"Come on Iris, you have to meet them!" My best friend exclaimed. I was reluctant to go with her.
"My boyfriend would not appreciate me being with other males.." I tried to sound as smart as I could.
"Oh come on. He doesn't have to know Iris."
Amy, if you only knew, I thought to myself. My boyfriend was an overprotective abusive jerk. But why stay with him? Well I feel like he's the last one on earth that could possibly love me…or wait I don't know, maybe it was because I loved him too much for my own good. I wasn't ready to let him go quite yet.
"Earth to Iris! What are you staring at? Come on, they are expecting us!"
"They?" There would be more than one? Oh boy. I never liked being put on the spot, I never liked being around too many people at once, and I never liked to be around too many people that I didn't know. I never was out going but being with Adam all this time has not made my confidence any better.
"My god, you are so slow." My friend complained. A part of me inside said 'screw it, you are having fun today and nothing will stop you.' I picked up my pace and walked faster to catch up with my friend.
"Don't look too happy to finally meet my boyfriend, Iris."
"I'm sorry, I just had a late night last night with studying. Don't worry, I am pretty excited for you." I said with a smile. I lied. No, I was definitely happy for her by all means. But I was kept up with a fight with Adam. "In all honesty, I am afraid of what they will think of me…"
"Why would you say that? Do you know how many guys drool over you?" She paused for a little. I just walked in silence through the woods with my friend. "You've been acting differently lately, is everything going okay with you and Adam and how are things you know, living by yourself?"
"Grandma is not dead yet hun. But it sure feels like she already is, you know."
"I know, that's what I meant. She's like nonexistent, not to sound frank and heartless but I'm more worried about you. It's inevitable that she is going to go, but you; you have an entire life ahead of you. I need to know you are okay, you are like a sister to me."
I was still silent for a long time as we started to approach the house. It was located deep in the woods, far from civilization. It was beautiful. I wonder who ever lived here could lend me a room to stay for a while or even forever.
"I'm fine I guess. Hey, let's not worry about what's wrong. Introduce me to this boyfriend of yours so we can all hangout and just forget about everything for a while. I mean, that's what I really need right now."
She smiled back at me; I smiled only to keep the tears from escaping my eyes. I didn't want to look like a fool in front of her friends. We walked up to the porch and she led the way. She slid the front door open and just walked in. I looked at her in amazement. I grew up in a family where we were taught strict manners. But maybe this home was like her second home. I wonder what it felt like to live like that; knowing you have a place to run to when things aren't going well. To top it all off, she had someone here that loves her and would care for her if that were the case. I was jealous of my friend.
"Oh come on Iris, don't get all shy on me!" I blushed as I walked in, closing the door behind me.
"Hello there Amy," Said a red haired male. He was strange, but unique. It made him seem beautiful. "Who's the lass?" He said with a strong Irish accent. He was beaming with energy; he could power at least three cities. With his large smile I couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Jin! That's the girl I've been telling you all about. Her name is Iris. Iris, this is Jin."
He came up to me and gave me a friendly hug. Just then, I felt a weird energy emit from his body. I could sense him and he knew it too soon after that.
"Jin, stop touching my girl and tell me where Touya is." Said Amy, Jin laughed nervously. "I will tell your girlfriend, Jin." She said with a joking like threat.
"Oh come on Am' he probably already knows yer' here!" Jin retorted.
"Hey Amy," A male with blue hair approached my friend and hugged her tightly for what seemed like forever. Jealousy burned inside of me. She was so happy, why couldn't I be happy too? Jin looked at me like he knew what I was thinking. Thankfully the silence was quickly broken by Amy's voice.
"Touya, this is my best friend Iris." Touya looked over in my direction and smiled respectfully. I nodded and smiled back. He seemed so regal.
"Touya where are the others?" Amy asked.
"They are in the other room, probably watching mindless television." Others? There were multiple people living here. They must be real close. Something I would die for. I felt Jin's eyes burn through me. I didn't dare look. What if he was thinking about how ugly I was?
"I see Jin has found a new girlfriend." Joked Touya. Amy giggled, and Jin just growled as we followed the couple in to the other room. Three people occupied the room.
The house was rather large, kind of like the house of Genkai.
"Guys, this is Iris. Iris this is Rinku," she pointed to a small boy with stars under his one eye, "His name is Shishi," she pointed to a very handsome blue haired male, "And that is chuu," She pointed to a very tall male who reeked of alcohol. He got up too quickly to greet me.
"Nice to meet you Sheila!" He boomed. He was very loud, I couldn't help but laugh. His obnoxiousness made me feel warm inside. Despite this, I was still shy and I felt like I didn't fit in what so ever.
"Hey Amy, I bet I could kick your butt in some Mario-kart." Said the short one called Rinku.
"Alright fine. It's on chump." They both laughed. I made my way over to the far end of the couch where no one was sitting. I was soon followed by Jin. He sat really close to me. I got a little nervous. Several minutes went by, I started to feel sick I started to think about Adam, and what he would do to me if he found out what I was doing. I felt a tear creep its way down my cheek. Jin looked at me confused, I quickly rubbed it away.
"I need- need to get some air" I said as I ran out of the room and out the front door. I sat on the porch and tried to breathe.
"Did I say something wrong!?" Said Jin in a panic.
"I don't know mate, maybe you just smell bad," said Chuu with a smart grin.
"Why you little-"
"Guys, chill. She's been going through a lot lately. No need to worry."