The Girl Next Door

Part 19 - Iris

Part 19 - Intolerable

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What truly makes a person evil? Is it worse for the person to intentionally harm someone or accidentally?

I think it's worse for the person causing pain to accidentally do it, but it's definitely worse for the victim if the person hurt them on purpose. As for the first question? I believe basing your actions on the intent to hurt someone for selfish reasons is what makes you evil.

And that? Where the heck did that come from?

When I open my eyes, I see a white ceiling above my head that isn't mine or Sophie's and a pin drops in my stomach. I suddenly sit up, looking around and realizing I'm at Pierce's apartment on his couch. I look down and see myself even wearing his clothes.

"Uh, Pierce?" I ask quietly, but as loud as I can. My voice shakes I immediately assume the worst when my stomach cramps and my head throbs. My heart starts beating in rhythm with my head and I bite my lip so hard I taste blood. "A-are you here?"

He comes in from his kitchen, waving at me. "Morning Princess. I'm here, what's up?"

"D-did something bad happen to me? Last night? W-where did I go? What happened?" I had a feeling something bad happened. I didn't think it was Pierce's fault, but something bad happened anyway.

"It's alright, nothing happened. Well, something did happen, but not what you're thinking. You went to the party and you got drunk, and then Logan took you away and he was kissing you." It looks like he wans to say the next part gently and pauses. He hesitates for a moment. "He wanted to push you further but you denied it, and he didn't listen. So I threatened him and he left. Sophie and Julian went home and I took you here, where you puked, so then you took a shower. And the only clothes were mine, which is why you're wearing those."

My heartbeat slows down and the sincerity in Pierce's voice is calming. I nod, having a lot of questions for him but not knowing where to start. "Did Julian and Sophie do anything?"

"They went home separately after dancing. I had to wake 'em up because they fell asleep on Amelia's couch." He leaves the room again, the sound of someone opening a package and then things falling onto porcelain. "Do you want any breakfast, Princess? I can't cook but I can get you eggs, cereal, or toast. Oh, or a granola bar. Unless you want an apple?"

I force myself to stand up, making my way to the kitchen to take an apple that he mentioned. I shrug, saying, "Yeah, this is good."

Pierce puts his cereal away and we sit back on the couch. He asks, "Do you have any plans for today?"

I shake my head, taking a bite of my apple.

"Maybe we can hang out for a bit. You ever gone to that park over on Seventeenth Street? It's pretty small and not a lot of people know about it, but it has a nice view of the cliff's edge."

"I haven't heard of it. What's it called?"

"I want to say Cliff's Edge but I'm not sure."

"Oh," I chuckle. "That... I don't know, that makes sense why you said it then."

"Once we finish eating we should get dressed and head over there. You want to?"

"Sure."

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I finish tying the last blade of grass onto the twig, successfully assembling a little stick-person. I smile, holding it up in front of the sun as I lay down on my back above the bright green grass. "There, it's a person now."

I sit up, pretending to make the stick walk. "When I was little and I went to the park I used to make these all the time. I liked to make little boats too, and I'd send them off on a boat and leave them to go down the creek. Sometimes I just do it because I'm bored, nowadays."

Pierce doesn't say anything, so I turn around to face him. He's sitting up too, which I'm guessing he did after I did since we were both originally laying on the ground. He's giving me a weird look, but not necessarily a judgmental one. He smiles a little bit, looking at my face until I notice him. Then he looks down to the person I made.

"Where'd you get the idea?" he asks.

"My mom and dad used to do it all the time, before she died. After that all happened, I just made them by myself. She taught me. My dad didn't like seeing them though, because she first started putting them together with him around when they started dating. It was just something she always did and I took after her."

He nods, understanding.

"I'm kind of jealous of kids with both parents," I start to ramble for no good reason, "because when I had my whole family, I just felt so much more complete. When you lose one person there's a lot you lose with them. And I think kids take that for granted."

"I think it depends," he opens up a little. "I don't talk about my dad much, I don't have one. I do, technically, but... I don't know, it's complicated. When he wasn't living with us though, it got a lot easier, I guess. A lot of the bad parts of having him stay left, which was cool, but there was a lot he did that we all still lived with, I guess. I don't know. It all just depends. We can't really speak for anyone else when we don't fully understand their problems."

"That's true, I don't know either. But I can't say I didn't wish she was still alive."

"Hey, look at that sunset," he said, pointing in front of us towards the vast sky beyond the cliff. "I didn't know we were here that long, I guess I lost track of time."

"I didn't know that either," I reply truthfully. "When this sunset is over I should probably get home. I think we both have homework to do and I don't want to get in trouble."

We watch the violet clouds stretch across an endless fuchsia sky, even the sun seeming small as it sinks and slowly dims the western hemisphere. The stars and the moon become brighter, taking over its place and silencing the actions of the day. My signal to go home.

When we walk back to Pierce's car, I naturally have a smile on my face. "You know Pierce, I guess you're not as bad as I thought. We should just hang out more often. What do you say?"

We each get into the car and he ponders his response for a moment before turning on the vehicle. "I don't know, I can barely tolerate you."

I turn and give him a look, but he turns his fake scowl into a grin real fast — a gorgeous one at that. "I'm kidding, Princess," he defends himself. "Just say the word and I'm there."

I laughed a little nervously. "Thanks for the scare, jerk."

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A/N

This was definitely a lighthearted chapter, even better with a nice song like Would That I by Hozier! Hope you liked it!