So, that newer, wetter dream about Maverick Soren, the one I very briefly mentioned (in the last chapter) just recently?

Well, it started off just like the other ones; super hot, wet obviously, and then, it got even more sexy, like all the best wet dreams do, you know? But then, it took a very strange turn. Like, everything became so extremely odd, man.

So, like, we were lying in this field, right, and it was in the middle of nowhere, at nightfall; why there instead of a bedroom, I honestly don't know. When Maverick finally stopped teasing me and got naked, to bang me as he often did in my sex dreams, suddenly, everything was illuminated by the light emitting from him; he was like a disco ball, dudes. It was insane.

Anyway, I was mesmerized; he looked so hot like that, more intriguing. I reached forward, wanting to pull him closer, so we could get to banging already, but it was as if I couldn't reach him, even though he was literally right there, in all of his glory.

Wait a second, pause. The fuck? What the hell? How even-? I'm confused. Maybe it's just because I'm about to die in current times for such a bullshit reason, but how the hell did I predict my man's sparkling ability through a dream? That doesn't make any sense, unless I'm gonna have that kind of magical ability in the future, in which case, I doubt it, so again, the fuck? Yeah, I'm spoiling it for ya; not really, y'all know what he is, past me don't know what he is, so I shouldn't have had those kinds of dreams, yet. I'm no prophet; if I survive, I doubt I'll be one, as I couldn't even predict the predicament I landed myself in.

I-Whatever, let's continue. I'm not even gonna try to understand that bullshit.

I awakened from the dream, startled then perplexed; that never happened before. I shrugged and fell back asleep with ease; it wasn't that bad of a dream, especially since Maverick was in it, my savior, my boo, my future bitch. No more lying awake at night just thinking of him; I dream of him instead. Ey, maybe one day, I'll be dreaming with him. Eyy? Eyy? Long live Selena! …Anyways!

From then on, all my wet dreams containing Maverick would be the same, starting off in a wonderful manner but then ending in oddness, dissatisfaction, and baffleness. It was really fucking weird, though, you guys. Thankfully, after I found out about my boy's "secret", the dreams stopped being so odd (and prophet-like); however, I had to deal with them for a long ass time, so, ugh. It's still really confusing, and weird (which I've said a lot, for emphasis), how I lowkey predicted the sparkling of my soulmate. I won't tell you to disregard any of those last few sentences, or those previous paragraphs; you'll likely forget all about it soon, and I probably will, too.

Onward to other problematic things, I guess.

My god, the month went by so fucking slowly. Not to mention, my negative emotions were just…spiking throughout it. Oof. Sigh. What should I start complaining about…?

Well, during the week of the accident where I almost died, I finally got what I wanted; attention. It didn't last past that particular week, but hey, at least I got what I wanted for a little while, a few days tops. I made sure to wear all of my best attires during that time period, too, since everyone was often looking at me throughout the remainder of the week; the outfit I wore on my first day was the one I most often wore, which was just twice. I wore the school girl attire again, too.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be complaining. Sorry.

For whatever reason, after I thought we were cool after our brief conversation at the hospital, Scout Lockwood (I learnt his last name by accident; someone yelled his almost full name in the hallway one day; I'm surprised he didn't get middle named, too, because the person sounded so pissed off) started stalking me; maybe it was because I told him that chicks will like his new scars, once his injuries healed. Anyway, he became much more talkative at our lunch table from that point forward; it was kinda cool but most of his attention was directed towards me, which I wasn't happy about because I was pretty sure he thought I liked him, liked him, and I didn't, not that way, and probably not even in the friend way, too.

Thus, Constantine had competition, not that I'd choose either of them anyway. Ew. Maverick was, and is, the only one for me. If only everyone else knew that. Actually, Magnus was finally beginning to notice my uncaringness of his affections towards me, so he stopped the awkward flirting. Just need Constantine and Scout to notice, too, the bastards.

