Wild Boys

Chapter Six

There was something different in the air when Iris attended her classes and she couldn't quite put a finger to it. She didn't get the answer until much later on, when a random girl from Study Hall period suddenly sat beside her.

She just sat staring, eyes running up and down, studying every nook and cranny of Iris' physical being. At first she paid no mind, but when it began to feel weird, Iris put her notes away and stared back. "What?"

The girl's face was unreadable. After another unnerving moment of her stare, she finally said, "How?"

"How what?"

"How did you do it?" A bit of edge creeped in her voice.

Iris turned back to her notes. "I'm not a mindreader. Just get straight to the point."

From her peripheral vision, she saw the girl stand up and close the distance to her. Just as her hand was about to slam down on her desk, Iris caught it halfway and flicked it away like a fly. She looked at her notes, Ares' notes, and looked back at the girl that now stood shocked. If she so much as crumpled those papers... "What are you even trying to do?"

Everyone in class had gone quiet at this point.

"Did you buy your way in?" The girl finally exploded. "How much was it? How much? Tell me or I'll—!"

"Or what?"

"Is it so hard to answer? How did you do it? How?"

"Answer me this first," Iris set her reviewer down, looking at the girl calmly. "Is all this stupid ruckus happening just because of the simple fact that I'm a girl?"

Some fire came back to the girl as she looked Iris up and down again. "You? I don't think you're on par with those precious boys. I don't believe, not even for a second, that you got in without throwing thousands. How much was it? I can double whatever the hell you paid!"

She came back to her notes. There's her answer. She was a girl, so that's why she didn't deserve being in the special club with those 'precious boys'. It's the 21st century. Why were there still idiots out in the world believing in a patriarchal society?

From what Iris had seen, the members of Visco's World were popular among the student body. Along with the membership came an automatic rise in popularity and status. She'd seen Caleb surrounded by a mob during lunch, Lowell having a group of dedicated audience whenever he played soccer with his friends. She even witnessed Axel trying to hide from people as he tried to find another perfect spot for naps. It was ridiculous. She never noticed it until now that she's part of that little world.

The student body didn't know about everything though. All they knew was that they were elite students sent off to compete, be it national or international, and surprisingly there were proofs to back that up. Guess that's one of Ares' job. There were trophies, medals, certificates that shone in gold, bearing names Iris was now familiar with.  Some were real, earned through authentic events, and some just for the sake of it. She'd seen the Hall of Fame, and she didn't care much for it. But now she's in the middle of it all, and found that quite a bother. Turned out that there were people who actually noticed a girl coming in and out of the dorm housing the members of Visco's World. She had held on to hope, little as it may be, that her silent presence would persist.

The girl let out a sneering laugh. "And now you're too popular to talk? Too high and mighty for us? Just days ago I didn't even know you existed. Don't go thinking you're equal with the boys now, doesn't suit you much."

Likewise. And now, even here, it seemed like she was still the black sheep of the 'family'. Guess there were just some things one could never escape from.