Irisadonna

2: Family

If you knew Belladora Murray, you would describe her as being kind, shy, loyal and fiercely protective of those she cared about. If you didn't know Belladora and had just met her, you would probably describe her as being a hotheaded ginger with an antisocial disorder and a serious swearing problem. Somewhere between the two descriptions was the truth.

Irisadonna and Belladora had been friends for years, ever since first form when Belladora had won a fight for her. A girl named Catherine had called Irisadonna a 'teacher's bitch' (the final form of a teacher's pet) and poor little Irisadonna had retaliated, calling Catherine a slut for giving Ben Lawrence, her twin sister's boyfriend a handjob in the bathroom during gym. Catherine had flown at her for that, pulling on her hair, attempting to bite her like a fucking wolverine. That was when Belladora stepped in. Fighting was not Irisadonna's strong point, in fact she was a bit of a wuss. Belladora had thought that Irisadonna was pathetic, but stepped in anyway because she hated Catherine and defending Irisadonna was a good excuse to fight her.

That same day, when Belladora sat at her usual table near the door of the cafeteria by herself, Irisadonna plopped herself down on the empty seat opposite her and extended her hand for Belladora to shake. She stared at the outstretched hand for maybe ten seconds before she finally shook it.

Belladora took a while to warm up to people, she wasn't 'friendly' and she was perfectly okay with that fact. It had taken Irisadonna a year to make Belladora fully like her, and two more years for Belladora to fully trust her.

So when she found herself instantly infatuated with this boy from the gym, she had no idea how to deal with it.

Belladora Chrystal Murray didn't do 'subtle', she fell hard if she fell at all. Irisadonna had noticed how her best friend seemed constantly distracted recently but knew her better than to ask about it. Belladora was also not a 'feelings' person, they made her feel icky and talking about them made her want to vomit. Emotion, if it wasn't vengeance or just plain anger were also not her thing, she had laughed at the Reverend's wig during her grandma's funeral for Pete's sake!

Belladora would have laughed in Irisadonna's face if she had brought up how distracted Belladora was being recently.

That didn't stop it from being true. Belladora was distracted by John and his perfect hair and teeth and they ran through her mind every hour of the day, seven days a week.

Belladora didn't know exactly how to cure it, but she did know how to treat it. She figured that her obsession with her blonde asshole was rooted in the fact that she was idle and had little to do, much less think about during the summer. What was a better way to take your mind off of a cute boy than being surrounded by family members? What better way to be surrounded by family members than in a family reunion?

Though family reunions were also on the list of things that Belladora disliked, she decided that the one that would take place that Saturday was a necessary evil.

It was a tricky situation, though. Family reunions involved socialising, something Belladora disliked exponentially. If she moodily went off to sulk alone in some corner or 'went to take a walk' (caught a bus to Donut Ace), it would result in even more opportunity for her mind to wander back to John and his bright smile and dreamy sea blue eyes.

As such, Belladora decided to invite Irisadonna to keep her company during the party and to basically cockblock her mind (mindblock?) from thinking about John and his perfect abs.

Belladora's Auntie Aurora's house was swarming with Murrays. Her entire family had a specific look; blonde hair, short build, green eyes and friendly face. Belladora didn't look like any of them, nor did she act like them.