JOEY
JANUARY 10TH, 2001

      I CANNOT BELIEVE MYSELF. I had kept myself at a safe distance from Iris Evergreen for over a year, but somehow the tone in her voice when she said 'please' had me caving.

As if to gain back some of my dignity, the first thing I did when I entered her house was go upstairs to check on her brother.

Apparently, he was sick and knowing him he was likely being overdramatic and complaining about everything, so going to see him wasn't exactly my first choice, but I couldn't be alone with Iris for too long without doing or saying something I shouldn't.

My knuckles lightly tapped against the door of his bedroom before pushing open the door.

"Joey? The fuck are you doing here?" Rex was sitting on his bed wrapped in maybe five different blankets, a bowl of—I'm guessing—popcorn sitting on his lap, and his TV sitting on his dresser, which was pulled up close to his bed. "If you're about to ask for money, I hate to break it to you, but I'm fresh out of euro."

"Aw. Shit, better luck next time, huh?" I joked as I walked towards his bed, getting a better look at the show playing on his TV "Really? Dawson's Creek? Again?"

Rex shrugged "what can I say? It soothes me."

I bit back a smile, dropping on his bed before lying down beside him. "How you feelin' Rexy?"

Rex groaned, leaning his head back on his pillow "like I'm dying."

Dramatic.

"Right." I tried not to make my eye roll that obvious.

"I'm serious, Joey. My back hurts, and so does my throat, and my head, and my stomach. I'm a mess, lad." Rex complained, hugging the blankets around him tighter.

"You'll be fine."

Annoyed, Rex glared over at me "why can't you just acknowledge my pain and suffering instead of telling me I'll be fine." Then he began to whine "I am not fine Joseph. I'm dying."

"You're fine."

Before I knew it, the pillow below my head was pulled out from under me and smacked against my head.

"Hey!" I yelled, pulling the pillow out of his hands before he could do it again. "The fuck?"

Rex pouted, lying back down. "Why are you even here if you're just gonna be mean to me."

I sighed, throwing the pillow he used as a weapon out of his reach. "Your sister."

"My sister?"

"Yes."

"You talked to my sister?"

"Yes." I glared at him "why does that seem so surprising to you?"

"Uhh, maybe because you haven't had a single conversation with her since the first day of first year."

"That's not true."

"Ugh, right. I totally forgot about the fight you guys had last February."

My eyebrows knitted together as my head spun in his direction. "that is not what happened."

Rex shrugged, his eyes locked on the TV "That's what Iris thinks happened. She was pretty pissed."

Then why hasn't she left me alone yet?

"How do you even know about that?" I don't even know why I asked, those two tell each other everything.

"How do you think?" Rex shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth before attempting to say. "You probably shouldn't keep her waiting. She's gotten really mean this past year. I think it's all that lady business, if you know what I mean."

"Ugh, Rex." I groaned. "I do not want to know about your sister's lady business."

He shrugged "Sorry, but if I have to know, so do you. That's the rule."

I rolled my eyes "That is not a rule."

"It should be."

"No it shouldn't."

Rex turned it head away from his TV so that he could glare at me "Why don't you go downstairs and bother the twin that actually wants to see you, Joseph. As you can see"—he pointed to his TV, where two of the characters were currently arguing—"I'm occupied."

"Because," I mumbled. "I don't know what to say to her."

"Who? Iris?"

"No, Rex. The other girl in your kitchen."

"There's another girl in my kitchen?"

"Oh my God." I groaned, rubbing a hand across my face. "No, obviously I meant Iris."

"Oh, well, maybe you could start with an apology."

"For what?"

"Uh—abandoning her. You know, secondary school is supposed to be one of the hardest times for teenagers—especially girls—your lucky she had Aoife to fall back on or else she'd probably be dyeing her hair and painting her nails black."

"She would not."

She once told me she would rather go bald than dye her hair. I think she would have a stroke if anyone suggested dyeing her hair black.

"You're right, but that's not the point." Rex began to push me off his bed. "Stop avoiding conversations and go deal with your problems."

Thankfully, I caught myself before I hit the ground—no thanks to my best friend. "Alright, jeez."

Even though I knew it was a bad idea, I made my way out of his room and down the stairs back to the kitchen where I had left Iris.

Despite the fact that she was in the exact same spot she was when I left, I knew she had to have left the room because she was wearing completely different clothes.

Instead of the dark green and blue striped jumper and jeans she had been wearing at the match, she was wearing bright pink fluffy pajama pants and a white tank-top.

When I walked into the kitchen her eyes immediately snapped up to me, a small smile replacing the frown on her lips. "There you are. I was starting to think you left."

"Nope." I shoved my hands in my pockets "just talkin' ta Rex."

Iris giggled "Yeah? He being dramatic as always?"

I nodded.

"I'm making a sandwich, want one?"

"No Thanks" I answered, despite the fact that I was starving.

Iris's eyes lingered on me for another moment with her eyebrows wrinkled together. There was clearly something on her mind, but knowing her, she wasn't gonna say it.

Like I expected, Iris shook her head and let it fall, brushing whatever it was she wanted to say over her shoulder.

