IRIS

chapter eleven

Saturday PSAT prep.

Iris sat in the classroom labeled for last names H-N, leaving her and Sam Larusso next to each other. Iris was initially going to sit next to Hawk, but he was no where to be seen. Iris tried to ignore the girl but Sam was making it so, so hard.

"Hey, you're Iris right? Miguel's friend?" Iris looked up at Sam, a thin smile on the girls lips.

"Yeah, and you're Sam." She blushed once she realized that Iris knew who she was. "Miguel talks about you a lot." The two were silent for some time, waiting for the teacher to pass back the tests.

"You're dating that kid, Eli, right?" Iris sighed as Sam brought up the boy who was not present in the classroom. Iris nodded, not taking her eyes off of the #2 pencil in her hands. "I'm sorry, did I do or say something to make you not like me?" Iris looked up at the girl who had become defensive at Iris' discontent with the girl.

"It's not you." Iris shook her head, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"What is it then?" Sam leaned in closer to the girl who look at her with raised eyebrows. "Look, I know we're not close, like at all. And you have no reason to trust me. But I am an unbiased person, I could maybe help you out."

"It's just, I love that Eli has more confidence. It's amazing yknow, but I can't help but feel like it's gonna change him." Iris let out a sigh, looking up once more to confirm that he was not here for the practice test. "More than it already has." Sam reached out and touched the girl's arm, offering her a small smile.

"It's a big change for him, so he may get caught up in the hype of it all, but I have a feeling he'll come around when the time is right." Iris smiled at the girl, glad that she could offer her some advice on the topic that's been eating at her since last night.

"Alright, I will now distribute the tests." The teacher passed Iris and Sam their tests, instructing them to keep them closed until he told them to begin. "And your 2 hours starts...now."

Once the two hours were up and all the tests were passed back to the front the two girls got up from their seats, both walking towards the same classroom.

"Hey." Sam and Iris had walked over to the testing room where Miguel and Demetri were in, both of them standing outside waiting for them.

"Hey." Miguel leaned down to kiss Sam as Iris walked over to Demetri.

"Hey, we'll meet you." Demetri motioned over to the doors, Miguel looking back at his two friends saying a quick okay.

"Hey, have you seen Eli? He wasn't in my testing room." Demetri looked over at Iris, one side of his mouth twitching up.

"He said he didn't want to come. Something about it not being 'an alpha move'. I'm not sure what that means but..." Iris sighed, shaking her head mentally making a note to yell at the boy the next time she saw him.

That next time being fairly soon, as the three friends met up with Aisha and said boy at the park. Iris instantly pulled Hawk aside, crossing her arms as she waited for him to speak.

"What did I do this time?" Iris scoffed, tilting her head to look to the side a sarcastic smile on her face.

"Unbelievable. Eli, the PSAT prep test?" Hawk shrugged, not understanding what the big deal was that he didn't go. "Why didn't you go?"

"It's not that important Iris. Think about it, does it actually help?"

"Why would they do it if it didn't help?" Iris scrunched her eyebrows together and looked up at the boy, an 'are you stupid?' look on her face. "Look, I don't know what's gotten into you lately but I want my Eli back. Because this isn't him. He wouldn't try to get other girl's attention in front of me and he wouldn't skip PSAT practice testing." Iris had a defeated look on her face as she sighed and walked back towards her friends, sitting down on the bench in between Demetri and Miguel.