Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
The large clock hung up on the wall above the doorway ticked slowly and quietly, though the girl swore she could feel it ticking like it was resonating within her chest. She tapped her pencil rhythmically, impatiently waiting for the clock's arm to move.
Five minutes left until the bell rang and she'd be free. They'd all be free.
Her hazel eyes stayed glued to the ticking electronic on the other side of the room as she drowned out the voice of her teacher up front. She didn't really care though; this was one of her easiest classes. Psychology always was. The girl was exhausted after a long, tiring and test-filled day of education.
Iris couldn't wait to go home and take some time to relax as well as munch on a snack.
Minutes passed, Iris stopped tapping her pencil just as the clock arm ticked a few more times to the right. Then the bell went off, signaling the end of the day and hundreds of students' happiness.
Iris smiled to herself, slamming her books shut and sloppily shoving them into her book bag, as well as sliding the pencil in the side of the bag. Then she headed out of the class, taking a deep breath of this "new found freedom" that she technically felt everyday once school ended.
She'd meet with Kayla, her best friend, by the front entrance of the school and then they'd be off. At lunch, they left off on a very important conversation: Why was Sebastian Stan so incredibly hot? Like, it's illegal to look that good. Or it should be.
Her mind was elsewhere that she hadn't realized she had nearly bumped into someone ahead of her, then continued walking forward as she didn't notice what she had almost done.
"Hey!" A voice shouted behind her.
A voice Iris was all too familiar with.
She groaned. So much for freedom. Iris slowly turned around, facing the boy who wore a grumpy look on his face. He had bags under his eyes which was what caught Iris' eye first, then his dull brown eyes that glared down at her. At least it was him and not the other one.
"Yes?" Iris asked in an exasperated tone.
"Are you not going to apologize?" The boy, Oliver Sullivan, her hated schoolmate who didn't understand compassion and how to be a decent human being, asked – more like demanded.
Iris scowled, glancing him up and down and taking in his 'bad boy' persona. The only bad thing about him was his devastatingly unlikeable personality, and his cheap looking leather jacket. Maybe they would've gotten along better if he wasn't a complete jerk. Her eyes met his brown ones that were still glaring at her with frustration.
"Hm..no I'm good, thanks for the offer though." She shook her head, flashed him a fake smile then spun on her heel to walk off.
But Oliver always hated back talk. Typical.
"Hey!" He reached out, placing his hand firmly on her shoulder and spinning her back around to face him. "I wasn't asking for the apology. Say you're sorry." Oliver really demanded this time.
Iris shrugged his hand off and then continued to glare up at the boy, "Do I really have to repeat myself? I said no. Maybe you deserved it, ever think that?" She retaliated.
The corners of Oliver's lips quirked up in amusement, "Oh, so now that no one's around, you suddenly have the courage to talk back to me?" He took a step towards her, "Guess what? That's the best part. So watch yourself–"
"Oliver!"
Iris squeezed her eyes shut, sighing in relief. Her savior had arrived and was marching over to the two at the moment. Iris smiled, looking over to find her best friend glaring daggers into the side of Oliver's face.
Iris turned back to meet his eyes, smirking at him to tease him. She could've swore she saw his eye twitch before he took a few steps back and faced Kayla who was now beside them.
"What's going on here?" Kayla asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared up at him and waited for an answer.
Iris stared at her best friend with a smile, proud and a little jealous of her confidence. Kayla stood with her head held high, shoulders back, hands on hips, and a stern look etched onto her face. With a small smile, Iris walked over and stood behind Kayla then stuck her tongue out at Oliver as well as flick him the finger.
Oliver squinted his eyes at her, his eyebrows creasing in anger. He was obviously not in a good mood from the beginning and Iris was making it worse.
"Iris, stop that." Kayla scolded, not even turning to face her best friend yet somehow knowing she was taunting Oliver.
Iris froze, slowly putting her tongue back in her mouth and putting her hand down to her side before she stared down at the floor with a small frown. Kayla really was the mom friend out of their group.
Oliver pursed his lips to hold back a laugh before he sighed, "Nothing. Just a little disagreement gone wrong, right Iris?" He asked, staring eagerly at her.
Iris' head rose instantly as she met his eyes again which were screaming to agree with him. She glanced at Kayla who was now giving her a questioning look. "Oh! Uh..yeah, don't worry we're all good here. I just didn't see him in front of me and I bumped into him." She answered, which technically was the truth.
"And then you didn't apologize." Oliver added childishly, glaring at Iris.