Speaking of noticing things, no one, I repeat no one, talked about Maverick being involved. How? The hot, annoying bastard saved my ass, at least three times in a span of a minute, but no one, nobody, talked about that; no one said anything about him going to the hospital for potential injury; no one said anything about him, period. How?! He was right there beside me after the fact! How was he not mentioned?! How?! He was in plain sight for, at least, ten minutes! I mentioned him to my "friends" but they didn't believe me; apparently, they hadn't seen him at all during the whole incident, even though he was right there. Fucking how, though? Like, huh? Nani? I swear, I'm not that insane; insane, yes, but not that insane. At least Chrysanthemum believed me, my only real friend; she actually noticed him being there. Unfortunately, she thought he'd always been there, so only I saw exactly what happened.

I might be absolutely obsessed with Maverick, though; that, I'll happily admit. But insane, I am not. Not entirely, anyway. Like I said. I don't know why I went back to that. Let's continue.

I stalked him for the rest of that week. And the weeks following that week. It's fine; it's love-lust, very natural and non-creepy, I swear. Anyway, it was pretty hard to do that during the accident week because I was almost constantly surrounded by people praying for my soul's safety or whatever; it was hard to look past them to catch a glimpse of my favorite boy. Unlucky bastard didn't get any love from our school peers; or maybe that's what he wanted. I wouldn't be surprised, actually, if my assumption turned out to be true; his adopted/adoptive (both) family, minus Dr. Soren, didn't seem to give a flying fuck. Boo. Also, my head injury healed within two days. Also, also, nobody gave a fuck about Scout and his experience with the accident; poor man. I hate to say it but it was probably because he was black; just calling it like I see it.

His family stuck to their usual routine, as if I never almost died. Fuck them. Literally, though, I would like to fuck them; does anyone have their number or a list of their interests, particularly in bed? Please and thank you! Mwah! Anyway, they stuck to their usual routine; not eating, not talking, not staring at me. Rude.

But seriously, how dare. I'm amazing. How could they do that to me? HoW dArE.

In our shared class, Maverick never acknowledged my existence; it was as if I were a ghost. I hate him. But I don't. He's rude and annoying, and ugh. But he's hot, kinda awkward, and sweet, also, and other things, negative and positive, but mainly negative. It was really frustrating, not knowing which side I'd deal with each day; then again, it seemed like I was just constantly getting the rude as hell attitude. Sigh. I still loved him, though; I mean lusted for him. Both. Neither. What difference does it make, really? You already know we'll get together. What? Is my past and present tense confusing you more? Too bad, bitch. Stop reading my life story if it's bothering you so badly. What? Am I using far too much profanity? Bitch, it's a goddamn backstory of past me, and present me is a hell of a curse word user, so just fucking deal with it, hoe, or leave.

What else is there to complain about, about the time that passed by?

For a brief moment, Mother was aware of my deepening depression (that wasn't actually depression, probably, but I'm gonna say it is because it's my backstory, and I wanna be relatable) but, with many lies, I was able to convince her that I was just super sad that my crush didn't like me back, which was also the truth but she didn't need to know that I always had sadness problems and stuff.

Constantine was over-the-goddamn-moon about Maverick ignoring me. He told me so himself that he'd been troubled that "I'd drop my panties for Maverick" because of his "supposedly saving my life a few times in the matter of minutes". I slapped the fuck boi, of course, because how dare he be correct about what I wanted, but I unfortunately only succeeded in making him more horny for me. Fucking disgusting. And with each passing day of Maverick ignoring me, Constantine grew more rapey in nature; I threatened to cut off his dick and make him eat it if he didn't stop groping my boobs and ass (truth be told, it wasn't actually groping, just simple, brief touches but still, groping). He stopped, obviously; thank the Lord and Satan.

Oh! The dreadful, but somewhat endearing, ice-snow was gone not long after I almost died. Everyone was super sad about it, except for me, but then, they weren't because of some future beach gathering plans they kept mentioning that I kept forgetting about two seconds later. Ugh. I was glad that the heavy rain kept everyone from being able to follow through with plans of snowball fights; the weather was on my side, it seemed. For once. Or maybe for twice? I don't know.

The heavy rain lasted weeks. Ha, ha, suckers.

When March came, Erica, for some reason, called me; how she got my number in the first place, I don't know, but the second I heard her voice, I knew I was gonna hear some stupid ass shit that only she cared about. And I was absolutely fucking right. All she talked about was a dance that was happening for spring-time; believe me, I wish I could forget the conversation, as short as it was.

