chapter seven

Iris felt tears of relief crawling out of her eyes when the last bell of the day rang. She was outside the lavishly designed school, not even bothering to place everything neatly into her bag before the bell stopped ringing. She needed out. She needed out now.

The day had been difficult. The students had giggled and high-fived each other when she had walked into the history classroom, insults had upgraded from whispers to outright greetings and the tripping attempts had tripled.

Was there a “Pick on me! Pick on me!” sign flickering above her?

But alas, the day was done and Iris was ready to shed the ‘personally hand-stitched’ uniform – she would set it on fire if she could have afforded a new one – and take the next hour to just relax; she only needed to be at the restaurant at three o’clock. Maybe spend some time in one of the internet cafes her classmates wouldn’t dare walk into and steal the Wi-Fi to download some new tracks or waste the time away watching makeup tutorials on YouTube that she will never actually get to try out.

The one good thing that happened today was that the teachers all miraculously decided to pretend to be human beings and not give them homework for the next day. Otherwise, she would be spending the next hour at her usual spot in the Crawford Library trying – and failing – to get her work done.

Iris wiped her eyes, sweeping away the tears that threaten to fall over her cheeks. She made through the entire day without crying about the treatment she received: no way was she giving these people a chance to see her vulnerable. She smiled and inhaled deeply, exhaled, trying to get her emotions under control and walked towards the garishly decorated gate.

“Iris!”

Seriously? Iris liked Victoria, she really did. Victoria was kind enough to help her up every time Stephanie decided to show off her Louboutins by accidentally placing them in her path. She was a real sweetheart, and Iris cherished her, but at the end of the day, Victoria was no Zoya or Dannika, who are the ones she needed right now. Unlike Victoria, they knew and understood what it’s like to walk in her shoes.

“Iris!” she shouted again.

Iris considered ditching her. She turned around. “Hey,” she said, trying to hide her guilty thoughts. “Is everything okay? You sound as if you’re in a hurry.”

Victoria came to a stop in front of Iris. The rest of the Crawford students walked around them.

“The only reason I sound hurried is because you walk so fast,” she huffed. Looks like there was something Victoria was bad at.

“Seriously? Did you even stop by your locker on the way out? Breathe? Blink, maybe? Why are you so fast?”

“I’m running from my demons. You tend to get faster the more you do it.”

Victoria breathed out a laugh. Iris gave her a moment to catch her breath before she asked, “Is there a reason you’re running after me? We usually don’t see each other after school.”

“Well, whose fault is that?” she replied. She had finally stopped gasping for air. She was really bad at running, it seems. “Anyway, I was wondering if you have any plans. I know you have to be at work in an hour and you’re usually in the library. I was hoping to take you out for ice cream or coffee. Or tea? If you like tea. You don’t have to say yes, of course. It’s just, with the fake history essay and the stress it’s been causing you, I was hoping to cheer you up. That is if you want to? I’ll pay. Not that I’m saying you can’t afford it. I’m the one asking you, and I’m trying to be polite…”

She was also a nervous wreck when it came to asking people to hang out.

Iris never once thought that Victoria could be a rambler, and yet, here she was trying to cheer Iris up. She didn’t stop there either. She was playing her strongest card; the puppy eyes. Victoria already had beautifully delicate features, but with her eyes open wide, she looked like doll guilt-tripping you into playing with her for another few minutes after bedtime.

Say yes, say you have plans, Iris thought to herself.

“I’ll love to have ice cream with you.”

You’re so weak, Iris. Weak!

_____________

The two girls walked to the nearest ice cream parlour. It was an expensive one and was decorated to look like it belonged in the Grease movie with its pink and blue team and checkered floor. After getting their ice creams - Iris ordered two large chocolate scoops, taking advantage of someone paying for the treat - and explaining to Victoria that she had to be at work at three, they slowly started to walk outside.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Victoria started as she ate her ice cream, “what was the fake history essay about?”

“About old religious and mythological ways of thinking and how they influenced great events throughout history,” Iris said. “Mine focused on the connection between Hitler and the Spear of Destiny.”

“Spear of Destiny?”

“Oh,” Iris gasped, green eyes brightening up as she started to talk about her essay. Regardless of the copious amount of stress it caused, Iris was proud of the essay. She had loved working on it, even though she would have loved it more if it was actually worth something. “It’s a Christian relic. Many believe that it was the first weapon to pierce Jesus and draw blood as he was crucified. It’s speculated that Hitler started World War 2 because of it.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. Of course, its only speculation.”

“Honestly, Iris, you amaze me. You threw together such an interesting essay in two weeks. I think if it was worth any marks, you would have gotten a hundred percent. What did you do with it though? And what are you going to do about Melissa?”

Both girls stopped as Iris turned to face Victoria. She wondered whether she should tell Victoria what exactly she was thinking about doing to Melissa. Iris could admit that she wasn’t the kindest person in the world and with the help of Zoya and Dannika, Iris was intending to let Melissa now that she would not be anyone’s punching bag. Of course, they wouldn’t beat her up; Iris’s arms were as weak as bird bones, Zoya would never damage her nails just to throw a punch and Dannika didn’t like verbal confrontation, never mind physical violence. But all of them were smart in their unique way and together they could figure something out.

They turned to start walking again. Just as Iris wanted to answer, Victoria tripped, her ice cream splattering on top of a pair of expensive Italian leather shoes.

Victoria’s eyes stretched with horror.

Iris froze.

The entire world could have been disintegrating and neither girl would have noticed, because the owner of the expensive Italian shoes, who was glaring at the ice cream on top of said shoes, just happened to be the richest bully at school.

Orion Crawford.