I Am Iris

Chapter Three: Despising School

"Hi, Moth." I saluted her as she walked through the front door. "Did you have tons of fun today at work?!" I asked eagerly. I wondered if work was fun... Robot Boy had a job, and he seems like a fun person, I thought. Yeah, work must be fun.

"Why can't you just call me Mom like every other fifteen year old girl does?" Moth asked in a tired, yet at the same time, frustrated and raspy tone.

"Well, Moth, I'm not every fifteen year old girl. I am Iris," I stated matter of factly.

"Yes, yes, I know what your name is!" Moth groaned as she collapsed onto the couch in a heap.

She continued to stare at me, so I assumed that meant she had something to say... Or she fell asleep with her eyes open... While making creepy eye contact with me.

I folded down the corner of the page I was on in my book to mark my spot, and then tapped my fingernails against the cover of it.

"Stop that, it's annoying," Moth snapped.

"Oops." I put my hands on my laps and folded them there. I waited.

"Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me? Go hang out with your friends or something!"

My eyes dropped, and I stared at the smooth, wooden table I sat at. It was a pretty color, like mahogany or something. I traced my fingers along each swirl in the material.

"Well?" Moth said.

"Uh, I guess so. I could probably just drop by a friend's house, and..." I trailed off.

"Good."

I waited for Moth to leave the room before I grabbed my book and headed out the door.

I kinda told Moth I had friends... And she kinda believed me. Or, at least, she pretended to.

I headed towards the elevator, walking with the heal of my foot touching the very tip of the front of my shoe. It took a while for the elevator to arrive, but it eventually did. I took a few steps towards it... And then I tripped over a pair of outstretched legs.

My face was pressed into the elevator flooring, I was lying on my stomach, and I couldn't will myself to get up. I don't know why, but I felt like I could lie there in the elevator for hours.

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed my ankles and swung them around so that my legs were curled up at my side. Then the elevator doors shut.

"Hi Iris," a familiar voice greeted simply.

I lifted my head up to find a pair of sneakers, each foot pointing away from the other.

"Robot Boy!"

"Your legs were about to get cut off by the elevator doors, and I wasn't too sure if you were conscious or not, 'cause you weren't moving... So, I just moved your-" Robot Boy started to say.

"Thanks," I told him, cutting him off. "I like having legs, so that was very nice of you."

"I like having legs, too. Even more than having arms. And I really do enjoy having arms." He wiggled his arms around.

"Same here!"

And then I remembered that I was still on the floor...

"I should get up now," I thought aloud.

"Good idea," Robot Boy laughed lightly.

 I pulled myself off the ground and stuck my tongue out at him. "So, whatcha doing?" I asked.

I sat cross legged on the hard elevator floor, and so did he. He had a book in his lap.

"Reading," he answered with an awkward, forced smile.