"So, like, I really wanna ask Constantine to the dance, so could you, like, back off from him, maybe?" Erica asked, through the phone. "And, like, ask someone else instead?" She continued talking, going into a rant, never leaving me room to fucking answer. "'Cause, like, he and I have this thing going on, called sex, and you're getting in the middle of it, and that's no fun at all, for me. So, yeah, please, step off my man." Her side of the conversation went something like that, anyway. I might be exaggerating her behavior, though. Shut up, I'm dying.

I blinked at my ceiling, phone still against my ear. "Why the fuck would I care about Constantine? He's annoying and all yours. Besides, I don't even plan on going." Dances are trash and overrated, and unnecessarily expensive.

Erica started whining. "But Iris, you're my homie!" No, I'm not. "You've gotta come!" No, I don't. "It's gonna be super awesome and you won't have many more chances to attend a dance before graduation in the near-far future!"

I scoffed. "Oh, please; you just want the attention my limited popularity gives you. Have fun with the fuck boi; I hope he doesn't ditch you for a less loose hole." I hung up on her. Booyah.

The following day, Erica didn't boast about her date with Constantine, to a stupid dance. It was very weird; she totally would've been throwing it in my face, even though I was absolutely, totally cool about it, because I don't like her and I don't like Constantine, so they were perfect for each other. So, really weird, yeah, that she wasn't gossiping about the date. She was unusually silent and, as much of a blessing as that was, it was still very odd and I didn't like that; it was steering away from the program I was growing used to.

Constantine wasn't the same either; he was so much worse. He kept touching me, stayed in my personal space bubble, and was more desperate in his attempts to bang me in a random corner of the school; disgusting. I was extremely tempted to make my promise true. I was feeling "I have a mighty need!" Invader Zim vibes; I miss that dark, hilarious show so much.

I thought I was finally gonna escape him when I entered that one class I shared with Maverick, but nope, Constantine followed me to the desk I shared with my future lover and fucking sat on it. I was fuming, glaring at him intensely. Beside me, Maverick was chilling and listening, because how could he not overhear what we were talking about, being that he was right there sitting beside me, as we were partners in that class. Jesus and Satan, the conversation sucked.

"Yo, so, Erica asked me out," Constantine said, staring me down, waiting for a reaction.

"Have fun," I deadpanned. I really did not give a shit.

Constantine looked at me angrily; I guess I hadn't reacted the way he wanted me to. I don't know why he'd expect me to jump his bones in the middle of class out of jealousy, but okay. Stupid bastard. "Anyway, I told her no."

"I don't care," I told him. "If you don't wanna go to the dance, that's your prerogative. She'll have to deal with it. Bye now."

"I was hoping a little evasive mouse would ask me instead," Constantine continued, staring me down more intensely than before. Goddamn it, I knew it! Ugh, why didn't he just walk away? I was already giving out hints that I didn't care about the dance. I could choke him.

I glared viciously at him, oh-so very tempted to brutally murder him right there in the classroom, but I held back. At the corner of my eye, Maverick was watching us, amused and intrigued. Eeek; he still thought I was funny and interesting, even though he'd been ignoring me for, like, a month. "I'm not going; dances are fucking stupid."

"They won't be, with me as your partner," Constantine stated, trying to convince me. I still wanted to violently murder him. It was so, so tempting, I swear to Satan. Yeah, just Satan. Got a problem with that?

"I'm afraid the answer is still no, fuck boi," I told him, without a filter. Ha, who am I kidding? I never have a filter on. Tehehe. Brutal honesty is the bestest policy. Bitch. "Even if I had wanted to go, which I don't, I wouldn't be able to; I have plans in Oceantis that day, unfortunately for you, even though I wouldn't go to the dance anyway if I was free. And I don't want to change those plans by replanning. Sorry, not sorry. Touch luck, bitch. Go beg Erica for forgiveness. Shoo."

Fuming, Constantine did what I asked. I danced in my seat; success, victory! Another score for me! Another against fuck boi! Fuck yeah!

