Mistreated
Petition
December 14th Continued…still
Iris’s POV:
“What are you talking about?” I run after him and pull his wheelchair until it comes to a halt. “I don’t like him!” Maybe I do…I don’t really know. What I do know is that I really like Harry. I know that for a fact. I’m not letting him go this time.
“You were pretty flirty with him,” his shoulders drop.
I snort, “You’re joking, right?” I walk around him and look at his serious expression.
He sighs, “The touching, the play fights, and…” he pauses.
“What Harry?” I cross my arms. “Please continue.” He’s making such a big deal out of nothing.
“I saw you blushing; I know that look,” he lowers his head, but I stand my ground.
“You want to know why I was blushing?” I snap. He shakes his head. “It’s not what you think it is, Harry.” I yank the napkin out of my pocket and throw it at him. “That is why I was blushing.”
Harry’s POV:
I look at the napkin in shock. There was an orange tree drawn on it, taking up the whole length of the napkin. On the tree were branches that would hold its green leaves, but there was one odd looking branch that stuck out farther than the others. On that branch sat two people, a boy and a girl. I notice the boy having curly red hair and the girl having straight yellow hair and I instantly know it’s me and Iris. (A/N: His hair color is red because at restaurants they don’t always have brown crayons)
“I was blushing because he gave us kissy faces in the picture,” Iris glared at me.
“I-I feel like a jerk,” I stammer.
She huffs, “Well you should.” She suddenly climbs in my lap and folds the napkin up before placing it back in her pocket.
“I’m sorry,” I frown. I still can tell there’s something between them, even if it is just Niall, but I think I shouldn’t press the idea anymore.
“You shouldn’t get so worked up anyways. It’s not like we’re dating.”
I sigh, “You know I want to, it’s just-“
She interrupts, “The wheelchair? The fact that we haven’t gone on a date? Or am I just not supposed to date anyone and just kiss you?”
I deserved that last one. “I’m sorry,” I rub her thigh. “It is the chair and yes, I’d love to take you on a date first. If there’s anything I’ve learned about our break, it’s that I don’t know much about you. Sure we both know our lives are really…” I pause and laugh. “Screwed up.”
“No kidding,” she rolls her eyes playfully.
“But we don’t know the basics, and every normal relationship usually has that.”
“Harry, we’re not normal,” she giggles.
I chuckle, “No we’re not and I think the fact that we’re so dysfunctional, yet understanding of each other makes us perfect together.” I kissed the corner of her mouth and I could feel her smiling underneath my lips. “But let’s just do this right and try to have something somewhat normal in our lives.”
“Okay,” she nodded. “I can see what you mean, so yes, I’ll wait.”
“Luckily it won’t be much longer and I’ll be on my feet again,” I say as I rub my nose against her cheek.
She pulls her head back a bit so her eyes can smile at mine, “I can’t wait.” I grin before I start leaning in to kiss her and for the second time today, she pushes me away. “If I have to wait, so do you,” she teases.
“Damn,” I mutter under my breath and she giggles. “Come on, let’s go to the track.”
“What about everyone else?” she pointed to the restaurant.
I smirk, “I’ll text them while you push me there.”
“In your dreams, Styles,” she climbs off of my lap and starts skipping away. “We’ll text them when we get there.” I chuckle and follow her to the track.
This girl is my everything. We’ve been through so much together. I have no idea why I would think she’d just suddenly throw that away. I guess it’s just a habit now, to think that the one you care about will only break your heart in the end. My mum. Gemma. I cared about my dad once. But Iris, she’s different. She’d never do that to me, and I’d never do that to her. She’s the only girl for me.
Iris didn’t stay the night. Instead, we spent hours at the track talking about random things before she went home.
“Did you know that when you say the word ‘colorful’, your mouth looks like it’s saying ‘I love you’?” she’d ask. Then we’d test it out and guess what? It’s true.
We also talked about more differences in our accents. She says hostile like ‘hos-till’ while I say it like ‘hos-tile’. We joked about who’s accent is better and of course I told her she wins with that cute little voice of her’s. Overall, it was a great night to spend with such an amazing girl.
