Iris

Jimmy.

After forty five minutes of annoying traffic - that was not uncommon to the area - we finally reached my hometown of Huntington Beach. Luckily the ride, though painfully slow, was far from awkward. When we weren’t chatting about insignificant things, we were bellowing out lyrics from the songs playing from the vehicle’s speakers. We alternated between the radio and my phone, which held the most of my music collection, and Iris didn’t seem to complain at all.

I turned onto my house’s street, smiling at the familiar scenery. Los Angeles wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t home. As we approached my house, I could see two vehicles in the driveway. Pulling in myself, I saw that it was Matt’s Tahoe and Johnny’s Land Rover. I raised an eyebrow, surprised at seeing Johnny’s rinky dink car. He never drove himself for the pure fact that either Lacey had to use it or he just wanted to avoid our jokes. It wasn’t a bad car, but we liked to mess with him regardless.

“Are they all here?” Iris suddenly asked as I shut off the engine. I looked over to see a small amount of anxiousness in her eyes. I gently placed a hand on her shoulder and her head whipped around to face me. I offered a broad smile.

“Don’t worry. I told you, they’re great guys. They’ll love you and you’ll probably love them. Now c’mon, let’s get through the lame introductions,” I laughed. She returned a weaker smile and nodded, pushing open her door. I leaned back and grabbed her duffle bag. She handled her violin case with such a large degree of gentleness that a smile burned on my face. I could tell she loved that thing more than she led on.

We walked to the front door side by side. I pushed open the door and was greeted with the distant sound of gunshots and yelling. I shook my head softly at their antics. Of course they’d just go and play Call of Duty. Did I really expect anything else? I placed Iris’s duffle bag in a secluded corner of the foyer when no one could accidentally kick it. Iris hesitantly followed suit and placed her case on top. I led her to the game room where the guys were making beasts of themselves.

“Take that you cocksuckers!” Brian cackled. I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. Great first impression, man.

“So it was you guys,” Iris spoke slowly with a distant gaze. Everyone quickly turned around, very uncaring if they died or not.

“Uh, what do you mean?” I questioned, seeing as how none of the guys could remember how to speak. Iris cocked her head to the left, blinking at the four.

“You’re those annoying guys who we paired up with on Call of Duty a few days ago. I figured you guys were, like, preteens or something.”

“Ouch, hit to the pride,” Johnny murmured, shutting off the Xbox and television. I smirked, wrapping an arm around Iris’s shoulders. She tensed up for a only a moment before forcing herself to relax again. Normally I would have released her, but I knew if I didn’t stay this way that the guys would bombard her with hugs and I figured she wouldn’t appreciate it.

“Well guys, this is Iris. Iris, these are my friends. Johnny, Matt, Zacky, and Brian,” I introduced, pointing to each in turn. Iris gave them all a small smile and unconsciously leaned more into my side. Brian gave me a sly smile which I easily returned. I knew what he was thinking, she definitely took a liking to me. I would hope so, and I was happy she did!

“It’s nice to meet you finally, Iris!” Zacky exclaimed, stepping only close enough to extend his arm. Iris looked to me and I nodded. She then took Zack’s hand to shake it weakly. “Jimmy here hasn’t shut up about you.”

“Shut up, it’s not that bad,” I grumbled, slightly annoyed that Zack had to say that. I knew how flustered Iris seemed to be when I told her the same at IHOP. But she seemed to take it strong, and Brian stomping on his foot seemed to send the message home to Zack.

“Ignore Zack, he’s just kidding,” Matt covered, flashing Iris his dimpled smile when she turned to him. “Jimmy has talked about you, but not nearly enough. That’s why we wanted to have lunch; to get to know you a bit more.”

“Oh. Well, okay.” Iris gave a real grin, obviously happy with this explanation. I gave Matt a look that didn’t give as much gratitude as I wanted it to, but he still nodded softly.

“Let’s head out! I’m starving!” Johnny exclaimed. I rose an eyebrow at him. Y’know, sometimes I feel he has no idea what is going on in the room he’s in. But at the same time, maybe he just does these things to break the awkward moments. Guess we’ll never know.

“We’ll drive since you had to so much already,” Matt spoke.

“Ew, we have to sit in Johnny’s piece of sh - I mean, crud?” Zack whined, though quickly fixing his language as he looked over at Iris. She looked very unamused.

