We arrived in front of a classroom that I was sure was abandoned near the back of the school. It led to a small outside patio that looked abandoned. I attended a rather large school but since the rise of Deviants, major cities have fallen out of favor due to the increased chance of Deviants and the violent crimes that come with them.

“So if you don’t mind me asking Iris, why did you move here? Iowa is such a quiet state for the most part. I mean there’s just a bunch of grass, and farms, and based on what little I know about you, I would assume you would love it there.” I said as I kicked over a random chair.

“Can you stop being an idiot? And well, I didn’t really have a choice I guess” She said, shrugging her shoulders and picking up the chair.

“This place is a mess, why would the school give me a room like this? I mean, all the sports teams have modern and spacious rooms and I get left with this junk” 

She proceeded to kick over the same chair and lean against the wall before slowly sliding down to the ground.

“I didn’t want to move… but my parents said I have no other choice. Most people aren’t accepting of people who are different, you know?”
“You could know someone your whole life, and guess what? You tell them one little secret and now they treat you like a whole different person!”

I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, I mean, I tell everyone everything. Well, by everyone I mean Bryce, I can’t understand hiding anything. Maybe since I don’t have anything exciting I wouldn’t understand having anything to hide.

“Yeah, I guess I do,” I said walking around the room.

I grabbed a broom off the wall and tossed it at Iris.

“Well are you going to sit there all day, or are you going to get this club started?”

I saw her look up and wipe the tears that were starting to form in her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t boss me around. And I didn’t forget how you ignored me earlier in math class. I mean that was pretty rude.” Iris said, getting up to her feet.

She was right, I completely forgot I did that. I just didn’t know her and instantly assumed she was going to be like everyone else.

“Yeah I’m sorry I don’t really have any friends outside Bryce for real, well… I don’t have any friends beside Bryce at all.” I said looking away.

I went to grab a bucket and cloth that was laying on a table.

“I’m going to grab some water, and look for some cleaning spray. I'll be right back” I grabbed the bucket and walked out the room.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid why would I tell her I don’t have any friends, I mean I’m sure she can already tell just by talking to me” 

I walked around the school till I made it to the locker room and filled the bucket with water.

Wade Johnson walked by me making fun of me with his friends before laughing and walking off.

I was still so mad, I haven’t had a phone in over a week. My dad said I need to learn to take better care of my stuff and to stop losing it all the time. Which was rich coming from the man who always loses track of time working.

I grabbed the bucket, and some cleaning spray I got from the janitor and headed back towards the room. But before I could make it back I ran into Bryce in the school gym working out to pass time.

“Man you won’t believe what happened!” I said putting my hand out for a dap up.

“What’s up dude, I see you’re unusually happy” Bryce responded as he dapped me up

“You know that new girl? Guess what, she’s in my math class! And after school just asked ME to join the gardening club with her.” I said with a smirk while pointing at myself.

“Really, you? What did you have to do, get down and beg on your knees?” he said while slapping me on the back.

“Damn man, can you stop that? It really hurts! You don’t have to be such an asshole. But no she just asked me to, no strings attached, yup that’s how it went!” I said looking away dismissively.

“Well don’t keep her waiting, what time did you leave anyways?” Bryce said.

“I don’t know to be honest, I don’t have a phone, I think it was around 3:30” I said looking for a clock.
I saw it was almost 4:00 now.
“Man, how did I let time get past me like this, I gotta go now.”

“Hey Jaye… After school, how about we get ice cream? My treat.” Bryce suddenly said before getting ready to get back on the treadmill.

“Yeah sure I don’t see why not” I said before running out the room.

I ran down the hall in a hurry thinking she probably thinks I dipped out on her. She probably thought I was some asshole who only pretended to be interested in gardening then flaked out.

Before rounding the corner I heard a beautiful melody. It was somehow almost comforting, the type of rhyme and tune you would associate with a nursery rhyme. I couldn’t see who it was but considering this wing of the hall is pretty much unused I assumed it was Iris.

I didn’t want to scare her, so I slowly walked to the door. I saw her down on her knees over the potted plant that I knocked over early. I couldn’t figure out what she was doing. I mean the plant was pretty much dead. I mean, what good is a dead plant?

