[THE FLOWER SERIES] Iris

"What the hell?" I murmured as I heard his voice broadcasting his confession on the campus radio. “Iris Leigh Young! I-I know we’ve been friends since we were young. But now I realize that I don’t want us to stay just friends anymore. 18 years is enough. I’m so done controlling and hiding these feelings for you." He paused. "As your initials suggest, I.L.Y, Iris, I Loved You since then, and I’ll Love You ‘til my last breath.” Then a song played. I felt ice under my feet, and fire in my cheeks. I was stunned at the moment. Everyone is eyeing me now. And for Pete’s sake, I hated this kind of attention. He’s my childhood best friend. He is Rhythm, the campus band vocalist. Luckily, his name matched with his talent. As my heartbeat became normal, I ran as fast as I could, heading towards the radio booth. As I saw him, I held his hand, pulled him, and took him to the rooftop. Then I realized his guitar was still hanging onto him. I wanted to laugh, but I remained as calm as possible. Imagine running with a guitar on you, how exhausting it can be. Right? I looked at him. “What in the world did you do? Is this your revenge?” I can't help but to raise my voice in disbelief. Two days ago, I told his stepmom that he had skipped his class and been to a gig with his bandmates. He got an hour of scolding from his stepmom and this was his petty way to get revenge on me. “Yeah, pretty much,” he said with a smirk on his face. I replied, “And you think someone will believe your words?” “I don’t know, maybe?” He said while fixing his guitar. We sat on a covered area, and he started strumming and playing an unfamiliar tune. “What song is that?” I asked with curiosity written all over my face. “I don’t know yet, still figuring it out,” he said while looking straight at me. “It’s good,” I said in a low voice. “What?” He asked. I jokingly replied, “Nothing, you’re handsome, but maybe you need to get your ears checked” with a giggle. Rhythm is someone I know I could rely on. I can trust him with pretty much everything. I remember when we were in the first year of our high school years. I was so annoyed with him to the point that I didn't even want to see his shadow or smell his scent. However, at that very moment, he was the very first person who came to my mind when I needed help. I excused myself from the class and went to the comfort room just to take a pee. As I walked in the hallway, someone laughed at me and pointed at something at my back. And because I didn't want any attention, I ran my way to the comfort room. Then I realized that it was my first day and I left my pads in my bag... and my phone too. I'm doomed. I waited for familiar voices to enter the comfort room, but why on earth was there no one coming in? I think it's already break time for some classes and I was there for, maybe, almost 15 minutes, then someone knocked on the main door. In the back of my mind, why would someone knock on the door? Why not just enter? Then someone speaks, "Iris? Are you there?" Ah, it's Rhythm, that's why he knocked because this comfort room is for the girls. "Y-yes! I am here!" I shouted just to be sure he heard me. I heard him saying something, but I couldn't understand. Then someone finally opened the door. "I'm here", I spoke. Someone knocked on the door and said, "Please open it, someone told me to give this to you", a girl's voice. I partially opened the door, and she handed me my pouch where I was putting my pads, extra underwear, and other necessities. "Thank God", I sighed in relief. And started to do my thing. The girl replied, "I am not a god, maybe he is." maybe she was talking about Rhythm. "Uhm, I mean thank you....." waiting for her to say her name. "Lia, my name is Lia," she replied. "Thank you, Lia, you saved me." I finally got out of the cubicle. "It's nothing, and it's not me you should be thanking. I think he still waits outside," she said while dolling her beautiful face in front of the mirror. I smiled at her and said, "Still, thank you, without your help, I might not be able to go out and just cry my eyes out." She paused and turned to smile back at me. Then I took that chance and went outside. Holding my bag on my back, trying to cover the blood on my skirt. As I stepped outside the comfort room, I was surprised when he took off the jacket he was wearing and tied it to my waist. "It's okay now." He said. "Thank you, but how did you know?" I asked. "I overheard some people laughing and talking about you, who has blood on your skirt," he said. "And then I realized that maybe you got your period because you were so annoyed by my very existence since this morning, so I went to your classroom, to confirm if you're there and you're not. So I got your kit in your bag and ran here. Thankfully, after some time, I saw Lia and I asked her to give it to you. That's it!" he enthusiastically answered. "Okay," I replied. "That's it?" he was nonplussed. "Why? Do you expect more?" I asked. "Aha." He said with puppy eyes. "Okay, I will tell Mom to cook your favorite food," I said. He jumped out of happiness and even swung his hands in the air. I knew that he was so glad about it because my mom's cooking was very similar to his late mom's. Rhythm is always a part of me. He was like a brother to me. He is my best friend.