Forbidden Fruit

Chapter 27: Bad Day

"Girls, I have something I need to tell you..."

Bloom gathers all of us around, looking quite down.

"What is it, Bloom?" Flora asks, concerned.

Ever since the event at Red Fountain, Bloom hasn't been her usual positive self. It's pretty understandable, though, considering the betrayal she felt when Brandon turned out to be Prince Sky. To top it off, he's engaged to Diaspro. Stella has also been taking it a bit hard when she found out that the guy she's dating is the real Brandon, Prince Sky's squire. She hasn't talked to him since. As for me, well... I'm worried about what will happen when Palladium ends up talking to Faragonda about our situation.

"I've decided to quit Alfea. I don't feel like I belong here..."

Bloom drops the bomb.

"What?! But you do belong here, Bloom!"

Stella tries to convince her. The rest of us also express our denial and concern regarding her decision, but, in the end, we accept it, knowing that ultimately it's up to her. Bloom packs her stuff and leaves to Earth.

"I never thought that something like this would ever happen. That one of us would leave Alfea..."

I say, my voice laced with sadness. Flora puts her hands on my friend's shoulders comfortingly.

"I never thought that would happen either."

Musa looks at the ground, a sad frown on her face. This gets me thinking about my own decision to leave Alfea to be able to freely be with Palladium. This whole ordeal, seeing how sad Bloom's departure is making me and the girls, makes rethink that decision. I don't want to break their hearts further. Surely, there has to be a different solution to all this. Maybe the headmistress will be understanding to our plea.

The whole day, all five of us were in a gloomy mood. It's night already. I should contact Palladium to know if he has any good news for me, which I'm pretty desperate for at that point. I send him a message and wait for his answer. Not long after, he answers me, telling me he needs to see me and we arrange to meet up in his room as usual.

When I get there, I am greeted with a tight hug from Palladium, which I gladly surrender to.

"How have you been, my love? I noticed you looking a bit out of sorts all day."

Palladium whispers in my ear before kissing it, making me shiver from the sensation.

"Palladium, I... Bloom is gone..."

"Gone? What do you mean?"

"She left Alfea, because she feels like she doesn't belong here..."

"Oh, Onyx. I'm sure she just needs time to think things over. This whole experience was probably pretty overwhelming for her. She was living a completely different life before "

He hugs me tighter and caresses my head comfortingly. I surrender to his soothing touch and close my eyes, relishing in the moment.

"Oh, you wanted to tell me something, right?"

I open my eyes and pull back a bit to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah... I have some news..."

He avoids my gaze.

"By how you're looking, it doesn't seem like good news..."

"It's not the best news. I was about to tell Faragonda about us. Before I could, however, she had called all the teachers in for a, what should I call that, an important reminder of the school rules..."

"What do you mean...?"

"She... spoke of how some things might be inappropriate or misinterpreted in the wrong way when it comes to how teachers treat their students. I don't know if it was my imagination, but I felt quite the intense gaze from her during the lecture."

My heart drops. Not only do the students suspect it, but now Miss Faragonda as well?

"This is bad... This is really bad..."

I start imagining the worst case scenario. Will Palladium have to leave the school? Should I be the one to leave? Will we... have to break up...?

"Don't worry, Onyx. We'll think of something."

He doesn't sound very convinced of his statement... I know he's saying this to calm me down, but I just can't calm down.

"Palladium, maybe it's best if we... If we..."

I choke on my words. I don't want to say it. I don't want to be apart from him, but what else can we do?

"If you're suggesting we break up... I can't. I can't leave you. I won't leave you. I love you too much."

"And I love you, too. That's why... I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Your job here... It's your life, your passion, your dream. I can't just take that away from you..."

"Onyx, I... You're my dream. Nothing else matters to me now."

"Palladium... Let's at least take a break from each other until the rumours die down."

He lets out a sigh and rests his forehead on mine.

"You're right. I know you're right. I know it's for the best to lay low for a bit. But man am I going to miss holding you."

He kisses me gently.

"And I'm going to miss being in your arms."

We stay like that for a while, kissing each other, hugging each other, since it will be the last time for a while.

The rest of the day, I spend deep in thought about everything that's happened. I'm so out of it that I get quite a few warnings in classes, but I'm actually not the only one. Stella, Flora, Musa, and Tecna are all in the same morose state.

After classes, we all head back to our dorm and just sit in the lounge area in silence, which is only broken by small sighs.

"That's it, we can't just stay in this gloomy state forever!"

Stella gets up and declares loudly.

"What do you suggest we do? Bloom is gone, like actually gone."

Musa responds.

"The room feels so empty without her..."

Flora softly adds.

"She was an important person to all of us."

Tecna says.

"Why are we talking about her like she's dead?! We can always go visit her, it's not like it's the last time we're ever going to see her!"

Stella exclaims.

"You're right, Stella. We need to stop moping and be more proactive about the situation."

I reply, feeling her words fill me with renewed hope.

"That's the spirit, Onyx! Come on, let's all go out to Magix on a shopping spree! Shopping always solves everything!"

We all laugh and decide to follow Stella's plans. We all need the break from school. A girls' night out is just the right remedy for it.

We go out, Stella styles outfits for us that we end up buying. If there's one thing she excels at it's her fashion sense. We also go out for food, laugh and talk, having a good time together and getting our mind off the negative events of the day.

As it gets dark, we decide to go back to Alfea, since curfew is quickly approaching.

Exhausted from everything, I collapse on my bed and pass out almost immediately.