“Why do you guys keep censoring yourselves? I’ll say it again, for you guys. I’m not six. Just because you curse does not mean I will too. I only do so when I’m angry or annoyed,” Iris announced, crossing her arms as if challenging us to argue.

“Okay, okay. Guys, curse until your hearts are content,” I spoke with the utmost seriousness. Iris cracked a grin, though she tried to fight it off, and the guys also chuckled. “So how are we riding?”

“Nose goes!” Brian shouted, placing his finger on his nose. The only person to follow was Zacky. I smacked my hand to my face, shaking my head at the same time. That ‘preteen’ comment from Iris earlier was really living up to it’s full potential.

“Nose goes?” Iris echoed, amusement in her voice. “I haven’t done that since I was ten.”

“Believe me, it’s how they decide everything. Including riding in my car,” Johnny scoffed. “Fine, you can all go in Matt’s car. I’ll go by myself.”

“I’ll go with you, Johnny,” Iris instantly spoke, frowning at him, as if hurt by the fact that he assumed no one would go with him. She gave the rest of us annoyed stares before following the now grinning Johnny out of the game room.

“Hey! Wait up!” I called, jogging after them. See, I would say running, but let’s face it: two strides and I’d catch up to them both. Whoops. I should probably not make short jokes on my daughter in my head. Whoa, my daughter. That’s strange to think.

“Front seat!” Iris shouted, already flinging herself into the passenger’s seat in Johnny’s red Land Rover. He gave a small smirk before climbing into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. Yeah, he’s going to be a smug little shit now that Iris defended him. But, oh well. As long as Iris stays smiling like that, she could be his best friend for all I care.

I impatiently waited for the guys to file out so I could lock the front door. Matt turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “So Iris is buds with Johnny now, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m thinking it’s because they’re both sh - I mean, quieter,” I covered lamely. Hey, when I said I should stop with the short jokes, I meant it. Matt simply laughed in my face.

“Sure, that’s the reason,” he mocked. I flipped him the bird, a tiny grin slipping out. “So where are we heading anyways?”

“I guess that diner over by the school. Not sure what everyone has a craving for so we might as well go where they have a little of everything,” I suggested with a shrug. Matt nodded in agreement before we headed to our separate vehicles. I climbed in behind Iris, informing Johnny of where to head. He nodded and led the way out of the driveway.

“So, Iris, what kind of food do you like?” Johnny asked, taking a left from the end of my street. Iris kind of offered a shrug.

“Whatever really. Not much of a fan of hamburgers or seafood, though,” she replied with a small wrinkling of her nose.

“Man, Iris. Just throw out the two things that Huntington Beach is great for,” I sighed, faking hurt.

“That’s it? Damn, looks like I’m gonna starve,” Iris joked. Johnny let out a small snort.

“Oh, c’mon. We’re good at other things too. Maybe not as good as L.A.’s food, but we try,” I defended.

“Believe me, some of the places we ate at in Los Angeles doesn’t compare to the places around here,” Johnny spoke, finally offering some defense for our town. “Not sure how good the food is in your area, though.”

“I wouldn’t know either. We never really ate out much. Mom and - er, my adoptive parents were usually pretty busy with work. I just ate whatever we had at home, which was pretty good at being stocked up,” Iris replied. Johnny shared a look with me in the rearview mirror and I shrugged. The sudden change in name of Jocelynn and Elisha was new to me, but I knew not to ask about it. Johnny nodded as I sent a text to Brian, warning them to not mention them. I didn’t know Iris that well, but when she does something like that, it’s wise not to mention it again.

“So you like to cook?” Johnny asked, breaking the silence.

“A bit, yeah. It’s probably not very good though.”

“Believe me, anything is better than Brian’s cooking. He burned Ramen. How do you burn Ramen?” I mused.

“I dunno Jimmy, how do you set fire to biscuits?” Johnny mocked. Iris turned around to look at me, her eyes wide with surprise. I blushed, turning my attention out the window.

“It was one time. And besides, I was, like, fifteen.”

“One time, huh? Oh, that’s right, two months ago you set fire to the hashbrowns. My bad.”

I opened my mouth to say something insulting about his height or other easy target, but that was right when we arrived at the diner. Rick & Mary’s Cafe. It’s funny it was called a cafe when it was nothing of the like. I think the owners just wanted to troll the neighborhood. Oh God, look at me picking up teenage lingo. Johnny jumped out, probably knowing I was going to give him hell for his remarks. Iris sat motionless, minus her teeth gnawing on her bottom lip.

