Chapter 17- Highschool Sweethearts

Iris started walking out of the school but she hadn't gotten very far before she was stopped. She looked up at the man in front of her.

Leon's blond hair fluttered gently in the wind as he stood in her sight. He had a very hesitant expression on his face

"Syra…I- ''Leon started to say, but was interrupted by Iris sidestepping around him and continuing to walk.

"Wait!"Leon grabbed her hand. Iris easily took it back from him. She stood there and looked at him calmly with no emotion. Leon seemed to lose a bit of his courage when he saw her expression.

"I just… Can we talk?" He asked quietly. 

Iris met his eyes and once again began searching for something. He stood there stiffly, nervousness building in his stomach. If she refused to talk to him this time, then they might really never talk to each other again. What was the point of him one-sidedly following her if she didn't like him? He would truly give up this time if he needed to.

Yet when Iris fully turned around and walked a few steps towards him, her eyes keeping contact with him, Leon felt some hope. He hoped that she would confess she had been bluffing this whole time, that she had feelings for him. 

"What did you want to talk about?"

Leon felt his heart swell with hope. He desperately wanted his one-sided pining to be mutual.

"About us, and if we could keep talking after graduation. And if we could be friends at least-" He began, trying to sort his words.

"No." Iris cruelly stopped him.

Leon felt his stomach drop.

"We don't talk anymore. We can't be friends." She said and began leaving.

"Why? Do you hate me?" Leon said to her back, but he could tell it was the end. This was it. They would no longer be part of each other's lives. He crouched on the ground and covered his face with his hands. 

He had to give up on her, forget that he had ever held such a cruel person in his heart, but right now all he could think about was her. What did he do wrong? He thought that they had gotten along great. They could at least be friends. 

And if they were friends, he could spend his whole life treasuring a one-sided love for her. It would be better than what he's feeling right now.

Leon raised his head, his eyes training on where Iris had been a few minutes ago.

-

The speaker's voice reverberated through the outdoor auditorium, sounds of cheering and talking intermingled. All of the former students dressed in the standard graduation gown. Syra's parents welcomed Iris with loud cheers and encouragement when she stepped onto the stage. 

As the speaker went through all the names, Iris saw Lily bounce up, her standard energetic demeanor replacing the resentment Iris was used to seeing. Leon followed not long after, but he looked cheerless. Unlike his usual happy-go-lucky attitude, he seemed to be in a daze, anyone could tell he's glum.

After all the graduation proceedings, Iris waited by the parking lot while Syra's parents got the car. She saw Leon out of the corner of her eye, but he just looked at her a short moment before turning away.

However, he suddenly ran back with an alarm on his face. He lightly pushed Iris to the side while yelling.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled at Annaleigh, whose face was full of anger and aggression. It looked as if she had attempted to push Iris before being intercepted by Leon. Iris was aware of Annaleigh's small movements but wanted to see what Leon intended. 

Lily suddenly appeared from around the corner.

"What's happening?" She held the perfect illusion of naivety. But Iris could tell she was conflicted. On one side was her long-time friend, and on the opposing side was her long-time crush. 

"She tried to push me." Iris stepped forward and saw Lily stiffen a bit. Lily had tried to forget her experiences with Iris, but when Iris neared she felt fear.

"H-how could this be?" Lily muttered out, but her determination faltered. Annaleigh approached her friend and put a hand on Lily's shoulder.

"It's true. If it wasn't for Syra, everything would have been perfect." Annaleigh said.

Lily met her eyes, trying to stop her, but Annaleigh just gave her an assured glance.

"If it wasn't Syra I wouldn't have gotten in trouble, and you would be with-" Lily frantically covered Annaleigh's mouth, glancing at Leon. But Leon just passively looked back. He was trying to understand what was going on.

Iris stepped closer to Annaleigh.

"I didn't do anything, you were the one who tried to hit me first."

Annaleigh ripped Lily's hand off of her face with intense anger on her face. But as soon as she began talking, the familiar blankness took over her face.

"I did, it's too bad it didn't work." Annaleigh dull voice said.

Iris' eyes widened as shock settled into her face. Nobody here had seen her so expressive and everyone's eyes trained on her. After Annaleigh regained herself she looked at Iris in triumph, thinking she had scared her with the truth.

But Iris was looking at Leon. He looked back at her, unsure of why she was staring at him. No one else had noticed, but Iris saw it. In the moment Annaleigh was controlled, Leon's face had also adopted the same blankness. He had mouthed something intelligible, but it looked similar to the words Annaleigh had spoken. The vacant look on his face only lasted as long as Annaleigh and he looked clueless when he returned to himself.

"Come with me!" Iris grabbed his arm and dragged him away.

-

Iris led him to a secluded place and he followed obediently. He had a very confused look on his face, but he didn't resist Iris's rough handling. When they reached a sufficient place she instantly dropped his arm and cornered him against the wall.

"Who are you!" She asked with hostility.

"What? What do you mean?" He wasn't afraid of Iris's maliciousness.

"Why are you doing this? What did you do to them?"

"I don't understand. I need to go back-" He tried to leave, he was finding it difficult to be around her at the moment, but she trapped him where he was.

"Answer me! What do you want?!" She yelled.

He shrunk a bit and stared at Iris in bewilderment. Iris stared into his eyes and found nothing hostile. He truly didn't understand what he had done. But she knew what she saw. He had controlled Annaleigh. He likely was the mastermind behind everyone else who had been controlled as well. But how? And how was he doing it without knowing?

"Syra."He interrupted her thoughts.

"Why are you doing this?" He stared at her with melancholy.

"You already rejected me. You said we couldn't talk anymore."

"You don't understand! You're doing this horrible-" She began with frustration.

"No, you don't understand!" He held her hand on the wall beside him.

"You suddenly doing all this, bringing me here-talking to me like this, is so confusing!" His voice was much louder at this point. Their faces had gotten much closer, only a breath away.

"Iris, I love you." He suddenly confessed.

"What? Wait, what did you just say?" She asked, flustered.

However, as soon as those last three words were uttered from his mouth, Iris felt the world spin underneath her. It felt as if she was being sucked out of the world. A large wave of nausea hit her as the world she became familiar with faded out of view.