One Last Shot

[38] A Blip in Life

   Iris

I get in Violet's car, tears stinging my eyes.

"How did the chat go?" Violet asks, before seeing me. "Oh no. What happened?"

"He started being cold toward me, and said shit I never expected him to say. I thought he knew me, but he pulled the campus slut card."

"Oh, fuck that guy."

"No, stop. This can't ruin Lix and Marcus, they're the priority. Don't say anything to Marcus about this, okay?"

"Okay," Violet looks at me with sad eyes, before leaving the driveway. I stare out the window, tears rolling down my face, my gut has been pierced.

"Liam Bender was just a blip in my life."

"Don't say that Iris, you care about him."

"Yeah that's why this hurts so much. This is why I don't fucking care about people!" Violet doesn't try to fight me, and I go inside the house, immediately sheltering in my room. No texts from Liam. I assume whatever we had is over now. I scroll through our messages, tears streaming down my face, hiccups getting stuck in my throat as I see how happy I was, even if I hated him. God I loved that ass. Wait, love? No, I don't love people, especially not someone who just crushed me in two.

Shaking it off, I check a voicemail I had from Lilly from earlier in the day, and see voicemails from Liam I never opened. The first, dated the day he showed up to my house in my depressive episode.

"Hey. It's Liam. It's halftime, where are you? Jasper accidentally tripped this guy during the second quarter, it made me think of you. Guess he took a page out of your book. Marcus won't tell us what's wrong, he seems off, though. Is something going on? Considering you haven't responded to my texts, I thought it was just a me thing, but I feel like it's bigger than me. I miss your smile in the bleachers. I miss your presence." A voice enters the voicemail.

"Game's starting again."

"Right, thanks. Hey, I gotta go. But if you're listening to this, even though I don't know what's going on, text me, okay sweetheart? I miss hearing your voice, so call me if you want. Now, I'm gonna go win this shit." I stare at my phone, tears dripping on to it, as I read the transcript for the voicemail over and over again. I thought for a second that maybe he cared about me. I guess I was wrong.

"Iris? I have ice cream."

"Come in." Lilly walks in, a sad smile on her face.

"Fuck him."

"Yeah, fuck him."

"Not telling Marcus?"

"Our friend groups have merged, what am I supposed to do? Make Marcus choose between his team and me?"

"If you think that's best."

"Good ice cream."

"You're welcome," Lilly kisses the top of my head. "Does moving feel better?"

"Is it weird to say whatever happened with Liam tonight hurts more than physical injuries?"

"That's love for you."

"Ugh, love," I groan, laying back on my bed. "I just want to listen to sad music and study tonight."

"I will leave you be. More ice cream in the freezer if you want it," Lilly smiles, leaving the room. I pull myself up, connecting my speaker to my Spotify, and grabbing my textbooks and notebooks.

I'm in the zone. I've written my rough draft for a paper, and done all the notes I needed for clarification. I faintly hear rapid knocking at my door. I get up slowly, finally able to stand on my own, and open the door. Violet looks panicked on the other side. "What's up?"

"Marcus has the guys over. They're in the living room." Any calm feeling I have is gone. "He wants us to join."

"Tell him I have a lot of homework."

"Iris, you can't avoid this."

"But I can try."

"Hey!" Marcus prances over. "We're starting a movie, I think it's the Amazing Spider-man? I don't know, Liam picked it." That asshole.

"Enjoy," I force a smile.

"Um, you're coming to watch, prime cuddle time with your new boy." I feel a pang in my heart.

"I have a lot of homework. Lots to catch up on. I'm going back to class starting tomorrow, so I need to make sure I'm prepared."

"You're no fun," Marcus whines. "Well, whenever you finish, we'll be out here." Marcus and Violet leave my sight, and I let out a sigh of relief. I close my door, trying to focus and get back to work. The thought of Liam sitting on my couch right now after saying the shit that he did a mere hour and a half ago makes my blood boil. After about an hour, I grow hungry. Working does that, but I don't want to leave my room. I text both Violet and Lilly, neither of which respond, and I realize what I have to do. Slowly pulling myself out of my chair, I walk cautiously to the kitchen, hoping no one will notice me.

"There you are Iris," Marcus smiles. I wince, I almost made it to the kitchen. I turn and look. The girls look panicked, while the guys are all glaring at me. Did I do something wrong?

"Just getting a snack."

"There's some Fruit Loops in the cabinet, I know those are your favorite study snack," he says innocently. All I can think of is the time Liam brought me Fruit Loops and fell asleep on that exact couch he's sitting on now, avoiding my gaze.

"I don't like Fruit Loops anymore, but I appreciate it, Marcus." I see Liam twitch, probably out of annoyance, at the subtle jab at him. Grabbing a granola bar, I retreat to my room, finishing up some studying before going to bed. Sleep means he won't bother me.