"Aw you need an apology? Does the poor baby need his diaper changed too?" Iris sneered.
"Don't start with me–"
"Alright, alright." Kayla interrupted, stepping in between the two who looked as if they were about to throw down in the hallway. "This can be solved very easily. Both of you need to stop being children and apologize. Iris, you first. Then Oliver, you apologize for getting angry." She said.
"What? I'm not gonna–"
"Iris." Kayla demanded, interrupting Iris from arguing any further.
"Yes ma'am." Iris perked up, nodded her head quickly before turning to Oliver, "I'm sorry for bumping into you." She answered quickly and quite panicky.
Oliver snorted, "What are you, her pet? She just tamed you like a dog."
"Oliver." Kayla started, watching the boy freeze at her change in tone, "Dont make me get Adam in here."
Ah yes, when there's a mom friend, there's always the dad friend too. It worked even better when the two were actually a couple.
Oliver sucked his teeth, shook his head then turned to Iris, "I'm sorry for overreacting." He apologized quickly as well, bowing his head slightly to avoid eye contact.
Kayla then smiled, dropping her dominant persona and changing it to a 'more friendly, less deadly' one. "Aw! I'm so glad we could all make up!" She said with a giggle and gave the two a smile. Then she stepped closer to Iris and linked their arms, "Anyways, we've gotta go, I've gotta pick up the twins from the bus stop. See you tomorrow, Oliver!" She said then turned around to the school's exits and began walking towards them.
Iris stumbled to keep up but eventually matched her pace. With a curious look, she turned around to find Oliver watching the two walk off. He looked more than relieved to see them leaving. Then he turned to look behind him, most likely spotting a familiar face, before making his way over to them.
Iris shrugged it off and continued walking with Kayla outside the school into the cloudy weather outside. She shuddered slightly, realizing the weather was colder than earlier and her t-shirt was not good enough to keep her warm. As of now it was only early October but soon enough it'd be winter time and they'd be wearing coats.
The two walked towards the end of the school parking lot, finding Kayla's gray Impreza. They walked over to their designated seats, hopping inside the car once it was unlocked.
Iris shivered slightly, feeling the temperature in the car to be sightly colder than outside. Once the car had started, Kayla turned up the heat to warm them both up.
The two put on their seatbelts and when they were safely strapped in, Kayla put the car in reverse and drove out of her senior spot. Kayla began driving towards her sibling's bus stop that wasn't too far from both of their houses, which were conveniently on the same street.
"I'm telling you, him as Bucky Barnes is just so perfect! He looked so good!" Iris exclaimed with a smile, thinking of how attractive Sebastian looked in a few of his movies.
She watched some of his movies recently with her dad who enjoyed it just as much as she did. She claimed she liked it for the plot, like he did.
But to her, the plot was Sebastian Stan himself. And boy oh boy, she loved this plot.
By now, they had just arrived at their street during their conversation about one of their new favorite actors. This was a normal thing to talk about amongst the two as they both shared a love for various shows and movies, as well as cartoons.
In the back row of the car were also Kayla's younger twin siblings, Megan and Dylan, who they had picked up before arriving on their block. They were talking amongst themselves about whatever little children talked about that wasn't Iris and Kayla's business apparently. The twins had scolded the teens before about eavesdropping when Iris and Kayla were really just confused about the middle school drama.
"He looks good anywhere." Kayla corrected her as she laughed, pushing her dark brown hair to the side and turning the key in the engine to turn it off.
"Thanks for the ride Kayla, I'll see you tomorrow." Iris smiled, undoing her seatbelt and opening the passenger door. She stepped out, grabbing her book bag and throwing it over her shoulder.
"Of course." Kayla returned the smile, watching her best friend for a moment before continuing, "You know, we've got to talk about you and Oliver. You guys can't keep acting like that. We're in high school, Iris. And you guys act like toddlers who throw tantrums after not getting things their way." Kayla said, undoing her own seatbelt. "You guys were fine freshman year.."
Iris sighed, "I know, I know. We have to be 'better friends'." She rolled her eyes, "Tell him to fix his attitude and then we'll see how things go."
Ever since Kayla and Adam, one of Oliver's friends, started dating during the summer, this brought both of their friend groups closer. It used to normally be just Kayla and Iris, but now their duo turned into a sextet.
Iris got along with his friends quickly, seeing as they were all friendly and outgoing. But of course, Oliver was not good at making friends. She couldn't understand why they hung out with him in the first place.
