I walk into the bakery that I always go to before classes. I see Lucie is working again today, and she pulls out a donut as soon as she sees me. Ah I love how well they know me here.
"So, how's it going with that guy you met last week?" She asks, referring to Nicolas. I knew she'd ask about him, since she was there during our first interaction. "Good, we've become good friends." I smile. "Just friends?" She questions and I laugh. "Yes just friends, don't make it weird." I say. Lucie doesn't even know about Fred. He's never been with me, I've never talked about him, he practically doesn't exist outside of close friends and my family. "He was so cute though!", She exclaims. I grab my food, shaking my head at her. "You can date his twin brother?, He's for the guys" I smile, walking out of the bakery.
I decided to walk to class today, and as I make my way down the sidewalk I get a text from my dad that he will be at the track tonight. This would be the perfect time to invite Nick down to see some of the cars. The only problem is that I know that my dad knows about my breakup with Fred, and I don't want him to think I'm moving on or anything with Nick.
Iris: can I bring a friend?
Dad: of course. See you there.
Perfect. Nick is going to love this. I walk faster towards school, and once I get on campus I make my way to my first class just knowing that Nick is going to be in there bugging Professor Adams as always. Sure enough when I go inside I see Nick, standing on the opposite side of his desk, and Professor Adams' desperately trying to ignore him. Poor Nick. "Good morning." I smile to the two. "Ms Rivers- wonderful, take him", My professor says and Nick's mouth drops, taking offense.
"Come on Nick, I need to talk to you anyways." I say, pulling him off to sit in the back of the class. "Am I in trouble?" He questions and I laugh. "No. Do you want to come down to the raceway with me tonight? My dad and his buddies are going to be driving and stuff". "Are you kidding? Of course I want to come!" He exclaims happily. "Great, just don't say anything about it to anyone else", I say. "Sure, but why?" "Because I don't want Chris or Matt tagging along." I answer honestly and he laughs a bit. "What's so funny?" "I don't know.. maybe just the fact that you're in a love triangle", He says.
A love triangle? Yeah absolutely not.
"No it's because Matthew annoys the shit out of me and Chris is.. well. I don't know how to put it". "He's a simp." Nick says and I lift my brow. "Christopher is not a simp." I say. "Darling, you don't realize it, but you are exactly his type. I'm surprised he's not already in love with you, although he's getting there-"
"Class is about to start, get your ass out Sturniolo." Professor Adams says, making everyone in the class look back at us which makes me a bit uncomfortable. I take notice of how all the girls practically drool over him, and then glare at me. Jeez. "See you later." He whispers to me, and quickly makes his way out of the class. Everyone slowly turns away, and I sink down into my seat with anxiety. At least he's not a full blown celebrity or anything, but it's still crazy to me just how popular he is. Even Matt and Chris have a big following just because they're triplets. Class goes by, and as I walk out of class, I hear a girl screaming from across the hallway. I look over just to see Scarlett yelling at Matt at the top of her lungs. What could he possibly have done? I walk over, which gains her attention, her eyes darting over to me quickly. "And you! Why do you always seem to be around!", She continues yelling.
"I don't know what your problem is with me, quite frankly I don't care. It is completely inappropriate to stand here screaming in the middle of the hallway, what is wrong with you?", I ask. "What is wrong with me?" She laughs. "You have no place judging me when you're a twenty year old virgin." "Seriously Scarlett?", Matt shakes his head in disgust. "At least I don't drop my pants for any guy who looks my way." I say plainly, and walk away. I feel a rush of emotions settle over me. I can't believe I just did that.. I'm not the kind of person to speak out like that.
I walk out the doors, and Matthew jogs up behind me. I already know what he's going to say. He's going to tell me to stay out of his business, and that I shouldn't have invaded. "You are a badass Iris." He grins and I lift my brow in surprise. No scolding? "Now that's something I've never been called before." I laugh. "The look on her face when you said that was priceless." He says. "Well she was being mean so she deserved it." I state. "I'm headed home, see you tomorrow." "Yeah, see you." He says. "Oh and Iris?" "Yeah?" I ask, stopping in my place and looking back to him.
"Don't be ashamed of your innocence. It's something special", And with that, he turns and walks away.
That's probably the only sincere thing he's ever said to me since we met.
I change my clothes, and get ready to go down to the raceway with my dad. I left my long wavy hair down, adding a white headband to accessorise. A white cropped shirt with a grey cropped tie shirt over the top, paired with black jeans and my over worn converses.
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I'm excited to finally have a friend who wants to go with me, none of my old friends ever did. I walk out, meeting my dad at his car to ride with him to the track. He comes out, putting on his baseball cap and unlocks the doors for us to get in. "So, who's this friend thats meeting us there?" He asks. "His name is Nicolas, you'll love him. He's super nice", I say. "A boy.. Hmm." He hums, and I roll my eyes. I always say I'm a little too old for the 'over protective father act', but it's just who he is. "I didn't expect your friend to be a boy.." "I'm assuming Bree told you all about Fred." I say quietly, knowing that he's wanting to ask if Nick is the reason why. "She did." He nods. "It's not because of Nick, or any guy for that matter- it just wasn't working out." I inform him.
"You don't have to explain to me." He says. "Really? You're not going to hate me like lily does?" I mutter. "Aubrey will come around, just give it some time." He says. "And if I'm honest.. I never liked Fred anyways." I laugh at his comment, surprised but pleased that he doesn't care. Fred was pretty tightly knit into our family, so I was prepared for ultimate backlash. We pull into the raceway, and I see Nicolas is already here, his car parked and him standing outside of it. I get out, and wave him over. "Be nice." I say to my dad and he scoffs. Nick walks up, and I smile, he looks so much more down to earth in his tattered jeans and T-shirt. He's always normally so dressed up, this is very different for him. "Jackson." My dad introduces himself, putting out his hand. Nick's eyes go big, looking like a dear caught in headlights. "You're Jackson Rivers." He breathes out in disbelief. Oh no.. he's a fanboy. "Yep, I am", my dad says happily.
Dad loves his fanboys and fangirls, especially now that he doesn't get to see them as much. "I used to watch you race when I was a kid, I can't believe I'm here." "Yeah alright don't inflate his ego too much." I say to Nik and my dad glares at me.
"Well why don't we head down and I'll take you for a spin." My dad offers. "I would love that sir", Nick nods. "You can call me Jackson." He says, and starts walking towards the track. Nick looks to me, obviously internally freaking out. "Your dad is Jackson Rivers?!" He whisper yells to me. "So what." I shrug. "Your dad is a legend! This is the coolest day of my life! Let's go!" Haz starts walking, and I shake my head.