Class started. I didn't pay attention; I hate school, why should I listen? Hmm? Did you say something? 'Because you need to get into a university?' Bitch, why? I don't care about learning more. Fuck that noise. Hell no. Fuck you very much for that. Asshole.

I glanced towards Maverick, just because I could and wanted to; he was staring back, in awe from the looks of it. Hehe, I kept mesmerizing him. So much, he couldn't keep ignoring me. Mission accomplished. I think. I don't know. He had demon eyes again. Hot. For a while, we had a staring contest. I was winning, probably. The staredown was so intense, I started shaking in anticipation. I have a mighty need! Was he gonna grab me and kiss me? Throw me on the table and have his way with me in the middle of class? Oh, Lord Satan, let him do that to me. Have us be expelled from this school together because of our undying, forbidden lust.

…I forgot the name of the teacher. Shit. … Hmm… Mr. Something. Stank? Might've been Stank.

Mr. Name-That's-Probably-Stank called on Maverick to answer a question we didn't hear because we'd been too busy staring at each other. Except apparently not, since he answered immediately and correctly. Damn. I wish I could do that. He also looked away from me, so I won the staring contest, bitches. Booyah, motherfuckers.

I looked away, too; I didn't wanna risk getting called on. I, however, continued watching Maverick from the corner of my eye, just because I could and wanted to. I know I just repeated myself; shut up. Gosh, lust was coursing through my veins; I can't believe he finally looked at me again, after all these years (a month or so). You have no idea how high of a level of influence he'd had over me, even to this day when I'm dying. You probably think that's pathetic, unhealthy. I think it's wonderful, a perfect chaotic mess. He and I were meant to be pathetic and unhealthy together.

Eventually, class ended. I started gathering my belongings, very slowly, like a turtle. Just in case. I expected him to immediately retreat, though.

"Iris," he calmly called. I felt like melting. I need to fan myself; hold up. … Okay, I'm good. Back to the backstory.

I quickly faced him, almost getting whiplash (if that's how it works; probably isn't; fuck you). Briefly, I was mesmerized by his beautiful bone structure; he's fucking pretty, holy shit. 'I thought you liked his not-siblings more'. I think his not-siblings are hot, and he is pretty; two separate physical traits. Not one is better than the other; I'm lying. What was I saying? Oh! I couldn't tell what emotion was in his expression; yep, that was a sentence I just made. Also, he didn't say anything else.

I played hard to get. Dudes dig that bullshit. I think I did it before, too. Maybe. Do guys actually like this method? I hope so or I did it, multiple times, for nothing. "I see you've decided to start talking to me again."

He smirked. "Not exactly."

I snorted. "Uh huh. What is it? Speak up. You're talking to me, again, for a reason."

His expression showed an emotion I understood; somber. "I'm aware I've been unusually cruel, to you in particular, but this is how things need to be between us."

Unusually cruel? He was only a pain in the ass when he gaslighted me last month, after the accident. I wouldn't call ignoring me unusually cruel; annoying, maybe, but not cruel. But why does he gotta be ignoring me forever, though? Why's shit gotta be like that for? "The fuck you talking about, Maverick?"

"We shouldn't be acquaintances," Maverick continued.

The fuck? "You shouldn't have talked to me in the first place, then, because we're already acquaintances," I pointed out. "We wouldn't be if you never had said a single word to me." I was purposely being annoying, like he was. I'm assuming.

"Fair point."

"Are you done, then?" I asked.

Still playing hard to get, I turned my back to him and started to walk away. However, I immediately tripped; curse my convenient clumsiness. I ended up dropping all of my books, and, then, I landed on top of them, because of course I did. I sat up and huffed, cheeks red from embarrassment. Thankfully, I didn't hear him laughing, so that was a good sign, I guess. I briefly closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to calm myself. Opening them again, Maverick was standing over me, one hand held out to me and the other holding all my things. Damn, he was fast.

"Thanks, man."

"Yep."

Taking back my stuff and things, I bid him farewell with a wave and took off, sprinting down the hallway towards the Gym. I wasn't actually in a hurry to get there; I just didn't want to melt into a puddle and stop my little game of playing hard to get, since it was keeping him from staying away. Soon enough, I wouldn't have to do that anymore; I could be as possessive and obsessive as I wanted to be.

