tightrope // phillip carlyle

8

"Iris, Meet me tonight to talk? You know where i'll be. Hope to see you there. -Phillip x"

Iris Michaels read the note in her hands as they trembled. She sat at her vanity that was assigned to her to get ready for shows. They had finished a show a little over an hour ago and she was backstage taking off her makeup and costume. Mostly everyone was gonna around this time, but Iris liked to take her time and have some alone time before she headed back home.

Iris reread the note a million times over, trying to decide whether she was going to go see him or not. She was still so angry at him and embarrassed to show her face to him after the night at Jenny Lind's performance.

"Iris? Why are you still here?" A soft voice was heard behind Iris causing her to swing around.

"I could ask you the same thing." Iris avoided the question, holding the note behind her back from Anne, whom she figured out was the owner of the soft voice speaking to her.

"I wanted a little more practice, felt a little off my game tonight." Anne said dusting the flour off her hands, walking over to her assigned vanity which happened to be right next to Iris'.

"You looked beautiful tonight, as always. Don't push yourself too hard." Iris reassured Anne as she took off her pink wig.

"Thank you Iris. Same for you." Anne said giving Iris a smile, placing her hand on Iris' leg for a quick second and taking it back to continue undressing her head and face. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Why are you still here? It's been almost an hour since the show ended and everyone left."

"I like it here. It's a nice getaway from home, so I like to spend as much time here as I can before I head home." Iris confessed to her best friend.

"I understand. You can always come stay with WD and I if you wanted." Anne offered turning her full attention to Iris now.

"Thank you, Anne. That means a lot." Iris answered, playing with the paper in her lap subconsciously.

"What's this?" Anne asked taking the paper out of Iris' hand in her lap. Iris tried to stop her from opening it and fight her to give it back but Anne was significantly stronger than her and ready to play games.

Anne opened the note reading what was inside. A shocked look plastered on her face as she looked back up at Iris, who's eyes remained on her lap. She was biting at her finger nail, a trait she developed young, when she was nervous she would begin to chew at her fingernails.

"Phillip left this for you?" Anne asked, a concerned look on her face.

"Uh.. yea." Iris answered finally making eye contact with Anne. "I guess I can't hide this from you anymore."

"Hide what from me?" Anne asked. "Cmon Iris, I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything."

"Alright uh... Phillip and I grew up together, sort of. Our families didn't, but we did. We met each other when we were around 10 years old. We met at a market one day and just clicked. So everyday around noon we would meet at the same tree everyday and just talk to each other, and play for about an hour or two. Until his parents came looking for him, then I had to run and hide before he got caught and in trouble."

"That's adorable." Anne said after the story was over. "What's the problem in this?"

"For starters my skin color, as you relate to. We had to be secret about our friendship. One day we got caught. We didn't hear his father coming down the street and he saw us playing in the woods together. He uh... he-" Iris stuttered out, her eyes moving back toward her lap as she played with her fingers. "He hit me... multiple times before dragging Phillip off and doing god knows what to him. After that day I never saw or heard from Phillip again. One of my other friends heard a rumor that he got sent away to a discipline school for little white boys."

"Iris... that's horrible. I'm so sorry." Anne said taking Iris' hands into hers. She held onto Iris' hands rubbing the top of them with her thumbs to try and calm her down.

"I thought things were different here, Anne. He was able to make his own decisions when it came to us. That's until a white couple saw him holding my hand and were complete and under disgusted. He saw them and took his hand away, as if he was ashamed to be seen with me. I'm so embarrassed." Iris said, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Hey, hey. No crying. Alright?" Anne said sternly wiping the tears away from Iris' eyes and holding her cheeks in her hands. "You are strong. Remember that. This is you Iris, and you are beautiful just the way you are. If he can't handle that and stick up to his rich, white peers. Then honey he is not the one for you. I promise you. It will get better."

"Thank you, Anne. Truly." Iris said smiling up and Anne as she takes her hands away from Iris' face.
"What are you planning on doing? About the note." Anne asked Iris as she began to take water and wash off the makeup caked on her face.

"I can't deal with this, or him, right now. I'm gonna go home and go straight to sleep." Iris said, knowing for a fact that was not her plan. She was going to go home and be forced to clean the entire house before she was able to even close her eyes.

"Why don't you stay at mine tonight. Give you a break from the evil witch." Anne said, almost reading the girls mind.

Iris let out a sigh of relief before saying, "I would really love that. Thank you, Anne. I don't know what i'd do without you."