ADOPTED BY PHAN

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

If you asked Iris how school went today, she wouldn't dare go into detail.

Floyd was nagging her all day about where she'd been for the past few weeks. And whenever she'd said she went on holiday or was sick for a few days, he wouldn't believe her. He could tell by the way Iris was acting about it, though he eventually gave up when school was dismissed.

Vic - on the other hand - seemed to have been tiptoeing around her. He treated her like a small monument teetering on the edge of a table. It wasn't until he mentioned that he'd been speaking with Skye when the pieces all fit together. He must've heard about what had happened. And it must've hurt him, too.

Oh well, Iris thinks to herself, It's not like anyone will care when I'm dead and gone.

She stops in her tracks and thinks through what she's just thought. Fuck! No. Iris, you little shit, listen to yourself! People care, okay? Everyone you know, for that matter. You don't want to be dead, you just want the pain to go away. It will soon, I promise. Stay alive.

It's as if there's two people in her head. She's one part content and two parts depression. Four fifths suicidal, a tidal wave of self harm. She tried to kill herself just a little over two weeks ago, what's stopping her now? Why is she still here? There's that one fraction of hope glimmering inside her; is that really all she needs?

Yes. Now shut up and get ready, Phil is waiting for you.

She slips her black beanie on before checking herself over in the mirror. She wears Dan's old My Chemical Romance shirt, along with her black skinny jeans and red converse. She laughs at herself, taking in the fact that she looks like a 2006 emo kid. Maybe her parents' fringe is influencing her.

"Iris!" Phil calls from the front door, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" She calls back, "I'll be out in a second!"

She simply fixes her little fringe in the mirror before walking out of her bedroom. She's been thinking about dyeing her hair lately, even going as dark as Phil's. Then again, she's always wanted to dye it a vibrant colour, like Emma Blackery's. She'd never be able to pull that off, though.

Iris meets her father at the door. "Ready to go?" He asks her.

"Yeah," She answers with a smile.

And with that, Phil swings their front door open and makes his way down the hall. Iris trails behind him, nervous for what the journey holds.

I'm not really sure what stores they have in England as I'm from Canada but hurr durr whatevurr don't freak out on me if I make them shop for clothes in Tim Hortons lmao

"What about this one?" Phil asks, holding up a sleek dress shirt.

"Too extravagant." Iris says, putting air quotes on the word as she's mocking Phil from earlier on. Her voice then drops to a serious tone, "Try searching for things that actually reflect your personality. Stay true to who you are, Daddy."

They suddenly hear a girl shout across the store, "Holy shit! Did she just call him 'Daddy'?"

Before they know it, there's a group of fans surrounding them. Must be a popular store, eh? They're being bombarded by questions, the majority of them being:

"Are you two related?"

"Is Dan your other 'Daddy'?"

"Who the fuck is the mother?"

"So you're adopted?"

And the legendary statement of, "I knew it!"

"Excuse me!" An employee shouts, coming over to the group. "I'm going to have to ask you ladies to leave, you're disrupting our other customers."

The girls fight amongst one another, but nevertheless walk away. As the girls exit the store, Iris finds herself being stared down by the young woman. "What?" Iris asks quietly, extremely confused as to why she's being stared at.

"I asked you to leave."

"Oh!" Phil inputs with a smile, "Don't worry, she's with me!"

The woman smiles back warmly, "Sorry about that. If you need any help just give me a holler."

"Actually," Phil stops her just before she walks away, "I was wondering if you knew of any good dress shirts for me?"

She takes in his style, then tells him and Iris to follow her. Iris gets a glance at her name tag, 'Gracie' it reads.

Gracie stops in front of a small rack near the back of the store. "From what it seems, you have quite an exotic style. It's geeky, yet goth. Try some of these, you might find something you like."

Phil rummages through the shirts as she walks away. It only takes him five minutes to pull out two shirts he seems satisfied with.

"What do you think?" He holds up the first shirt, revealing a plaid design of black and blue, with a highlight of white. He then holds up the second shirt, which is a blue acid wash.

"I like them both." Iris says, smiling huge.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Iris replies, feeling the fabrics, "I like them a lot."

"Which one do you like more?"

"Get them both."

"Wha-"

"Get them both!"

"Okay! Okay." Phil laughs, his tongue poking out. "Come on, let's try these on."

Twenty minutes later, Iris and Phil are making their way home with the two shirts in a small bag. Intelligently enough, Phil brought a backpack with him to hide the shirts from Dan when they come through the door. That's Phil for you, always trying to plan ahead.

Hopefully the proposal plan will be his best.

I wrote this all at 2am, can I get a round of applause? No? Okay.

So, I have a question for you all. It's extremely important. It's like a life or death situation. Your cat may die if you don't answer . . .

What shirt should Phil wear? :-)

Personally I feel a connection with the acid wash button up, but that's probs just my hardcore side talking. So hardcore. 2 hardcore 4 u.

hahaha haha ha I'll let myself out.