Withered {Major Editing}

Chapter 4: Calm Down

"This isn't over," Jasmine hissed. She takes a quick glance down at the black book in front of Iris before her and her friends return to their seats.

•••

Brittney's P.O.V
As I walk from the restroom to the courtyard, I see Iris walking my way. She looks like something really upset her. Before I have time to ask her what's wrong, she pats my head and says,"I'll see you in break small fry." She continues walking, not turning around when I shout.

"I'm not that short, you bitch!" I walk back to Samuel and sit across from him. "Do you know what happened to Iris?"

He rubs his temple and shakes his head. I raise an eyebrow at him. "What'd you do now?" I ask.

"Nothing," he says.

"She looked upset, are you sure you did nothing?" I fold my arms. "Are you hiding something from me?"

"No, Britt," Sam says calmly. "I didn't do anything and I'm not hiding anything. Iris said she was feeling sick, that's all."

Iris' P.O.V
When I reach the restroom, I head into the third stall and lock myself in. After going to this school for four years now, I know that the other stalls don't lock for shit. I place my forehead against the door, fighting the tears that threatened to fall out of my eyes. My breathing becomes shallow and feel like I'm being choked. I try to steady my breathing but it doesn't work. I can't get air into my lungs. I'm gasping like a fish out of water. I miss my parents, so much. They've always supported me in everything. Why did they have to be taken from me though? Why them?

I sit on the floor of the stall and stay there, even after the bell for class rings. After ten minutes later, I decide it's time to go. I pull some toilet tissue from the toilet tissue holder and carefully dab my eyes. I don't want my eyeliner to smear for the sole purpose of not letting anyone know I was crying. If I don't cry for a long time, my eyes don't turn out red so that's an advantage for me.

I unlock the stall and I am met with my reflection in the mirror above the sink in front of me. I take a deep breath then exhale.

"You're alright," I say to myself. "You'll be alright."

•••

Once I open the door of my classroom I head straight to the teacher.

"You're late but since it's the first week of school, you're excused. Got lost I assume?" The teacher asks. He looks like Harry Potter with those big, round glasses he's wearing. Truthfully, I've never watched Harry Potter. I just know he's a wizard with round glasses.

I lean to my side and stick one of my legs out in front of me. "You could say that."

"You missed out on my explanation of the bell schedules. Hopefully you didn't need it. Although, I could go over it again if you'd like." I don't need a fucken run through of the schedule. This is my fourth year now at this school.

"Ugh, Iris," I think to myself. "You're doing it again. Calm down. There's no reason to get mad. This isn't something you would normally get mad about." Mentally, I shake my head. I can't control the random irritation and anger that comes over me sometimes. In response to the teacher, I shrug.

"It's alright. I remember how the schedules go." The teacher pulls out a stapled bunch of papers, indicating the names of all his students.

"You're Ms. Price?"

"Yeah, that's me," I sigh, tired out from crying. To add on to my tiredness, I didn't get much sleep last night-- once again. I couldn't sleep till 1:00am. The teacher pulls out my schedule and hands it to me. I look down at the schedule and see his name there, Mr. DeRosa. He bends over to whisper something in my ear.

"Your psychiatrist emailed me and the rest of your teachers and explanation of your disorder and etcetera, as you requested. If you need to go to the counselor, have any troubles, or anything, let me know."

I give Mr.Derosa a small nod and head for an empty desk at the back of the class. Before school started, I asked for my psychiatrist to email my current teachers about my disorder so that if there's any case where I don't do my work, act up, or what ever, I won't have to explain anything.

As I'm walking to the desk, I see students glancing my way. I think to myself,"If I could kill you all with MY stares, this classroom would be a cemetery." At this moment, I see him through the corner of my eye. Liam. He's looking down at his desk, hands over his head. I pretend not to notice him but as I continue walking, I feel weight on my shoulders.

•••

Mr. DeRosa, finishes up an introduction of himself and reminds us that next class, it's the students' turn for introductions. I can't remember most things he said about himself. I was too busy staring at the cover of my journal. It was all black with floral stencils in it. In white on the cover was a quotes saying,"Too much rain can kill the flower." It may seem as a regular fact to someone, that flowers can die from too much rain, but it means so much more to me.

The front door of the classroom opens slightly. A male teacher pokes his head into the class and requests to speak to Mr. DeRosa who now makes his way outside.

After Mr. DeRosa is no longer in the room, my attention is taken off my journal when a pair hands place themselves on my desk. I look up and raise an eyebrow.

"Iris, wow! You look more slutty than ever. You must be desperate to get Liam back." The bitch that was talking to me was fucking Jasmine Ignacio. Behind her were two of her friends, Amy and Maria.

Jasmine's the girl spread rumors about me using Liam for sex and other shit, just to get me and him to break up. I don't know how Jasmine knows about me and Liam breaking up though. She wasn't the reason.

Maybe Liam told her? No, he wouldn't. At least I don't think he would. Either way, I still don't know any other possibilities of how she would know about it though. She's blocked from all of my social media accounts.

I smirk and lean back against my chair, trying to hide that I was starting to have anxiety. "My dear, if you want to see a true slut, take a look in the mirror. I can guarantee you'll find one there."

Jasmine gets this bewildered look on her face, obviously not expecting good old Iris to answer her back. A few gasps escape the mouths of my classmates and it made me feel good, calming my anxiety a bit.

"Someone's got an attitude. Nonetheless, I won't hesitate on ruining your life, especially with you talking to me like that," she sneers. I scoff and stare her straight in her eyes.

"Honey, I'd like to see you try. Do yourself a favor and scram before I get up and erase those fake eyebrows of yours." Jasmine's friends let out small laughs as well as the rest of the class. Jasmine sends the two girls a nasty glare. She can no longer run her mouth because Mr. DeRosa steps back into the classroom.

I smile and wave Jasmine away as if I was shooing a fly away from a plate of food. "This isn't over," Jasmine hisses, walking to her desk as her minions walk to theirs. It may not be over sweetie, but I've won this round.

(Last edited: March 11, 2019)