Prince Charmings (BOOK ONE)

29

Iris lived on the same street as Fleur it turned out, in a comfortable two-story house with a giant circular pool in the backyard her twin brother, Malcolm, spent the entire time I was there swimming in. Malcolm was a mirror image of Iris, just taller, skin slightly darker, and sporting a wide scar across his right cheek.

"Hockey," was his explanation for the injury when he caught me looking at it as Iris handed him a green smoothie while giving me a tour of the place. Malcolm attended High Valley Prep, a school two towns over and known for its rigorous sports program. Tommo had almost transferred there junior year, but decided at the last minute not to, not wanting to uproot his entire family.

Tucked on the lower level of the house, Iris' room was surprisingly understated with a queen bed pushed into the corner and lavender curtains. I spent a while looking at her shelves, covered in photo frames, expired gift cards, tubes of lip balm, and CDs. Not a single book that wasn't school related sat in the room, and a pair of red and blue pom-pom's dangled from the ceiling above her bed.

"I figured if we made good headway we could order pizza in a couple of hours," Iris said, taking a seat on the end of her bed and pulling free a laptop from under it.

"Yeah, I'm easy," I shrugged, dumping my bag on the ground as sat down next to her. The mattress rippled under my weight, making Iris tip towards me. "I was wondering if you wanted to go over some calculus too, I saw the textbook was sitting on your desk."

"Sounds good, just as long as you promise not to laugh at my practice essays for English," She blushed and I bumped her shoulder with my own lightly.

"Whatever, I've seen your notes on Macbeth in class. You know what you're doing, don't talk yourself down," I said and Iris smiled softly, tucking her hair behind her ear before shoving her computer onto my lap.

"Okay, here's my outline for the exams first section. I can look over yours too, if you want."

I balked at the level of detail staring back at me on the screen, offering a frown at the rushed pencil written work in my notebook. Slowly handing it to Iris I gave her a sheepish smile and started reading. We spent longer than a couple hours working, breaking down past exam questions, and I listened as Iris spouted out quotes without prompting, enjoying the way she blushed when she realized what she was doing.

"Sorry, Melissa says I have a habit of doing that," She apologized, even going so far as to cover her mouth with her hand.

"It's fine, helps me learn, believe it or not. Plus, it's cool to see you so in the zone," I said, smiling as Iris bolted upright.

"Pizza," She said, sending me an apologetic look when she saw it was almost five in the afternoon. "I didn't notice the time. Give me a second to check what Malcolm wants and we'll order."

Slipping off the bed I waited until she stepped out to go back to her photo frames. They were normal enough, photos taken with friends, and what I assumed to be her family. A few were from sophomore year, back when she was still on the cheerleading team. Several were with Fleur, mostly taken on the beach, and I chuckled at the sight of Iris with a massive sunburn on her neck.

"That had hurt like hell, don't laugh," Her voice came from behind me, followed by a slap to the shoulder. I looked back, craning my neck to catch her face as she pressed her phone to her ear.

"Pepperoni, right?" She asked, and I nodded. Ducking her head, Iris placed the order, beckoning me into the living room. The space was decked out in wide seat sofas, covered in a blizzard of plush pillows that Iris had no qualms about shoving to the floor as she took a seat. Rather than a TV there sat a projector on the table with a pull-down screen on the opposite wall. At my raised brows Iris blushed, covering the speaker as she explained, "Dad's a little eccentric."