Oliver and Iris had only ever gotten along the first few months of freshman year. Though when they saw each other again after spring break, Iris could tell what kind of person he had become. The one that enjoyed being the center of attention, who'd probably do anything to be that. He caused problems with countless students since then, including Iris. Always missed class, got into fights, the usual.
He started getting a little better by the end of freshman year though. She wasn't sure why, but it wasn't her business.
"He's not the only one with an attitude." Kayla remarked, giving Iris a judging look as she opened the car door.
"Yeah, yeah." Iris shook her head with a small smile, then after another goodbye, she closed Kayla's car door and made her way to her front door.
When the four had crossed the streets to their designated houses, the two teens turned and faced each other waving goodbye to the other. Even the twins turned to wave at Iris before entering their house.
Iris smiled, then turned and unlocked her door and entered her surprisingly quiet house. Well, it was quiet. Until she heard a masculine laugh from down the hall in her kitchen. Her dad, obviously.
If not that'd be concerning and she'd probably be calling the police.
Iris kicked off her sneakers and made her way into the kitchen, where she walked in on her father who was on the phone as he washed some dishes.
"I can always count on you, Sasha. Thank you for everything, I'm sure she'll love it." Christopher, her father, thanked the person on the other line, "Alright, bye now." He pulled the phone away from his ear and slid it into his pocket before he shut the faucet.
Sasha? She hadn't seen Sasha since she was ten and that was almost eight years ago. Now she'd only ever hear her dad talk about her or talk to her on the phone. Sasha and Christopher had actually been friends since high school and helped each other through the worst.
Iris walked further into the kitchen and putting her book bag's straps over one of the bar stools at their kitchen island. "Hey dad!" She greeted him with a small smile.
Christopher turned around with a smile, "I thought I heard you come in. How was school?" He asked, reaching for a rag to dry his hands.
"Same old, same old." She shrugged, walking over to their fridge and pulling open one of the doors to peer inside.
Milk, water, cold cuts, yogurt and other foods from various food groups. Her eyes scanned over the shelves again, spotting a bowl of grapes she had put together yesterday and didn't finish. She reached in, taking the bowl before closing the fridge door behind her.
"Boring and stupid?"
"Boring and stupid, indeed."
He chuckled, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket before pulling it back out. His eyes look over the screen, reading what ever notification that was. His eyebrows creased slightly, typing back to what Iris now assumed to be a text.
"Is everything okay?" She asked, tilting her head slightly at his reaction.
"Oh, uh yeah, I have to stay in late tomorrow." He frowned, looking back up at Iris, "I'm gonna have to miss movie night." He said, sounding more defeated than ever as he sighed.
Iris laughed, "That's all? Dad, missing one movie night is not gonna be the end of the world. Besides your job is important and I wouldn't want a movie to be in the way of your life saving needs." She shrugged with a small smile.
"Alright, alright." He sighed softly, "But I appreciate you being so concerned about my job." He added with a chuckle as he continued to text the person back.
"Of course. I'm such an amazing daughter after all." Iris teased, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Anyways, I've got a ton of work to do."
"Ah right, homework." Christoper rolled his eyes, "I feel like you always get so much. But as long as it's helping you, go ahead and do it. I don't want to keep you waiting."
"No, no, it's fine. You can keep me waiting." Iris smiled innocently, hoping to hold off on her work and procrastinate some more.
"Iris." Christopher spoke in his 'warning' tone that he used whenever he needed to get through to Iris and show he was serious, which he hardly was. He's normally really laidback and enjoyed having fun over doing work, just like any person.
"Okay, okay." She sighed softly, taking her bowl of grapes and her book bag from off the chair and up the stairs to her room.
Iris walked in her room and her eyes trailed the room to her messy undone bed. She frowned, wishing to only be able to rest before having to continue working. But she knew better. Get things done and then she'll have all the time to rest with no problem.
She pulled her eyes away from her bed and towards her desk on the other side of the room, walking over to it. Her school necessities were flooded over the white wooden desk. With a sigh, she quickly pushed things to the side and put them in piles that were definitely not organized but it'd do for now.
Iris sat down on the cushioned matching chair and dug around in her book bag for her work. Once she got all of her necessary books, she began her work with the motivation of being able to sleep afterwords.
~~~~~
they're backkkkk
i'm so excited to write them again! i'm so excited to start writing again in general haha :) anyways i hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of LWMB— i mean uhhh Promises, Promises :)) leave feedback or just thoughts in general in the comments!!
stay safe, stay healthy and stay happy !!
~ FT <3