An Unexpected Girl

chapter eight

The weekend rolled around, and Iris felt like it couldn't have come soon enough. She was tired and exhausted from the week, and all she wanted to do was wind down and relax.

It was no surprise when Saturday night rolled around, and Iris found herself at another college party. This one differed from the one that she went to a couple of weeks ago. There were way more people here, and a lot more drugs were being smoked, swallowed, or snorted.

Iris spent most of the night standing in the room's corner, clutching tightly onto her red solo cup while trying to make out any semblance of a slightly familiar face in the sea of people.

She knew it was pretty irresponsible of her to go to a party alone, but Korra was spending the night with her boyfriend, and Iris couldn't think of anyone else to ask.

Besides, the whole point of attending these parties was to make new friends. Wasn't that the point?

"What's a beautiful girl like you doing all alone?" a guy asked, suddenly appearing in front of Iris.

Iris ‌nearly laughed at the cliché-ass line.

"Partying?" Iris said, but it came out more like a question.

"Hmmm, this doesn't look much like partying to me," the guy said, taking a step closer, "but I could show you a good time if you want."

Iris could smell the smoke and sweat radiating from the guy. She could barely make out his features in the dark, but she knew he was standing a little too close for comfort. Things were quickly taking a turn in a way that Iris didn't like.

"Actually, I'd rather not," Iris said, wrapping her hand around the penknife she had brought with her in her pocket. She knew it was completely stupid of her to come to a college party by herself, but that didn't mean she had to be completely defenseless.

"Alright, I respect that," the guy said. He raised his hands up and backed away from Iris. Disappearing once again into the sea of bodies, the same way he had come.

Regardless, that was enough action for Iris for one night. She quickly pushed herself through the sea of bodies, till she was out of the party.

Luckily, the location of the party wasn't too far away from Iris' apartment, so she legged the journey home. It was late at night, but not too late for Saturday night at college.

There were several students Iris passed along the way. Including a girl crouched over in the bushes, throwing up. She was surrounded by her friends, who occasionally offered her water and tissue to clean up the vomit.

Typical college weekend vibes.

For a moment, Iris wondered what her mom would think if she knew ‌she had been at a party alone.

Growing up, her mom had constantly warned her about the dangers of parties- make sure you cover your drink, make sure you go with a group of people and leave with the same group of people, have a weapon of some sorts on you.

But here Iris was, disobeying most of those rules. At least she had a weapon on her, so she wasn't completely irresponsible. Or at least that was what she told herself.

Iris arrived back at her empty apartment in one piece. Locking the apartment door behind her, she quickly changed out of her clothes and got into the shower to wash the sweat and smell of smoke off from her before settling into bed.

It took her a while before Iris actually fell asleep. All the while, her head was spinning with what felt like a million questions. As usual, her mind wandered to Niki. She wandered what she was doing tonight. She wandered about their interaction the day before, even though she had been avoiding thinking about it.