ADOPTED BY PHAN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Sorry it's so late! I had exams and shit ugh. I also wasted a lot of time getting addicted to Death Note. Whoops. Better go to rehab ayyyyyyyy. Oh god I promise to never say that again. Anywhiz, shout out to @KamiBoutwell for being so amazing like Phil and secretly motivating me by asking for updates. I literally saw your comment today and was like "hells yeah imma do that yo." Oh god I promise to never say that either. Okay, enjoy! Happy summer!

"Not again!" Phil exclaims as soon as he catches sight of Iris' bruised body sneaking into the house. Leaving Dan on the couch alone, he runs over to examine his daughter.

"I made a new friend?" Iris practically asks, just trying to make the room more positive.

"And did your friend do this to you?" Dan asks, standing up from the couch as well.

"No." Iris mumbles, "Kind of." When she sees the look on her parents' faces, she corrects herself; "It was either him or me to get beaten up! I was just doing the right thing!"

"I'm calling the school." Dan says, pulling out his iPhone as Phil stands there uselessly.

"No! It was a mistake Dad! I won't let it happen again!" Iris fights, "I don't want to be the loser baby having her big gay daddy calling the school every time she gets hurt!"

"I'm tired of seeing my daughter covered in bruises!" Dan shouts. Then his voice softens, "Is there even a reason behind it, or is it just spontaneous?"

"There's always a reason, Dad."

"Tell me."

Iris begins, "My new friend was getting beaten to the point of unconsciousness and I couldn't bare to watch it. I stepped in to make it stop. It's my own fault, it always is . . ." She trails off, like Skye does.

Ah Skye, the one person Iris is constantly dying to see. I wonder if she's here this weekend? Iris thinks to herself. Maybe I could take her to a movie - or my house. To my bedroom. Fuck! Not in that way! Or maybe . . . No! Iris you're straight, remember? Oh who the fuck told you that lie? Am I really having a subconscious fight right now? Yes, because you're big raging homosex-

"At least it's Friday?" Phil tries to lighten the mood.

"Yeah . . . I'm going to my room." Iris informs them, walking down the hall like a zombie.

"Alright, we'll check up on you in an hour or so!" Phil replies, letting his daughter go.

She closes her door tightly and lets her tears fall. She doesn't hesitate to pull out her lighter and hair clip, lifting up her sleeve to burn her damaged skin.

"I just want to be normal," She whispers, lips quivering as she presses the heated clip to her forearm. "Please let me be normal."

* * *

It's that day of the week again. Dan and Phil have invited a new friend to hang out with Iris. One who knows exactly what she's going to tell Iris about the whole school situation and self-hatred. As soon as Dan told her about Iris, she agreed to come in a heartbeat.

"Iris! She's here!" Phil shouts from the doorway. "We're leaving now! Have fun!"

"Use that phone if anything bad happens!" Dan adds, referring to the iPhone they bought her yesterday. She already has seven contacts; Dan, Phil, Louise, Zoe, Pj, Chris, and Skye. And to no surprise, Skye is the only person she's texted so far.

"Hello!" Emma Blackery welcomes herself in, shooting Iris a large smile.

"Hi," Iris replies shyly, gesturing for Emma to take a seat on the couch. As soon as she sees the bright red hair, she compliments, "Whoa, I love your hair!"

Emma laughs, "Why thank you, Iris. You don't seem very British, huh?"

"Oh, I keep forgetting I'm from Canada." Iris says honestly, laughing a bit as well.

"If you're from Canada, does that mean you know MattG?"

"Yeah, his igloo was totally across from mine." Iris retorts.

"Hey, I own sarcasm and didn't give you permission to use it." Emma warns, laughing.

Iris' phone suddenly buzzes, showing a text from Skye.

"Ooooh, you got a significant other?" Emma asks, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Yeah yeah, something like that." Iris mumbles.

"Well?"

After writing her reply, Iris looks up from her phone. "What?"

"Aren't you gonna tell me about them?" Emma pushes on.

"I think you already know her. Skye Pereira?"

"Oh," It's almost as if a light bulb goes off in Emma's head, "Look out, that girl seems head over heels for you!"

"Really?" Iris asks, fighting off a smile. She blushes and looks down, noticing the bruises on her body. "Oh." She responds to them quietly.

"What?"

"I'm covered in bruises. Sorry." Iris apologizes.

"You shouldn't be the one sorry, whoever the fuck did that should be sorry." Emma starts ranting, "You know, I heard the story. Your dads may think you did the wrong thing but I would've done the same. It's better to face a problem head on rather than ignore it, even if that results in getting beaten up. It was for a friend, right?"

"Yeah. He's not my only friend who gets beaten up. And each guy who gets it seems to be labelled as a 'fag'."

"Does that bother you?"

"What? Knowing that these people are getting hurt for being themselves?" Iris pauses, watching Emma nod before replying; "Yes! It drives me fucking crazy. And it scares me to death just thinking about what would happen to me if they found out-" Iris stops mid-sentence, realizing she almost outed herself.

Emma doesn't let her get away, though. She looks her dead in the eyes, "Found out what?"

That I'm in love with my best friend. "Nothing." Iris smiles, "Absolutely nothing."

Emma is unconvinced; she knows.