Best Friends

Chapter 2 - Silver Linings

Everyone at Insomnia High knew what happened at that movie theater parking lot in July. It started with a whisper, which turned into a rumor, which became a photo taken from someone who was there that night when Lunafreya Nox Fleuret and Noctis Lucis Caelum shared their first kiss. Or, make-out session, as it would later be called.

A lot of people expected it would happen, and many never saw it coming.

Iris Amicitia fell in the latter camp.

She watched, begrudgingly, as Noctis and Luna stepped out of the Regalia together from the school parking lot, and walked side by side, their shoulders touching, stealing intimate glances at one another when they thought no one was watching. Noctis offered his hand to Luna, who bashfully smiled and slipped hers in his.

And all Iris could do was force her very own smile, like she always did whenever she tried not to cry. Unbeknown to most, she had harbored a very big crush on Noctis ever since she was a little girl. Sure, some may have called it "puppy love" or a childhood obsession, but Iris' feelings felt real to her and they only seemed to grow over time the more she and her brother, Gladiolus, spent time with him. And more often than not, she personally felt that Noctis would have been a better older brother than her real one because he was warm and compassionate compared to Gladdy who could be really unfair at times and who only seemed to be good at showing tough love. All those times she shared jokes with Noctis, the hand-made gifts she'd sewn for his birthdays, and those rare occasions where she would make him smile – those were moments that she cherished the most. No one could imagine how much it ached for Iris to watch the Prince of Insomnia High – her Prince – belong to another.

Luna was someone Iris couldn't help but admire from a distance. She was very pretty, intelligent, kind, and extremely humble. Luna was a senior on her way to graduating as valedictorian of her class. Although Iris hadn't spent too much time with her, she knew deep down that nobody could come close to being more perfect for Noctis. It probably explained why Noctis was dating Luna and not her.

Yet, Iris had to wonder – was she, herself, really so imperfect? Did her own personality traits not shine as much as Luna's did?

Thinking about it only made her more upset, so she shoved her thoughts aside and decided to totter towards the group hanging around Gladiolus' locker.

"Morning guys," she greeted Ignis, Prompto, and her brother.

"Good morning, Iris," Ignis nodded curtly. She wasn't sure why, but there appeared to be something different about Ignis. Before she could decipher what was so different about him, Prompto wrapped his muscular arms around her shoulders and squeezed her in a hug.

"Iris! Welcome back," Prompto ecstatically greeted, giving her one of his biggest bear hugs.

"Same to you," she slightly wheezed but laughed at the same time. "It's been a minute."

"Hands off, blondie," Gladiolus gruffly tugged Prompto's body away from hers.

Iris scowled at her brother. Did he really have to do that?

"Dually noted, big brother Gladdy," Prompto shook him off, before turning around to give Iris his signature grin. "We were actually talking about you."

"Oh yeah? Why?"

"The Yearbook could really use another creative designer, you know, to help with this year's theme, page layouts, etcetera. And you came highly recommended."

Iris smiled. She didn't really consider herself to be artistic, but she did design a lot of her own clothes, crafts and whatnot.

"Sure, I'd be down to join."