Going back

18|| Crack

Here's chapter 18. Enjoy, people.

Iris was exhausted.

Both physically and mentally.

She was tired of being the one to constantly try. She was tired of being the one who had to 'understand'. She was tired of being the last one.

She was just tired.

"Iris? Are you okay?" Aiden asked, eyebrows knitted together in concern.

"What?" Iris blearily looked up. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"It's just... you've been staring at the page for about twenty minutes now."

"I'm fine," she said, immediately regretting how harsh her voice sounded. Her vision became blurry and her hands trembled as she picked up the pen. Everything is too loud.

"Okay... if you're sure." Aiden turned back to his own work. He bit his lip and then pushed his paper over. "You can take inspiration from mine if you want."

"It's okay. You worked hard- I can't steal your credit."

"No, I want you to. You seem like you've had a rough week- I've had a few of those myself and want to help you a bit."

She swallowed the thick knot of emotions and managed to keep up a strained smile as she started writing. "Thanks, Aiden."

The next lesson was the horror of physical education. Growing up, Iris was subjected to extreme training as her mother was an absolute health nut with a huge family history of hereditary diseases. As such, Iris was quite fit but she still detested sport- all the running, sweating, and teamwork made her nauseous.

At least Jax will be there. She thought, kicking a stone and watching it roll across the ground. Iris spotted her best friend at the edge of the crowd and grinned, making her way towards him but stopped short upon seeing him talking to Alex.

"Alright kids!" The teacher, whose name completely escaped Iris in that moment, yelled and clapped her hands together. "Now that you've warmed up, please split off into pairs!"

Iris snapped her head towards Jax, but her smile faltered when she saw he was looking at Alex.

A chasm opened in her chest and her hands clenched into tight fists that she rested by her side. Confusing emotions tore apart her paper insides and forced her in a dimension between betrayal and anger.

Turning her head away before she did something rash, the universe decided to stab Iris's heart even more by making her the only person without a partner. Everyone stared at her, some sniggering behind their hands.

"Oh." The teacher's expression softened into the pitied look that Iris hated. "Um, you can join another group and make a three."

"You could join us!" Alex whispered, waving excitedly, completely oblivious to the searing beams of hatred Iris was shooting into his soul.

"No thanks," she declined flatly, shoving away the savage twist in her chest as his expression crumpled.

"You could join us?" Mia offered, having paired up with Grace who was nodding enthusiastically.

"Sure." Iris smiled, ignoring the hurt look on Jax's face as she crossed over to the girls.

The teacher shrugged and ordered everyone to grab a ball and practise throwing and catching. Then she left to get some equipment and the class erupted into rambunctious chatter.

"So, Iris, what school did you go to before here?" Grace asked, tossing the ball.

Iris caught it deftly, her fingers curling around the smooth rubber as she drew it into her chest. "I went to Pinegate for about six months. Before that, I was homeschooled."

"That's cool!" Mia piped in, catching the ball with one hand. "Was it fun being homeschooled?"

She thought about it for a second, recalling the brutal training Harry forced her to undergo, the tears in her teacher's eyes as she couldn't understand electromagnetism for six weeks, and the missions completed. "For the most part, sure."

The three girls chatted for the rest of the lesson, laughing and making jokes that would've surely put them in an asylum if anyone cared to hear. Too engrossed in the talk, Iris didn't notice two boys' pained gazes constantly flickering towards her.

As they were going back to the changing rooms, Jax and Alex decided to approach her.

"Hey, can we talk?" Alex asked, tugging on the cuffs of his sleeves and chewing his bottom lip.

With a slight sneer, Iris tossed her hair over her shoulders. "I'm not interested in talking with you right now."

"C'mon, Rainbow–" Jax started.

"Or you," she hissed, her jaw clenched tight. "Although you might have forgotten what this traitor has done, I haven't."

"Please just hear–"

"Hey." Mia stepped forwards and crossed her arms, glaring Jax down even though he was quite a bit taller. "She said she doesn't want to talk, so she doesn't have to talk."

"It's none of your business."

"You're intimidating my friend, so this makes it my business. C'mon, Iris, let's head inside. No need to waste your time here."

Grinning, Iris gave a one-shouldered shrug. "You're the boss. Oh and Jax? I think it's best if we cancel our weekly outings. You see, I have a lot of homework and I need time to adjust to my new family."

Refusing to pay attention to the lost, upset expression on Jax's face, Iris gestured for Grace and Mia to follow her. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling that each step she took was another crack in her old friendship.

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I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)