Gym sucked ass again. Basketball happened. I fell a lot. Half of the time, I brought others down with me, by accident and on purpose, mostly the latter because it was funny and I didn't want to be the only one embarrassed. Why was my balance worse, you ask? Because Basketball requires a lot more moving around than volleyball does, duh. What? You thought I was daydreaming about Maverick? You're wrong! I was more focused on not getting sent to the nurse's office. I'd rather have thought about him, though; he's so sexy.

I jumped for Jesus and kneeled for Satan when I finally got the hell out of there. I even ran to Thelma; she's my vehicle, if you'd forgotten. I cried tears of joy when I learnt she wasn't harmed much by the accident. My free vehicle would've been gone and, then, I would need to buy my own. I was forever grateful for the miracle of her survival. The shit that got broken, Cassius got it repaired. The vehicle that nearly killed me, a truck or whatever the hell it was, was completely ruined, so Scout (that was his name, right?) and his folks got rid of it.

I jumped out of my skin when I saw someone standing by Thelma. It was just Magnus, though, so I felt like an idiot; the boy is harmless compared to Constantine. "Yo, what up, Magnus?" I actually kind of liked the nerdy geek; he was cooler than fuck boi because he didn't harass me. "How ya doing, homie?" I might be exaggerating how I was talking. Shut up. You should be used to this shit by now; it's chapter four, for fuck's sake. No, I'm not writing a book; I'm dying currently, remember? I'm just referring to different sections of my life as chapters. …Yeah, that's it.

"Hiya, Iris." …Something was off; he sounded anxious. I could sense it. I approached Thelma's door and unlocked it, eyeing him cautiously. "So, like," he started, "do you wanna go to that dance together, maybe? I don't know."

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall you identifying as a woman, Magnus." I'm still horrified to this day that I remember it was the girls that asked the guys, not the other way around like it's always been.

"Sorry," he stated, crestfallen. "Is that a no, then?"

"It's a no, buddy," I agreed. "Sorry; I'm heading to Oceantis that day anyway, so don't feel too bad." Besides, I was pretty sure Chrysanthemum liked him, like a lot. Or maybe I'm just hoping she does because they'd totally have cute babies. She'd probably ask him, eventually, maybe, so I didn't feel all that bad about saying no and lying. I just don't like dances; I wished the word about that would've spread like a wildfire, just like all the rumors did.

"Okay." He walked away, moping. Poor bastard. Eh, I don't care; Chrysanthemum would ask him, one day. Or someone else would. Not me though.

Someone laughed. Actually, I shouldn't say someone because I knew exactly who it was; Maverick. He was walking by Thelma (my vehicle; try to remember that), shaking in laughter. He overheard the conversation. Why was he laughing about it, though? Was he laughing about dudes asking me out, knowing it annoyed me when Constantine did it? Was he laughing because the dudes thought they had a chance? Was he laughing because I was irritated by the asking? Questions, questions; promises, promises; lack of answers, lack of answers; repetitive thoughts, repetitive thoughts. If he thought it was funny that I was annoyed/irritated, I am gonna break up with him right now. I'm lying; I'm about to die so I won't get that chance. I'm lying again; I wouldn't break up with him, ever, because we're soulmates. Big sigh. I wove (love) him so merch (much).

I entered Thelma; that sounds wrong but go with it, she's a vehicle. I slammed the door behind me, pretending I still had an attitude of sorts with Maverick. He continued on his merry way, laughing up a storm as he went. God, Satan, everyone, I adore that annoying man. I backed up into the aisle, ready to get the hell outta the area and into my bed at home. However, someone else backed into the aisle and cut me off, and they just sat there. And it was Maverick. Because of course it was him. He walked speedily to his car to spite me. How dare. Maybe the too-hard-to-get method was working too well, so well that he was doing the same method but different, maybe. I don't know. He was waiting for his not-siblings; they were walking in slow motion to the car, quite literally. It was going to take hours (minutes, really).

