"Yes… I understand. I think… I'll be okay." Aubrey confirmed over the phone, an emotional quiver in her voice. Cold air blew through her room as a reminder of her dilapidated and depressing living situation. The girl shivered a little – she hadn't slept all night after the incident, and it was now morning. Ending the call, she pocketed her phone into her usual jacket and crouched to pet Bun-bun. Her rabbit gazed at her questioningly, as if to ask, was she waiting for something to happen?

The teen made a mix of a sigh and a groan, still shocked but also frustrated with herself.

"Maybe I should talk to Sunny…" she suggested to herself. He seemed distant last night, which was not unusual but… It was like he had no reaction to Basil's now-confirmed death, at all. She needed to talk to someone today, and Kim wasn't around until later… And she wanted to resolve everything before Sunny moved away. And she kind of wanted to talk to him specifically. Yeah, that's enough reasons to call, Aubrey thought.

As expected, her ringing of the house phone was unreciprocated. An automated and strikingly generic recording by Sunny's mom requested a message after the beep.

"Um… Sunny?" Aubrey began, not knowing what to say. Her tone changed from sorrowful to slightly irked. "You really had nothing to say last night after what happened? I… I don't know what's going on, Sunny… I need you to be here for me…" She paused and tried to calm down.

"I know there's no time to meet up today… But please… We just need to talk… Things can't end like this. I really don't want it to end like this!" Despite the attempt to sheath her emotions, she broke down in tears and quickly hung up. Her closest friends were being taken away from her one-by-one. First Mari, who was like a sister to her. And now Basil, her friend even before meeting the others…

That's right. Basil. Her friend from early childhood. That she had bullied to suicide. And now Sunny was leaving, probably to never talk to her or the group ever again. Why was she even questioning it? It was her fault. There was no way it wasn't her fault.

This was too much for a 16-year old to handle. Aubrey became ENRAGED. She pulled open her bedside drawer, knocking over a framed photo of her and Kim in the process, and pulled out a sharp lockpick, never used before. She ran the end of the tool over her arm, and winced in pain. "What is wrong with me?! This was all my fault! Basil killed himself because I bullied him all these years!"

Breathing heavily from the pain and starting to bleed from the cut, she gradually and quietly snapped out of her self-directed anger. She looked at Bun-Bun again, who stared at her endearingly.

"You're right" she said to the animal. "This… This anger is what got me here in the first place." If there was one thing she was good at, it was being honest. The girl pulled off her headband in the last of her frustration, and flopped down onto her bed exhaustedly. Picking up the photo of her and Kim and inspecting it for cracks, Aubrey tried her hardest to distract herself from thinking about Basil, and immediately drifted off into some needed rest…

Aubrey found herself in a colourful field, filled with the flora gladioli for as far as she could see before it became misty. The flowers enveloped her, reaching to her chest in height. Whenever she moved, the leaves of the plants would attack her legs.

A sound, of whispering, seemed to come from behind her. She turned back, to see a shape in the distance, clearly distinguishable as Basil from the repetitive array of plants all around. With the wave of a hand, he turned and beckoned for her to follow him into the fog.

Not wanting to lose him, Aubrey began chasing as fast as she could, brushing the vicious, sword-shaped flowers out of the way, and her vision became foggier, yet the boy never seemed to get any closer. Soon, it was impossible to see anything. Yet somehow, she felt relaxed…

The mist cleared up, revealing a memory. A local hardware store. A young girl with black hair, a pink shirt with shorts, and a bow for accessory struggles to push through the door and walks up to the counter. "Yo, kid!" said the cashier. "You lookin' for something?"

"Um… I heard you sell flowers here… I wanted to buy something to make my mom happy agai-"

"Sure!" he cut her off. "Oh, but these at the entrance are for display. Just get yourself through to that garden at the back."

The girl nodded, slightly annoyed at the interruption. She began to navigate herself through the gaps between the shelves and panels holding lamps, disorganized tools, paints, and a sliding door – to which the girl did a double-take to make sure it didn't actually lead to anywhere.

A fresh breeze carried a pleasant concoction of the scent of various plants from the back door. This part of the shop was empty right now – aside from a boy with blonde hair. He was standing in front of a planter, holding bags of sunflower seeds in his hand.


"Hi!" she said with a smile, suddenly stood next to him. The boy jumped back in shock and grabbed the shelf for support. "U-um… Hi there…"

"Do you like flowers?" the girl asked. The boy paused for a moment to briefly describe his feelings.

"Flowers… are like people" the boy responded. "You have to keep an eye on them, so you don't lose them. And you have to be able to see what they really need."

The girl tried to think about this for a while before changing her question, noticing what was in his hands. "Do you like sunflowers?"

"They're happy." the boy responded, looking away shyly. "I think at the end of the day, we should all try to be happy. And grateful for what there is. To look at the bright side… You know."

"They're perfect!" she shouted, stealing one of the bags of seeds the boy was holding and grabbing his arm with her other hand. Much to his unwillingness, the girl pulls him toward the checkout at the front of the store. As that happened, everything began to fade out, starting with the colours…

Aubrey woke up, soaked from the now-ceased bleeding of her arm, and simple rainwater. The weather had changed for the worse while she was asleep, and it was letting itself in through the gaping holes in her ceiling.

"To keep an eye on people so I don't lose them, huh…" she thought to herself, grabbing her raincoat and a set of pink boots she had stored under her bed. "I need to make sure Kel and Hero are okay."