Lainey's POV

I was almost knocked to the ground before I was even able to respond and stood rock still from shock as one of the last people I ever expected to see clung to me, hugging so tightly that I felt like I couldn't breathe. This was a definite flashback to not so long ago, why is it that whenever someone hugs me they have to try their hardest to make me nearly suffocate?

"Lainey, I've missed you so, so much!" After recovering from the shock I managed to lift my arms and hug back, not as hard since I didn't want to encourage being squeezed to death. If I'm going to die and be buried I don't want it to be while I have these ugly bangs, I've definitely looked better.

"Iris, holy shit, hi! What are doing in California?" I haven't seen my friend since that night outside of a Club Venture, she'd been talking to Tony and all of a sudden she was here in San Diego, then once she stepped away it was clear she was a good three inches taller than I remember her being and twice as outgoing. I had no idea what had happened to her after I'd left but it seemed to have been for the better considering she seemed nothing like the quiet and spookable Iris I regretted abandoning without so much as a goodbye.

"It's a long story but what happened to you? You suddenly disappeared in the middle of the Pierce The Veil concert and I didn't see you again. Vic ended up giving me a ride to Rosehill but your side of our room back at the dorm was empty, Mrs Coping said that your brother suddenly showed up and took you back to America. Is that what really happened?" She was talking a lot quicker than I remember as well, most of the time it sounded like she was planning out every single one of her words before she said them. Now that I think about it she would have been doing exactly that, she used to be so worried about accidentally offending someone or starting a fight.

"Yeah, Dale came and got me. I ended up staying with him and his fiancée, what did everyone at the school say when I stopped coming to classes?" I have to admit that knowing I caused a nice bit of intrigue would be nice. "We're there rumors galore? Please say yes." Iris grinned at my question and rocked back and forth on the heels of her boots for a second before replying.

"Rumors? You were the talk of the school for the rest of the year, Father Gerard didn't show up the next day...everybody wouldn't stop whispering that you ran away with the priest." That was a slap to the face, I'd thought it'd be something more along the lines of me playing teenage runaway and dramatically abandoning the school to lead a life as an entertainer of something interesting. Not gossip that was scarily close to what would have happened if I stayed at Rosehill.

"Shit, really? Who the hell came up with that?" As soon as I asked I realized my question was pointless because there was only one full on rumor churner at the English academy.

"Tiffany, as it turns out she was interested in him and since the two of you disappeared around the same time she got some assumptions in her head then came up with that story to ruin your reputation and his." Seemed like some pretty flat logic if you ask me, 'if I can't have you then I'm going to trash your life'. But then again I'm nearly positive that Tiffany wasn't the smartest cookie in the box so it actually clicks that anything along those lines would make serious sense to her.

"No one believed her though? Luka didn't think she was telling the truth, or the teachers?"

"Of course not. She got herself put in counseling because the teachers thought her lies were so grandiose that she had serious attention seeking issues." Well fuck, I hadn't expected something like that to happen, not that I can say I was displeased, the queen bee had fallen and unfortunately I wasn't there to see it. On the other hand Tiffany severely bullied Iris so I was pretty glad that she at least got to watch the bitch wind up being thought of as one of the nutters she despised.

"There's karma for you," I said, Tiffany could only treat her like shit for so long before her treatment of others wound up biting her in the ass and things had apparently come full circle. "How did the rest of the year there treat you, she didn't keep the human punching bag act did she?" I was completely aware that I was one of the thing keeping Iris from getting a black eye for doing nothing more than walking around the school grounds.

"You'd be surprised, she never laid another finger on me. Didn't get the chance to actually." The quickly spreading grin on her face made it clear that she'd ended her time at Rosehill as a bit more than 'our resident field-mouse Iris McCoy'.

"What did you do?" I asked, eager to know about whatever intrigue my shy friend must have caused. No matter how hard I thought I had no clue and prayed it would be something huge that would be able to stun because I knew she had it in her and I really wanted to hear that Iris had seriously fucked the school up.

"Since I was eighteen my last year at Rosehill was kinda optional..."

Please, please make this be going where I think this is going.

"Despite that I was planning on staying, my grades were good and I would have finished with honors, not to mention it would have made my family, very, very happy." For a brief moment I felt like like this was going downhill but Iris's next few words picked the whole thing back up and put it on its feet. "But when Vic dropped me off he also he invited me to spend the rest of their world tour with them." That was probably around the time that I felt my mouth drop open, shortly before I reached out and grabbed her arms.

"Tell me you didn't miss out on a chance to tour with Pierce The Veil, tell me that you didn't let that chance pass you by, Iris." It ass an experience of a lifetime, my brother didn't want me on his band's tour bus yet she'd been lucky enough to get invited by the lead singer of her favorite band to spend at least eight months on the road with them. The version of Iris I once knew was too shy to take such an opportunity without me forcing her into it - not that I think even I would be able to convince her to follow someone on tour - but the new Iris likely would.

