m u s e

friends | 5

well, normally Iris would go straight home to her apartment after classes and do something typical like read a book or binge watch Netflix series.

but ever since Julian wiggled his way into her life, she began hanging out with him...and ultimately his friends.

if anyone from her high school saw her now, they would probably think she was kidnapped and replaced by an alien.

because Iris did not socialize,
not ever.

well...except now.

it all begun to change when ju invited her for lunch after class, she had went along because she was one of those persons who found it hard to say no.

next thing she knew she was in a pizza place surrounded by four intimidatingly gorgeous boys who were laughing,
eating more pizza than she thought possible,
and acting a complete fool of themselves.

usually in settings like these she'd find herself not apart of any conversation, sitting awkwardly while everyone more or less forgot she was there.
but ju to her dismay, seemed determined to include her in all the conversations.

after a few more days of meeting up with the guys and watching them interact with each other, she began to relax in their presence.

she didn't even notice it had happened until on particular day when Wen the only other asian in the five-some had commented on a topic and she had cracked a joke that had caused the whole table to guffaw in that way that boys did;

boisterous and completely beautiful.

while they had laughed and slapped each other on the backs, she had silently watched them as she slowly came to the realization that she had changed.

and she kind of liked who she was now.

as she looked at the boys around her, she was overcome with the distinct feeling that she was apart of something.

these misfits had accepted her into their pack.

when she glanced over at the boy who made it all possible,
he was already looking at her.
his signature cheesy grin on his tanned face.

she had given him a smile in return with absolutely no reservation and the feeling was something she would never forget.

as she bit into her third slice of pizza she absentmindedly wondered if this was what having friends felt like.

if this was it, she liked it.

she liked it very much indeed.