A strange small light emitted from before her. I couldn’t make out what it was, but before I could keep observing, I fell pushing open the door. I managed to avoid spilling the water for the most part. I looked up from trying to stop myself from falling before seeing Iris quickly tuck something away behind a shelf.

“H-hey Jaye’sun, took you long enough, I mean, here I was thinking you bailed on me like one of those stuck up jerks.” Iris said, rising from the ground.

The room was spotless I mean, too clean, everything besides the tables and white board were completely swept free of all dust or trash.

“Woahhhh you did this?” I said walking around to get a better look at the room.

.I took my towel from my pocket and started wiping down the desk.

“You did a great job, you must really love the whole gardening and plants thing. That’s why I still don’t understand why you moved to Chicago. There’s really not a lot of plant life and there’s so many Deviant crimes.”
When I said that last sentence, I don’t know how, but I could notice a shift in her demeanor.

“Yeah well, I had an encounter that changed how people viewed me, all of a sudden I went from good ol’ Iris-” she paused for a second before continuing. “People used to look up to me, I had good grades and tons of friends, pretty much the opposite of you.” she laughed.

“But then they were scared of me, they called me a mistake, I received death threats, and experienced constant bullying at school, all for something I couldn’t control!” 

She sounded angrier now, but her composure didn’t change. “How is it that everyone wants to be different, but as soon as you are in a way that’s actually different, you’re an outcast. It’s like they look for the chance to drag you down beneath them to boost their ego.” Iris said, getting up and grabbing another towel, then wiping down the windows.

“You know, I have a friend I found out was different recently. At first I was kinda shocked he never told me, I mean, we’ve been friends for years you know? Since Pre-K. I’ve known him my whole life, we talked about everything together, anime, comics, video games, and our… well, my failed attempts at romance.” I said with a laugh, which caused her to laugh too.

“But I think I know why he didn’t tell me. I don’t think it’s like he didn’t trust me or anything, I just think he didn’t wanna ruin our friendship, he was scared of how I would react.” looking down at the table I was wiping.

“I don’t want him to feel like he can’t ever tell me anything again!” I squeezed the towel, causing the water to leak from it.

“Woah, chill out Mr.Main character.” Iris said with a grin.

I laughed realizing I do sound like someone monologuing.

“Still, when I was in trouble he was there. He could have been home but he knew how much trouble I always got into and made sure I got home, and even came to check on me. If he wasn’t there, I’m not sure what would have happened.” I said wiping down the last of the tables.

Iris finished cleaning the windows, and took a seat at a table with a chair across from it.

“Come on” she said, nodding towards the other chair.

“You seem like a good guy, maybe because you’re the only guy I know.”

“It was when I was 10 one day, I was out playing by a meadow when suddenly, I saw these kids stepping all over my flowers. They trampled all of them, I saw my years of hard work going down the drain and I started to cry.” She looked up at me.

“I ran over to the bullies and begged them to stop, but they wouldn’t listen, they shoved me to the ground and all started to laugh.” She was visibly distraught trying to describe what happened.

“By the time they were done, almost all of the flowers were dead, besides one Dandelion. Even though some people called them weeds, they were just as pretty to me. They're all a part of nature, right? Even though they're different, they’re a plant like any other flower.” Iris quickly lowered her voice.

“Do you feel like you’re being watched right now?” She whispered.

“No..? It’s just us, if someone else was here I’m sure we would have seen them. This is a pretty open room, it’s not like there’s any blind spots they can really be in.” I responded.

“Well listen Jaye’sun, how about after this we hangout? You and I can tell the rest of the story later.” She smiled warmly at me.

A girl? asking to hangout with me? Afterschool? This had to be a dream right?

“Yeah, I would love to!” I said quickly.

“Well, except me and Bryce were supposed to hangout after school.”

“Then all 3 of us can hangout, he’s not weird or anything right?” As she went to put everything away, she grabbed her bag which had her last name on it.

“Nah, he’s pretty fun, and a cool guy at that.” I responded.

 We both started to make our way out of the class as the bell rang, and the end of the day announcements came on.

As I was walking out the door I looked back one last time, and what I saw confused me. It was the same pot, the same plant. But now it appeared as though it was never dropped, it looked almost perfect like a textbook image. I turned back saying nothing and continued walking out the room.