Author's Note: 07/06/20
There's something I want to address about the picture above that I have of Iris. Especially with everything happening in the world today.
Yes, Iris is a depicted as a white woman in that picture, and many of my wonderful readers are beautiful people of color. I was a fourteen year old girl when I wrote this book - and yes, I am now a grown white woman. At the time, I did not consider myself a good enough writer to attempt writing about situations or people that I did not understand first hand. And I was largely writing from my own life experiences, as a fourteen year old. Many people of color have gone through things that I did not, and will likely never fully understand.
What I want to say here, is that even though at the time, I wasn't comfortable enough to make much of an attempt at POC characters, that I absolutely want you all to put yourselves in Iris Walter's place -- the Iris Walter you imagine -- whatever color your skin may be. I've been branching out over the years, writing more diverse characters, because I know now that I am capable of doing it without misrepresenting a culture or people. But it is still hard, because I know my life is so different from those I write about.
Each and every person's story and culture is just as important as the next. Every culture is beautiful and unique, just like every person is beautiful and unique. I would love it if you all would comment how you picture Iris Walters. And I would love it if you would point out differences in cultures or traditions when they come up in the story. Celebrating each others differences is so important! I know I've addressed differences of color in the comments before, and I've always been supportive of imagination with my characters. I've had to delete hateful comments before, from users who dislike someones skin color or culture.
I addressed it in the disclaimer, but I will put a reminder here, as well. That kind of behavior or language is not welcome anywhere near my readers or my story. This story has always been intended as a safe space. If you violate that safe space, your comments will be deleted and you will be blocked.
Share your experiences. Be kind. The rest of the story is below.
Seriously, I love you guys. :)
-Sunny
Thursday. It's Thursday and Thomas still hasn't told you what you're doing or what you should wear or where you're going or what time he's picking you up or-
UUUUGH!
You feel like you're going to explode. You're STILL fangirling over the fact that he asked you out. On a date. Like, a romantic, normal dateish thing.
Thomas Sangster ask you out.
Whoa.
Whoa!
WHOA!
THOMAS FRAKING BRODIE FREAKING SANGSTER ASKED YOU FREAKING OUT!
You fall face first on your bed.
Maybe you're making a big deal out of this?
Nah.
THOMAS SANGSTER ASKED YOU OUT.
There is so much to consider.
Does Thomas actually like you or is this just a friendly get to know you date?
After this does he consider you to be his girlfriend?
What on earth are you going to wear???? You want to look GOOD. It would be very helpful if you knew where you were going. But Thomas is Mr. Spontaneous so he's not going to tell you.
He probably has no idea himself.
You text your little sister.
You: So something big happened to me yesterday....
Juliette: WHAT!?
Juliette: Never mind, I'm skyping you!
Then you hear your skype account ringing and you smile.
You walk over to your computer and answer. It's a little blurry but you can just make out your sisters figure.
"Okay, so tell me what happened! I've been hearing a lot about this Thomas guy and I suspect something. I need details. Pronto!" You hear her voice immediately.
"Whoa. Slow down sister! I haven't even gotten a good look at your face yet! Let me see you child!"
"Ugh!" Juliette shoves her face in the camera, her dark hair is flung over her shoulder and you realize something.
"Are you wearing MAKE-UP?" You ask in awe.
"ERM. Yeah!" She says with a smile.
You scrunch up your nose, "Why? You're still pretty without it."
She sighs, "Great. We're going to have this conversation. Okay. Fine. First off, wearing makeup is a perfectly normal thing to do. A lot of human beings do it, even though I know you think make-up comes from Satan himself. Second of all, we both know I have freckles and that I hate them! And you remember that one time with the lemon juice? Yeah. That wasn't pretty. So I like this way of getting rid of them much better than the one I tried when I was twelve. End of story. Goodbye topic. The end."
You shake your head, "You just have such a pretty smile I don't get why you need make-up."
"Hey, I've got news! My smile still works when I wear make-up, see?" She smiles and then gets back down to business, "Okay. Now seriously. Spill the beans! I need to know and I have to go to a career fair soon, so hurry up!"
"Right, fine. So, yeah. I was kinda sorta asked out."
"YES! A HUMAN MAN ASKED YOU OUT! Wait he is a man right? And a human? He's one of those too, right, because I like those."
You roll your eyes, "Yes he's a human man."
She laughs, "That's great! Is it that Thomas guy?"
"Um, yeah."
"When are you guys going out?"
"Tomorrow."
"Awesome. You haven't given like any details about this guy whatsoever. I mean besides the fact that he's a human man. And that youy met him at work. What's his story? What's he like? Is he cute? Will you send me a picture?"
"Ew! No! I'm not going to send you a picture, what are we fourteen?"
"If I say yes will you send me a picture?"
"No."
"Darn."
You sigh, "Tell you what, um, look up on the internet, Thomas Brodie Sangster and you'll know."
"He'll pop up?"
"He should."
She starts typing, "That name sounds farmilliar. What? Will his twitter page pop up or some- OH MY GOSH! THAT'S THAT GUY YOU USED TO OBSESS OVER! YOU'RE GOING ON A DATE WITH HIM!?!?"
You smile awkwardly, "Yeahhhh."
"You did not tell me he was famous! That's kind of a big deal, Iris! Agh! He's hot too! How come you got Sangster? That's not fair!"
"Do not call him hot. That's a yucky word to use for someone i'm going out with."
She clicks her tounge, "I will call him what I want."
You sigh, "Whatever. He still hasn't told me anything about the date yet. I don't even know what to wear."
"You should wear something hawt!" She says saying hot like the typical eighteen year old.
"Like I hadn't thought of that already." You say rolling your eyes.
You sigh and lean against the wall, "It's just a really fragile situation. I don't want to break our friendship you know? I don't want to loose him. And not in the mushy way you're thinking, Juli, just as a friend. He's someone who's just there for you, you know?"
"Well, i've never met him so - no. I don't know."
You sigh, "It would just really suck if we had an argument or something stupid."
Your sister gets serious, "If you like him so much are you sure you should date him? If you really care about him in a romantic way, you should go for it. But if you think you're on a just friends basis, like it would be weird to date or something, then....maybe you should tell him before he gets his hopes up."
You don't want to make a mistake. You don't want to do anything you'll regret.
All you do is nod.
Your sister sighs, "Well, i've got to go. I'll talk to you soon though. I'd BETTER hear from you soon that is."
"Okay. Good luck at that fair."
"Love you, bye!" Juliette says.
"Bye." You say with a small smile before your sister vanishes.
Looks like it's just you and your thoughts.
Author:
So yep! Little sister alert!
What'd ya think of her?
Also,
I'M BEGGING FOR FOLLOWS.
AGAIN.
PLEAAAASE!
Second item of buisness-
Again, should I do a YouTube channel? A few people have mentioned it to me and I just want to know if people would watch it. I don't want to waste my time, ya know?
Love ya'll!
-MK