"I didn't miss out on a chance to tour with Pierce The Veil," she said, replying with a smile.

"Why didn't I ever get to see the badass version of Iris, I mean I loved old you but new you and I could have seriously fucked some shit up. Wait, don't let me change the topic, what did you do while you were with them? Don't tell me you, hooked up with Vic? Or was it Tony who was more up your alley? I noticed that you were talking to him a lot before I left, if I remember you were really hitting it off." I gave her a bit of a grin and a nudge, hoping that I would actually hear the news she had slept with someone in the band since it would more or less prove the theory growing in the back of my mind. The one that aliens must have abducted her and put a much more hardcore copy in her place.

She giggled and brushed her now shoulder length hair out of her face, "no, there was no tour hookups with any of them although I'm still friends with most of the guys." Iris must have noticed the disappointed look on my face because she quickly added, "but I did meet my first boyfriend while on a plane to Amsterdam."

"Wow, really?" The smile on her face dropped a little but she nodded enthusiastically. "Is he here in San Diego with you?" I really wanted to know what kind of guy he must be, Iris had never mentioned having a specific type of anything and I was incredibly curious.

"No, we had a flat in London so he's still there." As she spoke I made sure I didn't let it change the expression on my face but I could hear the enthusiasm slowly seep out of her voice the more she talked about him and the more I asked.

This is not going to be good.

"Had?" I asked, knowing she wouldn't be going with a past-tense if she were still with whatever dreamboat tickled her fancy. Iris was probably the perfect girl for most guys, cute, nice, according to her she could cook pretty well and she listened more than she spoke so I couldn't figure out why it'd be him living in London and letting her come over to America unaccompanied.
Her relationship should run so easily it'd be like a permanent honeymoon.

"We broke up I guess, not officially but yeah, we broke up." That's got to suck, unless you end up hating whoever you're dating any kind of break up is gonna make you feel like shit.

"Would you mind if I pried and asked why?"

"No. Dane's a nice guy, we really got along and he's a gentleman and everything but I wanted a change from studying in London. I wanted to move to America but he didn't, he yelled a bit at me then I got on a plane and came over here to get my degree in psychology." It sounded like a bad note to end a relationship on but I kept my lips sealed, as long as she thought she was doing what she thought was right I wasn't going to say anything.

I don't need to.

