I felt that way once when I was little, I wanted to run away too :o... But admittedly so, I agree that every character looks younger than they really are, and the anime artstyle doesn't do any justice >_>. Unfortunately, I have little control over the designs as they've been finalized by the artists.
But it is on the to-do-list to remove obvious references to their ages as I do admit it's a bit jarring seeing poor Zinnia down on her luck. The school scenes have already undergone some changes to appear later into the story, to make it more of a flashback than an event in the current time period.
And I'd certainly appreciate the details of your trip from Montreal to Ottawa! Many thanks.
PS, I also noticed you encountered the "spinning zinnias in amogus rain" screen after pressing continue in the VOD... That happens when the save file is corrupted, but I will make it more obvious! Never thought I'd see someone get it xD