An Unexpected Girl

chapter sixteen

The biology test the next morning went smoothly for Iris. Most of the content of the test included previous content that she already knew, which helped because outside of the little study session she had with Adi the night before, Iris had done little revision on her own.

Occasionally, during the exam, Iris would glance to the other side of the lecture hall where Adi was seated. She would watch the red-haired girl bent over her test paper, wondering how she was doing. Hopefully, Adi remembered the steps of the Krebs cycle as they had revised it several times the night before.

Adi finished her test before Iris and turned it in at the front before heading out of the lecture hall.

As Adi headed to the exit of the lecture hall, the girls locked eye contact. Adi seized this opportunity, winking at Iris. Instead of responding, Iris quickly looked away, in case the Professor somehow thought they were cheating, and Adi's wink was some type of code signal instead of Adi's casual stupidity.

Soon after, Iris finished her test. She turned it in at the front and pulled out her phone from her back pocket to text Adi as she headed out of the lecture hall.

Iris

How was it? Did you remember the Krebs cycle?

CRAZYBITCHFROMGYM

Not completely, but most of it. I'm pretty sure I'll get a passing grade, so that's really what's important.

Relief flowed through Iris. Just as long as Adi was satisfied with herself and her performance, that was all that really mattered to her.

Iris

What would you do without me? You owe me your life

CRAZYBITCHFROMGYM

The only Iris that I owe my life to is the song by The Goo Goo Dolls

Iris rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at Adi's reference to the popular song from the 90s.

Iris had been obsessed with that song throughout middle school, and it had even been her Instagram username at some point, but Adi didn't need to know that. The last thing Iris was going to do was provide the red-haired girl with material that she could use to tease at a later time.

Instead, Iris put her phone away in her back pocket. She was just about to push open the door to exit the science building when someone on the other side pulled it open before she could get to it.

Of course, none other than Niki walked in. Her locs were packed up in a ponytail, with a few loose strands framing her forehead. She had on headphones and was dressed in a simple short-sleeved flannel shirt and blue jeans.

As if on instinct, the biggest smile that Iris could muster spread across her face. Butterflies were floating around in her stomach, and her skin quickly grew hot the way it always did with Niki.

This is how it had been since freshman year, but it was different now. Now that Iris actually knew what Niki tasted like, flashbacks and memories now accompanied her thoughts whenever it came to Niki.

Iris opened her mouth to say something. Anything at all, even a 'hey',' would have sufficed. But before she could even get the words out, Niki nodded curtly at her and walked past.

It took Iris a few moments to understand what had happened. Niki had walked past her as if she were nobody. As if she barely even knew her.

Iris forced her legs to move as she exited the science building. She so desperately wanted to glance back, to see if Niki was at least looking back at her, too. Maybe Niki was having second thoughts about the way she had just walked by her, barely even acknowledging her.

But Iris knew Niki wouldn't be looking back. She swallowed hard to prevent the lump forming in her throat from choking her and just kept walking.

It was hard liking someone. The total control that they had over your emotions was crazy.

Iris' phone vibrated, and she plucked it out of her back pocket, welcoming the distraction. Iris blinked furiously to stop the tears from forming in her eyes.

Unknown caller

Iris stared at the unsaved number ringing for a couple of moments. It was probably a scam call, but honestly, Iris welcomed anything that could distract her from her emotions right then. Even if it meant entertaining some guy trying to scam her for the next five minutes.

"Hello?" Iris said, picking up the call. She was walking across her campus quadrangle, heading toward her apartment. She had previously planned to do some work in the library, but now all she wanted was to take a nap.

"Iris? Is this you?" A male voice asked.

"Yeah, it's me," Iris responded, her tone flat and bored.

The voice on the other end of the line seemed vaguely familiar, but Iris couldn't place it. This wasn't a scam call after all. However, whoever it was still wasn't important enough for Iris to have their number saved.

For a few moments, Iris wondered if this was some random guy that she had given her number at a party to stop them from hitting on her. But she never really gave out her real number in those instances, so how would they have gotten her actual number?

Iris readjusted her phone against her ear, a lot more engaged in the conversation now. Her curiosity was getting the best of her, and it didn't help that whoever was on the other end of the line had been silent for a few minutes now.

"Hello? Who is this? Do you need something?"

Iris' tone was definitely more interested. Still, she wasn't fully engaged. She just couldn't care enough.

"Yes, Iris..." the voice paused. There was the sound of a throat being cleared. "I'm going to be in your city at the end of the month. I was wondering if we could grab dinner or something."

Right, so it was some guy that Iris had given her number to. Maybe she was really drunk and had actually given her real number out, thinking it was a fake one.

Was this some guy she had met at a party back in her hometown? Iris didn't really party much outside of college, but she went to the occasional parties that her few friends from high school dragged her to.

Iris was about to just hang up and block the number, but she paused for a few moments.

"Who is this?" Iris asked instead, hoping that a name could toggle a memory.

Once again, there were a few moments of silence on the other end of the line, followed by the sound of a throat being cleared again.

"Yeah, Iris- it's um, it's me, Shawn. Your, um, father."

Iris abruptly stopped in her tracks, staring ahead of her blankly. Hoping and willing with everything inside of her she had heard wrong.

"Yeah, I am, um, I got your number from your mother. I was just saying I'm going to be in your college town at the end of the month. I was hoping we could, um, grab dinner. Talk about things, and have a fresh start."

Iris almost laughed, although she was feeling nothing but burning anger right then. Of course, her mom had given her father her number, despite the conversation they had where Iris had stated she did not want to interact with him.

What more, this talk of a 'fresh start', as if Iris had ever even had a start with him. The last time Iris had probably heard from this man was when she was ten years old.

Students walked past Iris, frozen in her spot. More than once, she received a vague look of concern from a passerby. But Iris didn't care right then. She was more engaged at trying to process the absolute bullshit she was hearing right then.

"Iris?" her dad said, on the other end of the line, after a long moment of silence. "You still there?"

Iris didn't respond, choosing to hang up instead.