"Well I'm sure that you'll find someone else in San Diego."

~~~

Iris and I spoke for a couple more minutes, her having switched the topic to Sunny and how badly she wanted to meet her. We then exchanged phone numbers, promised to meet up as soon as we possibly could, hugged each other goodbye then I headed back to Hot Topic, readying myself for a couple of hours with Quincy who would undoubtedly still be buzzing from all the residual fangirl energy.

"Hey, Lainey! Where have you been? Were you interning on dumping me with all the customers for the rest of the day? That's what it feels like, don't lie to me." She was talking faster than usual and bouncing ever so slightly, her typical smile on her face and her hands drumming along to the song playing over the stores radio.

I was right.

"Na, I'm wasn't going to abandon you. What did you do while I was gone? You're talking like you're on crack or something." It wouldn't be anything shocking if I were to hear her reply with a yes, Quincy was so open minded she was at risk of endangering herself.

"The band sent me out to get coffee and stuff and I got one for myself at the same time. I got a double shot espresso, have you ever had one? They're fucking fantastic!" Now that I looked closer I could see that she looked like she was actually shaking, vibrating is a word that could also be used. This led me to wonder how big her coffee cup must have been, Quincy had never been a coffee person, she was more often seen with some kind of milkshake, smoothie or slushy in hand and the most coffee I'd ever seen her have is flavored soft serve ice-cream.

Seems like I was wrong about the vibes.

"Yeah I have, that's how I stay awake all day while having to chase a three year old around. Are you sure it's safe for you to drink espresso? You might cause yourself to have a heart attack." I was expecting to see her drop to the ground at any second and by the time I saw her reach for a paper cup the size of her head, I'd snatched it away from her, knowing that I couldn't possibly condone one of my best friend overdosing on a double shot on the clock at Hot Topic. As someone that had the same reaction to my first espresso I knew that in a couple of hours she'd be crashing pretty hard.

"I'll be fine, I'm fit! ran track in high school, remember?" Quincy was now buzzing through the shop, hanging clothes up, folding jeans, acting a hundred times bouncier than I was used to from her.

"Quince, high school was four years ago and you didn't run track. You were in the stoner circle and you tried out hurdles in middle school." I'm not sure whether or not she'd be classified as healthy or not, Quincy could run around without getting puffed when she wanted to but she usually preferred to sit very still in a designated spot. Occasionally she'd come over to my apartment and complain about not being able to play dress up in my clothes because they were too small then go on a month long fitness binge before giving up and switching back to her typical movement free lifestyle.

"No, I was a little bunny! I am a little bunny! A bunny that you walked out on! What were you doing for two hours anyway?" As she buzzed around Quincy made a couple of hopping motions towards an accessories stand then donned a pair of Terminator style glasses, finally turning around and grinning somewhat madly at me.

"My friend Iris from Rosehill Academy, I bumped into her at Scythe Sounds. We got talking and we're planning on meeting up again." Heaven's knows when that'll be, I have a long running habit about forgetting to do things, not to mention I've got constant work that needs doing. If it's now work I'll be spending time with Sunny or sleeping or taking the tiniest bit of time to by self that I can, it's difficult to find a free slot in my week.

"The shy chick who became BFF's with Pierce The Veil in a couple of seconds, when can I meet her? Can she get me to meet them?! When can you arrange us hanging out? I'll call Bree and Morgan, you dial Iris." What she did I could almost call a pirouette, almost, if she hadn't stumbled and needed to grab onto me to stop herself from falling down.

"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down there, I don't know if I'm free this weekend. Don't forget that the others are busy, do you even know what you're supposed to be doing?" It was one thing for Quincy to suddenly start making plans but it was a whole other for her to go through with them when she has something like a major event on the weekend that she's more than probably forgotten about.

"Don't worry about it, my schedule is wide open, now pass me your cell." Before I could protest Quince had swiped my mobile and was scrolling through my list of contacts, searching for Iris's phone number so she could convince - or rather force - me into arranging a version of a twenty-something play date. This was ridiculous, she's worse than Sunny, I've got a friend that remind me of my daughter, what does that say about my life? "Call, call, call her, call now."

Iris was shoving the now ringing phone into my face, I had absolutely no say in whether or not we hung out. The best I can do at a time like this is be glad I haven't got anything to do with Summer booked in because as long as Quincy was insisting I knew I wouldn't be able to give her any kind of excuse. Whatever it is that we do will have to involve Sunny though, she loves my friends and I know they love her, plus Iris said she wanted to meet my daughter.

What is that saying?
Oh yeah, two birds, one stone.

"Fine, stop will ya? I can't hear her if you're badgering me." Just as I'd finished talking Iris picked up on the other end, asking 'hello' in an uncharacteristically perky voice. "Iris it's me, Lainey."

'Hi, what's up?'

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with my friends and Sunny this weekends. You can get to know everyone and everyone can get to meet you." If there was any part of her that was the teenager I used to hang out with then she would say no within milliseconds since I knew she was far too nervous to willingly spend time with more than a few people at once. If it was Morgan, Bree, Quincy and Sunny all at once in a single then she would likely have a people overload but she'd changed already so who knew what she'd think of the offer.

'Sounds...good.' She sounded hesitant as she replied and I felt a sense of comfort, recognizing something familiar in her voice.

"You know I'm not going to force you to come if you don't want to." Okay, I did have a bit of a history when it came to forcing Iris into things but after all it was me who made her talk to Vic to begin with.

'No, I'll be there. It's fine, I was just trying to see if I had anything I needed to get done. I'm free, what's planned?'

I gave her my address, a time to drop by the apartment and a rough idea that the six of us would go out and get lunch. Iris sounded happy as she agreed, promised to come over then said goodbye, hanging up and leaving me with Quincy who was standing in front of me with one of the most gloating faces I'd ever seen, phone in hand after texting Morgan and Bree. She'd been texting up a storm while I'd been on the phone with Iris, arranging things and I glared moodily at her.

It wasn't that I didn't want one of those old friends meets new old friends moments, it was that I didn't like how she'd always back me into a corner over things. I would have agreed on hanging out with them in the long run but I wanted to do it on my terms and time, definitely not hers.

"Happy now?" I asked, pocketing my phone then throwing my hands up in the air. Damn was she good at forcing me into shit when she was high on caffeine, I need to keep a personal that I needed to keep her very far away from all forms of coffee whether it be as potent as a double shot or as weak and pathetic as a flavored soft serve.

"Yes." Her grin couldn't have been wider if she possibly tried, it was a grin of pure gloating and I sighed before walking around the counter and sitting down - in what we plainly referred to as the counter chair - with my arms crossed over my chest and a sour expression. While there was a part of me that wanted to slap her there was still a part that didn't because she was my friend and so high on caffeine that she probably wouldn't remember what she did in the next few hours. She'd had so much coffee it was more or less the equivalent to being drunk, she wasn't responsible for her actions.

This is the reason I liked Iris so much.
The word coercion and nagging just wasn't in her dictionary.

Notes