Monday December 16th
“Ignore them,” I look up and Iris’s somber expression. We were headed to Mrs. Clark’s room for lunch and people were staring at her like she had food in her teeth. She just sighs and nods.
“Harry, Iris. It’s so nice to see you guys in here,” Mrs. Clark greeted us as we entered her classroom.
“Hey,” Iris beamed. “Yeah, sorry I haven’t been coming.”
Mrs. Clark shrugged, “Don’t apologize. I’m glad to know you’ve been hanging out in other places too.” She held up her finger, “Oh! Before I forget.” She rummaged her desk drawer until she came across blue papers and pulled them out. She walked over to Iris and I with the stack and handed us each one sheet.
*DSF Club*
“What’s this?” I chuckle.
“DSF?” Iris raises her eyebrows.
Mrs. Clark leaned her lower back against her desk after setting the stack of papers onto it. “Don’t Stop Fighting. That’s what it stands for.”
“Um…” is all Iris can manage to say. I honestly don’t know what to say either.
Mrs. Clark sighs, “I started a club for people in your positions and I’d like for you guys to join it.” I open my mouth to speak but she interjects, “I know you probably don’t want to go, but hear me out. It’s about the students who have bad grades and choose to ditch school. I think it’d be good for you guys to meet the students in it. You'd be surprised at how many people are planning on showing up.”
“When’s the first meeting?” Iris sighs.
“After school today,” Mrs. Clark answers.
I honestly don't want to go, but it appears Iris does. Where she goes, I go...so I guess I'm going. I sigh, “We’ll be there, but we don’t have to talk about why we dit-”
“No. It’s supposed to be about getting your grades up. At least that’s what I told your principal,” she winks.
“Ooo,” I tease. “Mrs. Clark is up to something.”
“What is it?” Iris smiles and tugs at her hair.
“You’ll have to come and find out.”
I laugh, “We definitely have to go now.”
“Come in,” Mrs. Clark waves us into the classroom after the last bell of the day rings. When Iris and I entered the room, I was stunned by the amount of people in the room. There had to be like forty students in the room. Mrs. Clark wasn't kidding when she told us we'd be surprised.
“Okay Everyone! It appears we’re all here. Take a seat, with the exception of Harry of course.” I just laugh and pretend like she didn’t just embarrass me or anything and Iris takes a seat in the desk closest to me.
“So I know the anticipation is killing you all, but before I get to the good stuff, I think we should talk about why you’re all here.” I hear people mutter and groan. “I know, I know. I promise to keep it short and simple. Okay. So I want you all to take a good look around this room. Look at who you’re sitting next to, who they’re sitting next to, and so on.”
I scan the room and see just regular students here. Some jocks, a few band geeks, many skaters and surprisingly a couple of nerds. There was one person in here that caught my eye. Eleanor. What is she doing here?
“All of you in this room have at least one F and three Ds in school.” Eleanor has bad grades? No way. I expect it from Iris and I, I mean we’re never really here and we don’t really do our homework. But Eleanor? What?
“I want you to take a minute and introduce yourselves to each other.” No one moves. “Come on, don’t be shy.” People mummer and start walking around as told. Of course, Iris and I don’t move a muscle. I mostly just don’t want to roll around the room; I don’t know what her excuse is. I don’t mind though.
I watch as Eleanor slowly makes her way over to me, introducing herself to a couple of people along the way. I know she saw me since Mrs. Clark announced my name to the whole room.
“What are you doing here?” her eyes widen when she finally reaches me.
“Well hello to you too,” I smirk. “Does your boyfriend know you have bad grades?”
She hangs her head, “Don’t tell him, please.”
“That would require me telling him I was in this room with you, so no thank you.” Perrie and Zayn chose not to tell everyone about my father; Niall doesn’t even know. That’s why Eleanor doesn’t understand why I’m here.
“Why are you here?” she asks again.
“Well why are you?”
She frowns, “I’d rather not say.”
“Me neither.”