“Iris?” She jumped slightly, turning to look at me as I leaned forward between the two front seats. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. C’mon, they’re looking at us funny.” With that, Iris unbuckled her seatbelt and all but flew out of the car. As the door slammed shut, I removed my own seatbelt and climbed out. Johnny locked it with his keyring as we all headed through the entrance. Brian gave me a questioning look which I just shook my head to. Matt led us inside where we were ushered to a booth in the back to give us some privacy. After taking our drink orders, the waiter disappeared to let us look over our menus.

As we did, everyone was half assed talking. Well, except Iris. She was silent in the spot between Johnny and I. Her eyes were narrowed as she stared at the words littering the laminated fold out of the menu. Finally, when the guys begin to warp into their own conversations, I leaned over to stare at her menu too. “You okay?”

Iris gave a short jerk, reminding me of someone having convulsion, and blinked at me as if seeing me for the first time. She looked at the menu again before returning my gaze and nodding slightly. “Fine. Just...not sure of what to get.”

“Oh. Well, what do you have a craving for?” Iris was staring at the menu again and seemed to have not heard me. I frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me again and shrugged. “Well that’s not very helpful.”

“I don’t care what I eat. What do you suggest?” There a kind of desperation to her tone that surprised me. What was going on? Surely she could skim over the ingredients and pick something, anything.

“What’s going on?” I asked, nothing but concern in my voice. Iris looked flustered and began to play with the edges of her menu. I heard her murmur something, but with her face being directed towards the table, I couldn’t make it out. I leaned down more. “Huh?”

“I have...” and the rest of her words lapsed into incoherently mutters. I sighed, craning down to have my ear right next to her cheek. “I’m sorry, hun, but I really can’t understand you. Once more time, I swear.”

And finally, with a turn of her head, she spoke the sentence that she had been so hesitant to say. With a tone of sadness she said, “I have dyslexia.”

“Oh.” I blinked a few times out of surprise. I was ready for a wide variety of things, but I didn’t quite expect that. I had been friends with a guy who had dyslexia in high school, but he never explained more than ‘I don’t read well’. Thinking back I knew I just thought of it as an excuse to not have to read the boring English assignments, but now I knew I wasn’t as oblivious to the disorder. As I saw Iris’s face flush with embarrassment, it made me wonder if that’s the real reason she didn’t go to restaurants. It must be excruciating to have to know you have so much difficulty reading the menus. “Well then if you like nachos, I suggest the Fiesta Nachos.”

She looked at me with wide, confused eyes. I simply smiled and tapped the side of my nose as the waiter reappeared before us. When the waiter finally got to her, Iris only hesitated a fraction of a second before repeating my suggestion. He smiled, taking her extended menu, and left with a promise of returning with our meals soon. Iris grinned widely at me, obviously appreciative. I made a mental note to talk to her about it later, since Brian had leaned forward to get a view of her. “So Iris, what do you like to do for fun?”

“Video games, blogging, violin. Nothing big,” she replied, shrugging.

“You can play violin?” Johnny piped up excitedly.

She looked bashful, rubbing her neck. “I’m not that great or anything. Just a little hobby.”

“You gotta play some time!” Johnny insisted. The four of us glared at him. When he finally noticed he coughed into his fist, averting our gazes. “I mean, if you want to, of course.”

“Uh, maybe.”

“Don’t feel like you have to Iris,” Zacky spoke up. “It’s fine if you rather not.”

“I just don’t want to make your ears bleed is all,” Iris spoke meekly.

“Believe me, we had to heard Johnny sing a lot. Your playing could never be as bad as that. It’s what they play to prisoners instead of lethal injections around here,” Brian spoke. Johnny laughed mockingly, glaring at Brian as the rest of us, including Iris, snickered.

“Oh yeah, you guys are just so hilarious,” Johnny murmured, faking hurt.

Iris smiled, patting his back. “Don’t worry, I know someone who’d enjoy your singing, Johnny.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, my science teacher. Just sing into his left ear, he’s completely deaf in that one.” I heard Zacky snort, something he rarely does, which sent the rest of us into hystericals. Johnny playfully shoved Iris, his face showing a wide smile.

Yeah, Iris is going to fit right in.