I did not, in fact, think about hitting his car; I would never hurt my Maverick or his family. How dare you think I would. I'd have liked to ram into the parked vehicles, though; no one was in them, so maybe I'd have gotten away with wrecking their shit. Unfortunately, I'd wreck my own precious baby, too, and that wouldn't be worth the effort. I was flabbergasted by the line forming behind me. I was worried they'd blame me for the long wait; as much as I adore Maverick, the issue was all on him. I blinked in surprise; Scout was directly behind me, waving from his…SUV? I don't remember what type of car he was in; in this memory of mine, it's gonna be a SUV that he owns. Sorry, not sorry.

So, for forever, I sat there, waiting impatiently for the Soren Phoenix clan to get into Maverick's vehicle. Life was scared out of me again when Scout tapped on the window of Thelma. Behind me, his SUV was still roaring; eh, it's on him if he's gotta pay extra money for gas that he could be saving right now. I made the window go down and I stared. "If you are here to file a complaint, there's a three day wait. You can blame the Soren Phoenixes. Their number is 867-5309."

Scout snorted. "How clever." Damn straight. …How does that make me clever? Eh, it was a compliment, so I took it. "I actually just wanted to ask something of you."

"Fire away; I've got time for one question," I said, waiting for the distraction.

"Could you ask me about attending the upcoming dance with you?" he requested.

I groaned. "I should've known you'd ask me that, too. Look, don't take this personally, like the other two did, but I don't like dances. As I've told them, I'll be heading to Oceantis instead, as visiting that place would be a better adventure than going to some dumb dance that everyone's gonna forget about in a few years when school is over and done with. Now, please, do me the favor of spreading the word; Iris Carson hates dances and will never willingly go to one."

Scout hummed in acknowledgement. "So they weren't lying."

"It'd be a pretty stupid thing to lie about," I stated, slowly becoming annoyed with the conversation, despite how it was distracting me from my impatience.

"I was kind of hoping you were just waiting for me to pop up," Scout continued. "After our connection in the hospital."

I shook my head. "You can quite clearly tell that that was never the case."

"Yeah," Scout agreed. "Well, I'll just take you to morp instead, then."

My stupid brain didn't catch on to what he said, not immediately. "Yeah, you do that," I said, without thinking. Only when he was walking away did I realize what he'd said. "Wait, no, don't! I don't wanna go to morp!" Unfortunately, he was already back in his vehicle, smiling ear to ear. Goddamn it; why hadn't I realized sooner what he'd said? I had a morp date that I didn't even want. I shouldn't have been rushing the conversation. Karma's a bitch. Well, thankfully, my upcoming death will cancel those unwanted plans.

I was horrified. I really shouldn't have tried rushing the conversation. I looked forward, only to find that Briar-Fleur, Flora, River, and Atticus had made it to Maverick's vehicle at last. I caught Maverick's eye in the sideview mirror; he was shaking erratically. Was he laughing? Was it at me? Was it at his slow not-siblings? What was so funny? Surely, he couldn't have heard the conversation between Scout and I. Well, actually, maybe he could've; his vehicle is directly in front of my own. Anybody could've heard this conversation from that distance, despite the muffled voices.

What was that? Shut up; I can describe things as if I don't know he is a vampire. Currently, I am just thinking back to these moments, adding things up with the knowledge I know now. Narration cheating, it's called. I think. Maybe. I don't know. Authors do it a lot, with first person narrations.

In a blink of my eyes, Maverick was speeding away from the school. Bummer. I went home, too.

I started making food as soon as I got there. The Mexican type; tacos and the like. That is Mexican food, right? If it's not, sorry; I don't know shit. Give me a break; I'm dying in slow motion here. As I made it, I got a call; it was Erica. She talked very briefly about Constantine accepting her proposal (to the dance), and told me that Chrysanthemum and Magnus were going together (yay!), and Scout was heading off to the dance with Heather (I knew she looked like a Heather!). In the background, I could hear Constantine (or someone else) grunting, alongside the movement of a bed; Erica called me in the middle of her having sex with him (or someone else). Gross.

I continued food making after the brief call ended. I also questioned Erica's sanity, and my own, because wow, I don't think that Constantine knows much about what he's doing in bed, and I kept imagining what it looked like, them fucking. I was a virgin; still am. It makes sense that I was thinking about other people doing it. Because I wanted to be doing it. Eventually. With only Maverick. Someday. Eventually. I said that already.

