An Unexpected Girl

chapter thirty-three

Iris had immediately sobered up. The thrills and adrenaline that she had been feeling a few moments ago had left her body.

All around, the music was still playing, and people were still dancing. Iris wished she could switch places with the guy doing the Dougie on top of a table right then.

"Niki," Iris finally responded. That was all she said, because she wasn't sure what else to say. She just stood there looking up at Niki in the dim room, squinting slightly against the flashing lights.

"Iris," Niki said once again. For a few moments, neither of the girls said anything. They both just stood looking at each other in some form of an awkward standoff.

Iris' head was spinning slightly. Not from the alcohol, but from the situation before her.

"You've been ignoring me," Niki finally said, breaking the silence between them. "I texted you and you left me on read."

"Did I?" Iris asked, feigning confusion. Niki wasn't stupid and gave her an 'are you serious right now' expression.

"I did," Iris said instead, jutting her chin out slightly. There was no point in denying it. She shouldn't have to deny it. After all, she did leave Niki's text unanswered, and for good reason as well.

Iris was thankful for the alcohol in her system, as it enabled her to be confident enough to stand firm and cross her hands over her chest in defiance.

"Yeah, Niki, I ignored your text. And what about it?" she asked.

There was an expression on Niki's face, but it was way too dark in the room they were in right then for Iris to decipher.

Niki ran her hands through her locs, pushing them off her face as she sighed softly.

"Iris, I'm really sorry. You're right, you have every right to ignore me. I've been nothing but a dickhead to you, and I sure as hell shouldn't have just assumed you knew there were marijuana brownies before giving them to you. That was wrong."

Iris was slightly taken aback. Actually, more than slightly taken aback; very taken aback. She didn't think that Niki had it in her to apologize. She honestly didn't think that she cared that much to do so.

Iris stared up at the girl before her for a few moments, taking her in.

"It's fine, it's whatever," Iris mumbled, uncrossing her hands and letting them fall limply at her side. There was no point in trying to act tough. Niki had apologized and besides, she really wasn't fooling anyone.

"It's not fine. Neither is it just 'whatever'," Niki said, putting up her fingers in quotation marks. She laughed slightly, but it was a humorless laugh. She clearly didn't think the situation or her actions were funny.

Iris shook her head slightly, feeling a bit confused.

"What do you want me to do instead?"

Niki looked at her hard for a few seconds. Iris raised a brow at her.

"I wanna make it up to you. Let me take you out."

Iris almost laughed. In fact, she did laugh then. She bent over laughing because this seemed like the funniest thing to her right then.

"You really do not have to do that," Iris said, once she regained her voice. "I wouldn't want to put you through that."

"What do you mean?" Niki asked, looking at her with confusion.

"Are you serious right now? Are you sure you can stand being with me somewhere that isn't your bedroom?"

Niki looked taken aback, but Iris had only just started. The feelings, the thoughts, and the emotions that she had been pushing down were coming to the surface now. She was too drunk to stop herself, and she didn't care.