“Hi, my name is Iris,” Iris introduces herself to Eleanor.
Eleanor smiles, “Eleanor, nice to meet you. This is Harry,” she points to me. Iris holds out her hand to me to pretend like we aren’t friends. I hate that she’s so worried about what people will think of me.
“Don’t act like you don’t know me Mercy,” I shake my head at her. She huffed and turned away from me. Great.
Eleanor furrows her brows, “Am I missing something here?”
“This is Iris Mercer,” I grin and pat Iris’s leg. “We’ve been friends pretty much since the beginning of the school year.”
“Wow. It’s really nice to meet you then,” Eleanor smiles as she sits on Iris’s desk.
“Really?” Iris beams at the girl.
Eleanor chuckles, “I know who you are and I think people can be so cruel. You don’t deserve all the treatment they give you. It’s nice to know Harry sees that too.”
“Thank you,” Iris smiles.
“Okay guys, settle down and take a seat,” Mrs. Clark yells. Eleanor quickly takes a seat in the desk behind Iris. “Let’s get to the point, shall we? Every one of you has ditched the school at least fourteen days. That’s right, I’ve done my research.” I widen my eyes at Eleanor who only hangs her head in embarrassment. What has she been ditching for?
“I understand that some of you had your reasons, but I know all of you have a disliking of the school. I’ve heard your complaints. ‘Where’s the security?’ ‘The teachers suck.’ ‘Why don’t we do fire drills?’ ‘Why don’t we have very many cameras?’ ‘Our principal is the worst.’ I might’ve left out some of your very colorful vocabulary.” Everyone chuckles.
“The point is, the school has no stability and none of you feel secure here. So I’ve decided to make a petition which I have right here,” she raises a stack of papers in the air. “This petition is to get the principal fired. I have no idea how he’s lasted this long and why on Earth the district would even consider him a leader. So let’s fight. I want you all to get as many signatures as you can. Friends, family, and faculty. They have to be related to you or part of this school. We’re going to make this school a better place for you all.”
Who knew Mrs. Clark could be so badass?
Iris’s POV:
“What are you talking about?” I run after him and pull his wheelchair until it comes to a halt. “I don’t like him!” Maybe I do…I don’t really know. What I do know is that I really like Harry. I know that for a fact. I’m not letting him go this time.
“You were pretty flirty with him,” his shoulders drop.
I snort, “You’re joking, right?” I walk around him and look at his serious expression.
He sighs, “The touching, the play fights, and…” he pauses.
“What Harry?” I cross my arms. “Please continue.” He’s making such a big deal out of nothing.
“I saw you blushing; I know that look,” he lowers his head, but I stand my ground.
“You want to know why I was blushing?” I snap. He shakes his head. “It’s not what you think it is, Harry.” I yank the napkin out of my pocket and throw it at him. “That is why I was blushing.”
Harry’s POV:
I look at the napkin in shock. There was an orange tree drawn on it, taking up the whole length of the napkin. On the tree were branches that would hold its green leaves, but there was one odd looking branch that stuck out farther than the others. On that branch sat two people, a boy and a girl. I notice the boy having curly red hair and the girl having straight yellow hair and I instantly know it’s me and Iris. (A/N: His hair color is red because at restaurants they don’t always have brown crayons)
“I was blushing because he gave us kissy faces in the picture,” Iris glared at me.
“I-I feel like a jerk,” I stammer.
She huffs, “Well you should.” She suddenly climbs in my lap and folds the napkin up before placing it back in her pocket.
“I’m sorry,” I frown. I still can tell there’s something between them, even if it is just Niall, but I think I shouldn’t press the idea anymore.
“You shouldn’t get so worked up anyways. It’s not like we’re dating.”
I sigh, “You know I want to, it’s just-“
She interrupts, “The wheelchair? The fact that we haven’t gone on a date? Or am I just not supposed to date anyone and just kiss you?”
I deserved that last one. “I’m sorry,” I rub her thigh. “It is the chair and yes, I’d love to take you on a date first. If there’s anything I’ve learned about our break, it’s that I don’t know much about you. Sure we both know our lives are really…” I pause and laugh. “Screwed up.”
