tragedy

chapter ten

word count: 1053

Iris had no idea what to expect out of her Monday. She had a sole mission that day and that was to end things with Declan. She figured if she did things at school, in the morning, with Alli by her side, then things couldn't end that badly. She had gone over to Alli's the day before and told her everything. She told her about Declan and showed her the marks that were on her arms. She told her about her moment with Eli and what happened when Declan interrupted them. Alli was pissed at first. She couldn't believe that Iris would lie to her for so long when she looked at her as a sister. After Iris explained why she felt like she couldn't tell Alli, when she told Alli all of the feelings and thoughts that she has had for the past two years, Alli couldn't help but stay by Iris's side. She was so supportive and helped her plan her conversation with Declan. Iris had decided that she was finally done with all of his bullshit and she wasn't going to take it anymore. She didn't know where it came from, possibly hearing Eli say that this didn't have to be her fate, but she had a new confidence that she hadn't noticed in herself before. It was time for her to stand up for herself. She was worth more than Declan could ever give to her and she had finally come to terms with it.

With every that happened with Eli, Iris had no clue how their interactions would go that day if they even interacted at all. He left so suddenly on Saturday that she hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him about anything. She didn't text him all weekend. She was too focused on planning out what she was going to say to Declan and going over every possible scenario. But, Eli didn't text Iris either. He didn't check up on her like she thought he might.

Iris knew that she wanted to look good when she ended things with Declan. She wanted to make sure that he knew that he didn't ruin her and he definitely didn't own her anymore. She picked out black straight-leg jeans, a white t-shirt with a graphic that said 'LIFE IS BORING', and threw on a black fishnet long sleeve underneath it. Iris felt more confident than she had ever since she started dating Declan, so she snapped a picture in her bedroom mirror and made a post on Instagram. For the caption she wrote:

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iriswalden: life is boring so i'm living in my dreams

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As she continued getting ready for school, her phone was buzzing with notifications. This wasn't unusual for her, she had a lot of followers and she was obviously pretty popular at school. Her girl friends commented on how good she looked and some of her guy friends left jokes about her outfit. Iris chuckled and liked some comments, responding to others, and then her eyes fell on a new notification.

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elig commented on your photo: all days are nights to see til I see thee, and nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

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Did he really just tell me that he dreams about me through a Shakespeare quote? Or did he just pluck a Shakespeare quote about dreams out of his memory and comment on my post? Iris wondered as she threw on her bookbag. She gave the comment a quick like before calling out for her brother. "Adam! Let's go!" Iris hadn't seen her brother all morning so she walked to her room and pounded on his door. "Alright, geez. I'm coming." Adam groaned, opening his door. "You're in a rush today." He rolled his eyes, pushing past her and walking towards the front door. "I have things to do." Iris shrugged, giving him a look and following him to the car. "Yeah, you have to go to school." Adam began before he looked at the time on his phone, "which we will be 20 minutes early for."

"I'm breaking up with Declan." Iris blurted out, half wanting to talk about it and half wanting to ignore that it was even happening. Adam gave her a confused look. "I thought you guys were like... in love or something?" He asked apprehensively as he put on his seat belt and Iris pulled out of the driveway. "Not anymore." She shrugged but her face couldn't hide the fact that her heart was in pain. "What happened?" Adam continued to pry, wanting to know if he had to put his non-existent strength into beating the shit out of somebody. "It's nothing..." Iris trailed off but she knew that she couldn't keep lying to everyone around her anymore. She had told Alli everything so she felt as though Adam deserved to know as well. "Declan isn't a good guy." She continued, taking a quick glance at Adam before turning her eyes back to the road. "He's hurt me before. Physically." Iris's voice was becoming more strained and Adam's face was becoming more angered. "I can't take it anymore. So I'm ending things today. Like as soon as we get to school." She finished, thanking god that she was actually able to hold back her tears. Iris didn't want Adam to be worried about her. She was the one that was supposed to look out for him.

"Iris, I swear to god. You're not going alone. I'm coming with you and I-" Iris cut Adam off, reaching over to take his hand as they pulled into the school parking lot. "Please just let me deal with this on my own, okay? I've got it. I promise. Alli will be with me." She reassured him, really not wanting to make the situation anymore messier than it already was. Adam let out a sigh and nodded. "Fine, but I swear if I even see him look at you the wrong way." He said, shaking his head this time. "What? You're gonna beat him with your drumsticks?" Iris chuckled, her eyes darting towards Adam's arm before rolling her eyes and stepping out of the car. Adam gave her a glare over the top of the car but let out a small laugh before they started towards the building.