messaging her that we've arrived.
"Maybe you should go and get her, Floret." Jed turns to me, leaning against his seat.
"Yeah, alright. Maybe she's still asleep..." I leave the car, and walk toward the porch, as I approach the door, I hear some sort of commotion inside. I knock on the door, but they don't open, the sounds only get louder.
I try the handle, and the door opens.
"For the last time, you're not going anywhere!" Iris' dad grips her arm, which holds the suitcase with wheels.
"You think you can just leave me and your mother to run the shop, while you go off abroad without even caring to let us know a day before?"
"I didn't tell you because you wouldn't let me go if I did! I'm not a child anymore! I can go traveling if I want to! It's not like I have a work contract with your shitty weed shop!"
Her mother who stands a bit to the side gasps. "Young Miss! You take that back right now!"
"I've got my own things to do and dreams to follow!"
"Is that what this is about again!?" Her dad grips Iris harder.
"You're hurting me..."
"Iris!" I shout, and they finally notice me.
"Floret!" Iris tries to wrestle her hand free from her dad's grip.
"You! This is your doing!? You've turned our little girl against us, haven't you? I should have known- Agh!" Iris kicks her dad on the ankle and gets her hand loose from him.
I dart at Iris, and pull her luggage along with her, as we flee through the open door.
"Stop!" We hear rushing footsteps after us.
As we run, we look at each other, and Iris laughs, her eyes shining with moisture.
I smile to her, as we rattle the luggage along which barely keeps upright, tilting and bouncing every which.
It's familiar and nostalgic, for a fleeting movement, we are both the same mischievous children as back then. Running from our troubles, running toward the future, together.
We stop at the car's trunk, which Jed opens for us from the inside.
I look back to see Iris' father at the forefront, her mother holding his hand, both standing on the porch. She pats her husband's hand.
Iris only passingly glances in their direction and doesn't even wave goodbye.
"Thank you, Floret, for coming to get me." She brushes her hair aside from her face, and I notice that her wrist is red.
"Of course."
Iris chuckles and hugs me tightly.
"Iris Filia Meadow! If you go now, there's no coming back!" Her dad shouts.
"W-what are you saying, Michael! Please, come to your senses! She's our girl, you can't be serious!"
"Shut up, Jackie!"
"No, I won't! This is wrong! She's our daughter!"
Their parents continue to argue, and I ask Iris a question as I hug her back.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes. I've planned for this." She backs away from the hug and continues. "I'll just stay at my cousin's in Olana Green after our trip... Though that means... I'll be away from Perennial Bloom..."
"I see... That's unfortunate, but... I think you're doing the right thing. They don't deserve you." I lift her luggage into the trunk and close it.
"Hehe..." Iris holds her hands behind her back and leans forward. "You're so sweet." She kisses me on the cheek and circles to the car's other side.
I hold a hand over my cheek for a moment.
Oh, Iris...
A warm feeling spreads on my face, and my heart races a little faster.
As I walk to the other side of the car, I glance back at her parents, they're calm, practically frozen stiff. They look like they've seen something that'll stay with them to the end of their days.
As I open the right-hand door, Gloria suddenly comes out of the car.
"Huh?"
"No way I'm sitting in the middle, I'm much too tall for that."
"Ah, right." I go inside, Iris smiles at me and hands me the middle seat's seatbelt.
"Thanks." I seat belt up, and Gloria returns inside as well. It's a bit of a tight fit, but she was right, as the middle seat was a bit higher than the edge seats, Gloria would have had to twist her head and neck against the roof to fit, as even I'm almost colliding with it.
"Everyone comfortable and ready?" Jed looks to the backseat via the front mirror.
"Ready," Gloria says.
"Yeah."
Though, I wouldn't exactly call this comfortable. At least, I had good company on either side.
"Yes, ready to get out of here." Iris chimes in.
"Wonderful!" Mary says excitedly, "Hit it, Jed!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!"
Jed speeds off, leaving Iris' parents standing on the porch. Their house, flower shop, and themselves; left behind in the past.
***
The road trip is pleasant, though despite the groovy songs on the radio, varied conversation topics, and good, if not at times, rather loud company, I cannot help but grow drowsy. Especially after the lunch we stopped to have, my head keeps on drooping forward, bobbing me back awake as it falls.
"Wait, you two are coming along too? I thought you'd just take us to the airport, did the principal also pay for your trips?" Iris asks.
"Oh, no. We just decided to come along, and hold our holiday with you three." Jed answers. "It'll certainly be more exciting that way, right dear?"
"R-right... we couldn't possibly let you two go off on your own. Who knows what sort of trouble you'd get into otherwise."
Iris laughs. "As much as I want to... I don't think I can deny that-"
My eyes close once more... and I drift off.
I awake in a gas station bathroom. There are three white stalls, that don't quite extend to the floor nor the ceiling, three mirrors at the opposite wall with sinks, both vandalized with black marker and stickers of brands or religious messages.
A toilet is flushed, and Mary comes out of a stall.
"How are you Floret? Have you waited long?"
"No, it's fine. I'm... fine."