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“No one! You, hopefully? I don’t know! I really want to go this summer, not over winter break. That’s coming up too soon. Or maybe I could go next year.” She sounds tentative. Unsure. And that is so not like Iris. “My father said a gap year was a bad idea and that I should go to college first. That he doesn’t want me to be ‘galivanting across Europe’ by myself because he’d worry about me the entire time. Like I can’t take care of myself.” Oh, she sounds sour.
“He’s just worried about you,” I start but she cuts me off, leaping to her feet so she can start pacing.
“I can’t be babied my whole life! I’m already eighteen. By the time I’d want to leave after graduation and everything else, I’ll be nineteen. Still with a leash on me thanks to my overprotective dad. He never does this sort of thing to August, and it’s so unfair. My brother can do whatever he wants and no one stops him.” Iris rests her hands on her hips, glaring at me. “And look at you! You went to Italy when you were only seventeen! All alone, doing your thing.”
“I was staying with a host family who took care of me like I was one of their own,” I remind her, my voice gentle. I don’t want to stir her up more. “I was going to school, was very much on a schedule similar to here. There weren’t a lot of differences.”
“But did you feel free? No one hovering over you, asking what you’re doing. That’s what I want. Freedom. As long as I’m living under Whit Lancaster’s rules, I will never be truly free. I’ve realized that.” Her face starts to crumple. “And it’s depressing.”
I leap to my feet and pull her into my arms, holding her close while she sobs into my hair. I’ve never seen her this upset before, and I wonder if this has to do with something else? Yes, she gets upset with her dad sometimes, but for the most part they always get along. She usually writes off his overprotectiveness as something amusing. A burden she has to bear, but like it’s a joke. And Iris definitely isn’t a crier.
“Maybe we should do something tomorrow,” I suggest.
“Like what?” she mumbles as she pulls away, wiping her tears away from her cheeks almost angrily.
I’ve been thinking about this for days, but I didn’t know who to ask to see if it’s an actual thing. Or I didn’t want to be too obvious to Iris either. “We could go to the football game.”
Her mouth drops open for a couple of seconds before she snaps it closed. “You want to go to the football game?”
“It might be fun.” I shrug.
It’s an away game.
“I know.” I hesitate. “Does the school put together a bus for students to attend those games?”
“Well, yeah. Sometimes. I don’t know if they’re doing one for tomorrow’s game.” Iris makes a face. “Do you really want to go?”
Yes. Yes, I am absolutely dying to go. “Maybe.”
“I don’t know.” She shakes her head, that grimace still on her face. “I don’t think I want to. Sounds like a long night.”
Disappointment crashes through me. “Oh. Well, that’s okay. It was just a suggestion.”
“But you could go,” she says. “Maybe Bronwyn is going too. I’m sure you two would have a great time. Or I know, you can go with your parents. They’re probably going to watch your brother play.”
That doesn’t sound like as much fun. I love my parents and I’d like to watch my brother play football, but it would be weird without Iris there. And I really don’t want to go with just Bronwyn. She feels more like Iris’s friend versus mine, though we get along perfectly fine.
I’m being ridiculous, but I was really hoping Iris would want to tag along. I also don’t want to push and ask too many questions over why she’s saying no. Iris reveals only what she wants. If someone keeps badgering her, she’ll shut down completely.
“It was just an idea. Something different, like you mentioned earlier.”
“Something different for you, since you weren’t here last year,” Iris points out.
“Oh yeah. Right.” I return to my desk and settle back in for more studying, trying to ignore how sad I feel about not going to watch Rhett’s game. “I need to focus on studying for this quiz.”
“I should too.” Iris’s smile is faint. “Maybe we could help each other? Read sections out loud and try to absorb all of this pointless info in our brains?”
“Yeah.” I smile at her, trying to pretend I’m not disappointed. “That sounds like a good idea.”
***
I’m on campus Friday morning when I run into him. Rhett. He’s headed for the dining hall like I am, and I’m alone since Iris still isn’t out of bed yet. She always seems to run late on Fridays for some reason.
“Hey, Will,” Rhett greets me, stopping to wait for me to catch up to him. “Looking fine this morning.”
He’s given me compliments every morning all week, and I’m starting to look forward to them more and more. “Good morning. Ready for today’s game?”
“You know it.” His grin, his entire demeanor oozes confidence. I could just stand here and let him smile at me like that all day, basking in his presence. “We’re going to crush them.”