I thought about Maverick and what he said to me that day. I wasn't sad, though; he obviously meant that we can't become friends because he's in love with me, too. We'll be boyfriend and girlfriend instead; much better than the friendzone. We'll be together forever, until this vampire kills me when my flashbacking is over.

I put the food in the oven. I did good. I was the best cook. I wish I could cook for Maverick. Too bad he doesn't eat food. People's food, anyway.

Cassius came home after a while had passed; he was as chipper as a bird. He was always so happy, except when he was unexpectedly aggressive when the Soren Phoenix family came into question; he was still very unusually protective of them, for some reason. Maybe because they were outsiders that people misunderstood. I could understand that protective nature; I felt it a little myself with Maverick. Ha, a little bit; a lot a bit, really.

When he was almost done munching and crunching, I made my move. "So, during the week of the dance, I'm planning on going to Oceantis for a looksee, probably to get some books or just check out the scenery, get some fresh air in a new environment. Is that alright with you, though?"

"You'll be alone?"

"Yup."

"You've never been there. Won't you get lost?"

"I'll take a map or use the GPS."

"Alright, then."

"Thanks, Dad. You're awesome."

The night continued like it usually did.

Morning arrived. I went to school. I parked in the same place as before, not that far away from Maverick's vehicle (I should give it a name, too, right? …Eh, my Thelma's better, anyway; she's the only car to deserve a name). What? You thought I'd avoid him over something as little as what happened the day before? Pfft, bitch, please; I'm not that pathetic. That was literally nothing. I'd only stay away from him when I died; that's how serious I was, and am, about Maverick Soren, and his adoptive/adopted family (which I will start referring to as just his family because my thoughts are getting far too repetitive, so), but mostly Maverick. I was still kind of tempted, though, to crash into the other cars, but I held back; I could never hurt my baby, Thelma. Like an idiot, I didn't put away my key; I kept holding onto it. So, as I stepped out of my darling baby, Thelma, I dropped it. Into a puddle. Because of course I did. At least it wasn't manure (like that would be in a parking lot anyway, but still) or mud (that's more realistic but still unlikely).

I tried to pick it up myself but someone else's hand got there first. Startled, I leaned up and ignored my urge to smile; my darling boyfriend-to-be, Maverick Soren, was standing there, smiling awkwardly at me. Oh, good; it was the awkward version of him. I liked that part of him most; he was less likely to be annoying, like his gaslighting side was. "You should wear a bell," I suggested, holding out my palm for my key.

He snorted and raised an eyebrow. God, it was hot. I wanted to jump his bones. Later. Eventually. Someday. God, someday. "Why?" He dropped the key into my waiting hand.

"So I don't have a heart attack each time you pop outta nowhere," I stated, putting away my key.

"And how's that my fault exactly?" Maverick asked. "You're the one who is abnormally oblivious to your surroundings."

I stared at him, blankly. Then, I picked up a pebble from the pavement and threw it at his face. He let it hit him, but he gave no reaction to it. His eyes were orange or whatever color it was again. Hazel? Fuck it, orange. "You are so irritating sometimes. First with the whole gaslighting thing-"

"I didn't gaslight you," Maverick interrupted.

I ignored him. "And then with yesterday. Why the hell did you cut me off? Couldn't you wait for your not-siblings in your parking space like anyone else?" I was grumpy. I thought I was gonna talk to the nicer version of him, but I was tricked; it's the asshole I'm dealing with instead. I was going to have more arguments with him in the future, just so you know; it's how our love-lust works. We're so compatible, right?

"Ah, that." He smirked. "Scout needed a fair shot, too."

"Asshole," I hissed. Don't worry; my anger eventually faded and I was back to lust-loving him. Unfortunately, my anger didn't vanish for a while. Should I even call it anger? Irritation might be more accurate. Or annoyance. One of them. All of them. Eh, it doesn't matter anymore; this moment is long gone now. I'm probably remembering it wrong, like everything else.

"Such vile language," he teased, snickering. "Have you no manners?"