“No kidding,” she rolls her eyes playfully.
“But we don’t know the basics, and every normal relationship usually has that.”
“Harry, we’re not normal,” she giggles.
I chuckle, “No we’re not and I think the fact that we’re so dysfunctional, yet understanding of each other makes us perfect together.” I kissed the corner of her mouth and I could feel her smiling underneath my lips. “But let’s just do this right and try to have something somewhat normal in our lives.”
“Okay,” she nodded. “I can see what you mean, so yes, I’ll wait.”
“Luckily it won’t be much longer and I’ll be on my feet again,” I say as I rub my nose against her cheek.
She pulls her head back a bit so her eyes can smile at mine, “I can’t wait.” I grin before I start leaning in to kiss her and for the second time today, she pushes me away. “If I have to wait, so do you,” she teases.
“Damn,” I mutter under my breath and she giggles. “Come on, let’s go to the track.”
“What about everyone else?” she pointed to the restaurant.
I smirk, “I’ll text them while you push me there.”
“In your dreams, Styles,” she climbs off of my lap and starts skipping away. “We’ll text them when we get there.” I chuckle and follow her to the track.
This girl is my everything. We’ve been through so much together. I have no idea why I would think she’d just suddenly throw that away. I guess it’s just a habit now, to think that the one you care about will only break your heart in the end. My mum. Gemma. I cared about my dad once. But Iris, she’s different. She’d never do that to me, and I’d never do that to her. She’s the only girl for me.
Iris didn’t stay the night. Instead, we spent hours at the track talking about random things before she went home.
“Did you know that when you say the word ‘colorful’, your mouth looks like it’s saying ‘I love you’?” she’d ask. Then we’d test it out and guess what? It’s true.
We also talked about more differences in our accents. She says hostile like ‘hos-till’ while I say it like ‘hos-tile’. We joked about who’s accent is better and of course I told her she wins with that cute little voice of her’s. Overall, it was a great night to spend with such an amazing girl.
Monday December 16th
“Ignore them,” I look up and Iris’s somber expression. We were headed to Mrs. Clark’s room for lunch and people were staring at her like she had food in her teeth. She just sighs and nods.
“Harry, Iris. It’s so nice to see you guys in here,” Mrs. Clark greeted us as we entered her classroom.
“Hey,” Iris beamed. “Yeah, sorry I haven’t been coming.”
Mrs. Clark shrugged, “Don’t apologize. I’m glad to know you’ve been hanging out in other places too.” She held up her finger, “Oh! Before I forget.” She rummaged her desk drawer until she came across blue papers and pulled them out. She walked over to Iris and I with the stack and handed us each one sheet.
*DSF Club*
“What’s this?” I chuckle.
“DSF?” Iris raises her eyebrows.
Mrs. Clark leaned her lower back against her desk after setting the stack of papers onto it. “Don’t Stop Fighting. That’s what it stands for.”
“Um…” is all Iris can manage to say. I honestly don’t know what to say either.
Mrs. Clark sighs, “I started a club for people in your positions and I’d like for you guys to join it.” I open my mouth to speak but she interjects, “I know you probably don’t want to go, but hear me out. It’s about the students who have bad grades and choose to ditch school. I think it’d be good for you guys to meet the students in it. You'd be surprised at how many people are planning on showing up.”
“When’s the first meeting?” Iris sighs.
“After school today,” Mrs. Clark answers.
I honestly don't want to go, but it appears Iris does. Where she goes, I go...so I guess I'm going. I sigh, “We’ll be there, but we don’t have to talk about why we dit-”
“No. It’s supposed to be about getting your grades up. At least that’s what I told your principal,” she winks.
“Ooo,” I tease. “Mrs. Clark is up to something.”
“What is it?” Iris smiles and tugs at her hair.
“You’ll have to come and find out.”
I laugh, “We definitely have to go now.”
