Seeing the Light

Chapter 4:

Iris POV:

I woke up, the sun's light shining in my eyes. Ugh, it was so bright. I was sore all over. Running yesterday to the theater wasn't a good idea... My calves burned as I went to my dusty closet and picked out the cleanest hoodie I could find. Nothing was stained, but it did reek of sweat. "Eh. Why would I care what people think-" I slipped the hoodie over my head, feeling the soft fabric brush against my skin. A bruise. What happened yesterday?

I slowly opened the door hoping the door handle wouldn't creak. Oh, but it did. Really loudly. My dad was waiting on the beat-down couch sleeping, but was awoken instantly when he heard it. I had a few seconds to run to my room before he regained full consciousness and would come after me.

He would sit up, yawn, drink a sip, and catch me. Would I be able to reach my room before that? I didn't think much and just ran to my room feeling the cold, bare wooden floor of our apartment. There was no one living under us currently, so I ran without a hesitation. He barked and ran after me, but I had reached my room door. I felt my dad reach for me but missed and instead pushed me into my room. I had a shelf right left to my room, so when he pushed me, I was pushed to the left but I had also opened the door. My shoulder hit the shelf's corner leaving an imprint of blue and purple. I quickly shut my door and locked it, ready to jump out the window if I really needed to. He didn't try to.

I rattled the doorknob of my room, but it didn't open. I really didn't want to jump out the window either. I mean, I'm on the fourth floor. I can't jump all the way to the ground. I just climb the emergency ladder down to the first floor and jump off. But it's tiring and hurts my ankles. After yesterday, my sore legs won't have the strength to support my ankles from the drop.

I started to pace back and forth. It was going to be hell being stuck here from morning to the end of the day. Why did this have to be a Saturday? I sat down on my bed and searched stretches to relax my sore legs. Didn't work unfortunately. I was stuck in the house, locked inside for hours until I remembered my meeting with that girl for coffee.

It was 3:12 p.m.

Rose's POV:

It was 3:12 p.m. on my phone. She was late... Was she even coming? I shouldn't have actually thought she was going to come. I mean, her attitude showed it all. I was about to get up, but my indecisive self decided to wait till 3:20. Who knows? She might actually show up.

A few minutes after, I was relieved to see the girl running and panting towards me. She glared at me for a second, but softened once she sat down. "Where's my coffee?" she snarkily asked me. I handed her the menu saying, "Well, there's ice coffee, latte, and.. just all that." I pointed at the drinks under Coffee. "I just wanna ice coffee." she responded. "Thanks for coming." I smiled. Smiling helps everything. It makes everyone feel happy, it makes it feel less awkward, it mak-

"You can stop pretending to smile. I don't like forced smiles." she said. It was like she had read my mind. "Oh.. okay.."

Iris's POV:

"So. Do you go to Sunset Park High?" I asked her. "You said you saw me there." She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, I do. Why did you say you don't go there?" I rolled my eyes. "Because I don't. School's worthless. Everything we learn, we forget. Everything we learn, we don't use in life," I said. "Besides, school's boring."

She slowly nodded looking confused. "Hmm. I've never thought of it that way," she smiled. "But yeah, school is boring sometimes. But I do get good grades." I took a sip of the cold coffee. "That's nice."

"Since you're here, why don't you... come over to my house?" I widened my eyes in surprise. We had just met, and who the heck invites random strangers from school over to their house? "Right now?" I asked. "We just me- I don't even know your name!"

She nervously smiled. "Oh, well.. My name's Rose Smitten. I'm 16 years old.. That's it," She nodded and looked at me. "You?"

"My name's Iris Roberts. I'm also 16 and I work at our local Target. Next to our school." Her eyes sparkled. "You WORK?" she asked. "No way.. Can you invite me over? I wanna get a job too!" I shrugged. "I don't know. Ask my manager. Not me." She nodded and smiled with a genuine smile. Something that warmed my heart. I haven't seen a genuine smile in so long. Ever since... I'd rather not think about it.

"So, Iris, wanna come over?" Rose asked again. "Please?" I shrugged. "No. I like the outside. Let's take a walk instead." Her face fell, but she still nodded. She nodded a lot. "Come on then. Let's go!" I was forced to go out and take a walk with a girl I had just met.

I don't know where we went, but we walked until blisters formed on our feet. "So, do you have any siblings?" she asked. "Any pets?" I shook my head. "No."

"Oh, okay. I have one toddler brother and a twin brother. No pets, but used to have a pomeranian named Poms. She was the cutest doggie ever. Oh, she was so well behaved too." Rose squealed talking about her dog. "But she died at age 12 or 84." I patted her back. "That's too bad." I comforted. "No, it's fine. Everyone and everything moves on.."

Yeah.. everything and everyone does. My parents did. My life did.

"Well. It's late now. I think I might have to go home," Rose said. "But.. wanna meet up again?" Did I? Did I want to meet up with her? "Yeah, sure." I replied. She was kind and friendly. Why not?