"Have you no originality?" I retorted. "What is this? Annoy Iris week?" I crossed my arms. "I'd have rather gotten hit by the truck." Or whatever kind of vehicle it was; I don't know too much about cars. I just know that I like the look of old ones.

Rapidly, the amusement faded from his face, quickly replaced by rage; basically, he had an angry frown. "You are being completely preposterous." I raised an eyebrow, tempted to throw another pebble at his sexy face. Instead, I just walked away from him; I didn't want to deal with any more of his shit, at least not that morning. He followed me, though, in a panic. Which was confusing and very memorable; he had gone from amused to angry to panicked in a span of…a few seconds? Less than a minute, at least. "I should've worded that differently, I'm sorry." The rain poured down harder around us; we'd be soaked by the time we got inside. "I mean, it's true, of course; you're being ridiculous, saying you'd rather be dead. But I should've been nicer about expressing that opinion."

I sighed, tucking my hood over my head more; the rain was hitting my face too much, so I had to adjust my shit. "Why can't you just bug me in class instead? We're going to end up being late if you keep harassing me." I know; I sound very out of character, all of a sudden. I should've been jumping for joy, having him talk to me again. Unfortunately, my patience with him was running empty.

"Well, I want to ask you something now, not later," Maverick stated.

"You're insane," I stated blandly.

"Iris, let me ask the damn question," he responded, sounding amused again.

I groaned. "Whatever. Go ahead."

He nodded shortly; I saw from the corner of my eye. "Thank you. So, about the dance-"

"No," I interrupted, sounding dull (bored, really). "I'm busy that day and I don't like dances. Spread the word."

"Let me finish. Damn." Maverick laughed.

I groaned again. I stopped walking once we were under some shelter. Then, I stared at him. "Go on," I reluctantly requested.

"I overheard that you're heading to Oceantis on the day of the dance. So, would you like a ride there?" he asked.

"You-Wait, what?" I blinked. Did I hear that right? Am I remembering that right?

Maverick chuckled, shaking his head at me. "I asked if you'd like a ride there, to Oceantis, on the day of the dance."

"With you?" I asked for clarification.

"With me," Maverick agreed.

"Are you sure you actually wanna do that?" I asked, eyeing him like a piece of meat. "You'd be stuck with me for a whole day. Are you sure you can handle that?" I was trying to entice him, okay? Shut up. I know I was annoyed just seconds beforehand but he gave me the opportunity to jump him. So, I was taking it, as long as he was truly consenting, of course.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Maverick shrugged. "I'm only asking because I was planning to head that way soon, anyways."

I stared at him in disbelief. "...You're not screwing with me, are you?"

"Pardon?" Maverick raised an eyebrow. Why did he keep doing that? Wait, didn't I do that a few times? To be honest, I don't think I can do it as accurately as him; both of my eyebrows probably lift when I try. I don't know.

"You are so incredibly confusing. You can't seem to make up your damn mind. Do you wanna ignore me? Do you wanna befriend me?" Do you wanna have sex? I wish I had said it aloud, just to get a reaction; I didn't, though. "I just… I don't understand you and your logical thinking, if you can even call it that."

"I said we shouldn't be acquaintances; I never said that's what I actually wanted between us," Maverick stated.

"...What the fuck does that even mean?" I huffed. "Seriously. What, it's a bad idea to be friends on any level but you want us to be anyway?"

"Exactly." Maverick smiled.

I blinked again. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. Inside, I was starting to jump around; he wanted to be my friend of sorts. Well, I wanted to sleep with him but, alas, baby steps. "..." I nodded shortly. "Okay."

He was still smiling. "So?"

I bit my lip, trying not to smile back. I likely wasn't successful because his smile intensified. "I'll take that ride."

"Great, it's a date," Maverick declared. But then, his tone became super serious. How the fuck does he do that? Does he have an inner switch for his emotions, one he can control at will? Damn. "You shouldn't be around me a lot, though. Just saying." The fuck? Seriously, dude? Make up your fucking mind, Jesus Christ and Satan! "See ya later, Iris." He walked away from me.

I stared at his backside, my mouth agape. Seriously, though, he really needed, slash needs, to make up his mind. Otherwise, I'll just end up losing mine.