𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐄 || Jerome Clarke

Iris Rutter

The breakfast table was silent apart from the crunching that could be heard emanating from the mysterious girl at the end of the table; currently, she was eating like she was a starved man in the desert.

"This is some proper cereal, I swear. They make it differently for boarding schools," She groaned, taking the final bite of her breakfast, "Whew, and the orange juice is better, what the f-"

"So, ...Iris, was it?" Nina broke in, "Did I hear you say you were Fabian's sister?"
The American drawl irked the new girl. The American's tone implied she was somehow condescending to talk to someone like Iris.

"I don't believe I did say anything of the sort, to you. But you may have 'overheard' something like that in a private conversation," Iris bit, before taking a long sip of her orange juice, not letting her eye off of the American.

A warning tone cut in, "Iris. Be nice." Fabian's usually soft voice, held an edge as he scolded his sister.

Iris let her eyes roll back, but felt like a kicked puppy somehow. Her brother seemingly siding with the other girl in Iris's one-sided feud, wounded her. Her body slumped back into the glossy wood of the chair as she pulled her knees up to her chest like she often did when she was a child.

A small smile pulled at Fabian's lips at the sight, his sister. 11 minutes younger; the only time ever in their lives they were supposed to be separated but it'd been years now. Years without seeing his sister for more than just an exeat weekend.

"Sister..." the blonde girl with a bow pondered, "That's crazy Fabian, we never knew you had a sister! You never mentioned anything." 

"Yes, well..." Fabian started, rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks going bright red as he fumbled for a reply, "She's my twin actually." Was his pathetic reply.

Iris scoffed, laughing at her brother's awkwardness.

"Well, whatever relation she has to you," Amber began, "She has way more style than you could even imagine having, Fabian."

With that, the entire tables erupted into laughter. The slight tension in the air from before, now broken by Amber's bluntness.

All the housemates soon began to head of to their lessons, hoping to finally have a normal start to the year. Fabian grabbed his sister into a tight embrace, and the twin reciprocated. She had missed her brother so much when he'd been gone, "We'll talk later, Iris. Okay?"

Iris nodded against her brother's chest, still unable to let him go, even if he was just going to school, it felt so hard.

"I'll see you later, sis." Fabian said with a laugh before jogging to catch up with Amber and Nina.

Trudy had told Iris that she would be staying in Nina's room, with another girl called Amber, so she grabbed her tote and began to haul her bags up the stairs. She was by no means weak, but an entire couple of months worth of wardrobe had been a necessity in packing. Now, she was regretting packing that extra pair of sneakers.

Her arms were still straining against the weight of the bag, when a deep chuckle sounded from the bottom of the steps.

Iris's eyes snapped up; irritation was bubbling in her chest. Why was this person laughing? Sadist.

When Iris's eyeline landed on the source of the laugh, she couldn't help it. Her breath faltered and her already-red cheeks, flushed a deeper shade of scarlet.