"So. . ." Iris clicked her tongue, glancing between me and the sandwich she was making. "Uhh, how's school?"

"Like school."

"Right, yeah." Awkwardly scratching the back of her head as she mumbled something to herself, Iris continued to make her sandwich. "And you said the kids are fine?"

"Yep."

This was awkward.

"Lenny's birthday is coming up, right?"

I nodded.

"In a few weeks?"

I nodded, again.

"The ninth?"

I nodded, again.

"Your birthday was a couple weeks ago right?"

If I have to nod again, I might leave.

"You're a Christmas baby. A present all on your own."

Tell that to my parents.

"Why aren't you talking?"

I almost nodded to that. Thankfully, I stopped myself before I did and instead shrugged.

Iris laughed. "A man of many words, I see." She grabbed a knife out of one of the drawers and cut her sandwich in half. "Though, I suppose you've always been that way, huh? Either glaring or insulting."

Not to her.

Before last year I never insulted her or glared at her.

The only reason I did it recently was to prove that I'm not something she should want to be friends with, though she doesn't send to be getting the hint.

She walked towards the kitchen door, pausing beside me to nudge me in the same direction at the same time as she held out one half of her sandwich to me.

"Iris—" I began to refuse the food, but she immediately cut me off.

"Just take the damn food, Joseph."

Knowing better than to argue about something this stupid, I sighed and pulled it out of her hands, taking a bite then giving her a "there, ya happy?" smile.

Weirdly enough, I think she was.

Once we were out of the kitchen she steered me towards the sitting room then practically forced me to sit on the couch.

"What do you want to watch, Joe?" She kneeled down on the floor in front of the movie shelf.

"I'm not staying long." I mumbled.

Iris turned to look at me, on the verge of looking annoyed. "You can stay for a little bit. I'm sure it won't cost you much to stay and watch a movie with me."

It could cost me a lot.

Groaning, I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. "Fine, but then I'm leaving."

"Let's watch this." She pulled a case out from the shelf. "I haven't seen it yet and I've been wanting to."

She moved over towards the Tv and began to set up the movie while I stayed on the couch trying not to seem too happy that I'm here or too worried that I'm not there.

"What are we watching?" I mumbled as she skipped towards the couch.

Iris dropped onto the couch beside me and threw her legs across mine as if she was locking me in a cage. "Charlie's Angels."

Oh, how great.

"Rex has already watched it and he said it was pretty good." Grabbing a blanket out of the bin beside the couch, Iris spread it on top of her legs and conveniently also covered mine. "Plus, he said Drew Barrymore looks hot."

"How long is it?" I fought the urge to glare at the girl for putting me in this position.

"Only an hour and a half."

This is gonna be a long hour and a half.

Or maybe only forty-two minutes.

Because that's how long it took for Iris to fall asleep.

She's never been good at staying awake long enough to finish a movie. I don't know why she thought it would be different this time.

Looping an arm under her legs and the other behind her back, I lifted her up to my chest.

I knew the layout of this house better than I knew my own. I could make this trip in the complete dark and still manage to not run into anything.

As I passed Rex's door I could still hear the sound of his TV and see the faint glow under the door.

Thankfully, when I got to Iris's door it was already cracked open so all I had to do was push it open farther.

Her room was a lot different than it was the last time I saw it. All the Barbie and princess posters were pulled down and replaced with album posters, the toys she used to have scattered throughout the floor were gone, and the room lacked a serious amount of pink.

Her pink curtains were now a dark red that matched her blankets. The pink mini-carpet she had was gone. Her pink dresser was replaced by a normal wooden one.

The only thing in this room—that I could see—that was pink were the pants she was wearing and the bag hanging up on her dresser.

After carefully dropping Iris onto her abnormally comfortable bed, I pulled her blankets over her body and then made my move to leave.

I wasn't even a step away from her when my eyes locked on the photo sitting on her bedside table.

It was us—Iris, Rex, and me.

We looked to be around ten or eleven.

Sitting outside her house on the ground right across from each other, Rex and Iris both wore pretty princess dresses. Rex's was blue and Iris's was purple.

Then, standing in between the two, leaning on a very fake wooden sword and dressed in armor, was me. Watching Iris as she explained something that involved raising her hand high above her head and waving her wand in Rex's face.

I vaguely remember this. I'm pretty sure she was explaining how we were supposed to kill the dragon that had destroyed her castle.

I hate that I missed being that young.

I hate that I missed running around Iris's small back yard dressed in knight armor pretending to fight off an evil dragon.

"Joey."

I turned towards the girl, completely unaware that she was awake. "Yeah?"

Weakly blinking, Iris rolled onto her back and whispered "I'm gonna wait for you."

AUTHOR TALKS!!
I know it might seem funny considering I've mentioned it in both this book and Sweet Oblivion, but I actually don't like Dawsons Creek. I mean, it's okay and all, but it's just not one of those shows I can really sit down and binge without getting bored really fast. Granted I'm only half-way through season two, so for all I know it could get better, but as of right now it's super boring.

I just want you guys to know, I hate this chapter.