“Come in,” Mrs. Clark waves us into the classroom after the last bell of the day rings. When Iris and I entered the room, I was stunned by the amount of people in the room. There had to be like forty students in the room. Mrs. Clark wasn't kidding when she told us we'd be surprised.
“Okay Everyone! It appears we’re all here. Take a seat, with the exception of Harry of course.” I just laugh and pretend like she didn’t just embarrass me or anything and Iris takes a seat in the desk closest to me.
“So I know the anticipation is killing you all, but before I get to the good stuff, I think we should talk about why you’re all here.” I hear people mutter and groan. “I know, I know. I promise to keep it short and simple. Okay. So I want you all to take a good look around this room. Look at who you’re sitting next to, who they’re sitting next to, and so on.”
I scan the room and see just regular students here. Some jocks, a few band geeks, many skaters and surprisingly a couple of nerds. There was one person in here that caught my eye. Eleanor. What is she doing here?
“All of you in this room have at least one F and three Ds in school.” Eleanor has bad grades? No way. I expect it from Iris and I, I mean we’re never really here and we don’t really do our homework. But Eleanor? What?
“I want you to take a minute and introduce yourselves to each other.” No one moves. “Come on, don’t be shy.” People mummer and start walking around as told. Of course, Iris and I don’t move a muscle. I mostly just don’t want to roll around the room; I don’t know what her excuse is. I don’t mind though.
I watch as Eleanor slowly makes her way over to me, introducing herself to a couple of people along the way. I know she saw me since Mrs. Clark announced my name to the whole room.
“What are you doing here?” her eyes widen when she finally reaches me.
“Well hello to you too,” I smirk. “Does your boyfriend know you have bad grades?”
She hangs her head, “Don’t tell him, please.”
“That would require me telling him I was in this room with you, so no thank you.” Perrie and Zayn chose not to tell everyone about my father; Niall doesn’t even know. That’s why Eleanor doesn’t understand why I’m here.
“Why are you here?” she asks again.
“Well why are you?”
She frowns, “I’d rather not say.”
“Me neither.”
“Hi, my name is Iris,” Iris introduces herself to Eleanor.
Eleanor smiles, “Eleanor, nice to meet you. This is Harry,” she points to me. Iris holds out her hand to me to pretend like we aren’t friends. I hate that she’s so worried about what people will think of me.
“Don’t act like you don’t know me Mercy,” I shake my head at her. She huffed and turned away from me. Great.
Eleanor furrows her brows, “Am I missing something here?”
“This is Iris Mercer,” I grin and pat Iris’s leg. “We’ve been friends pretty much since the beginning of the school year.”
“Wow. It’s really nice to meet you then,” Eleanor smiles as she sits on Iris’s desk.
“Really?” Iris beams at the girl.
Eleanor chuckles, “I know who you are and I think people can be so cruel. You don’t deserve all the treatment they give you. It’s nice to know Harry sees that too.”
“Thank you,” Iris smiles.
“Okay guys, settle down and take a seat,” Mrs. Clark yells. Eleanor quickly takes a seat in the desk behind Iris. “Let’s get to the point, shall we? Every one of you has ditched the school at least fourteen days. That’s right, I’ve done my research.” I widen my eyes at Eleanor who only hangs her head in embarrassment. What has she been ditching for?
“I understand that some of you had your reasons, but I know all of you have a disliking of the school. I’ve heard your complaints. ‘Where’s the security?’ ‘The teachers suck.’ ‘Why don’t we do fire drills?’ ‘Why don’t we have very many cameras?’ ‘Our principal is the worst.’ I might’ve left out some of your very colorful vocabulary.” Everyone chuckles.
“The point is, the school has no stability and none of you feel secure here. So I’ve decided to make a petition which I have right here,” she raises a stack of papers in the air. “This petition is to get the principal fired. I have no idea how he’s lasted this long and why on Earth the district would even consider him a leader. So let’s fight. I want you all to get as many signatures as you can. Friends, family, and faculty. They have to be related to you or part of this school. We’re going to make this school a better place for you all.”
Who knew Mrs. Clark could be so badass?
Notes
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11/18/17