Approach him

Iris tiptoed as quietly as she could until she was right behind the figure. He didn't notice her, as it was clear his attention was focused towards the wall. He was bracing himself against it, like he was trying to convince himself to do something.

She tried to say something before she realized she had no idea what she wanted to say to him. Somehow, she had not actually thought about what she would say to him. How could she be so stupid? What was wrong with her? She tried clearing her throat, instead managing to **** on her own spit. She began to cough.

The boy jumped in surprise, almost managing to fall directly on her before he recovered. He turned around. "Are you okay?", he asked her, his face concerned.

"I'm fine.", she waved, wheezing as she recovered from her coughing fit. They stood in awkward silence for a second, each looking at the other.

"What are you-", they started to speak in unison, causing them to awkwardly pause. This was not going well.

The second time, she managed to get her words out before him. "Are you trying to sneak inside the party?", she squeaked.

"Uh, no!", he lied without any real conviction in his voice. "Wait, do I know you?"

Iris gulped, unsure how to respond. It made sense that he hadn't recognized her. With her large glasses, curly hair and braces, she was probably invisible to most of the guys in her class.

"Hold on!", Valerie interrupted her. "Nirvana shirt, glasses AND braces? Were you trying to check every single box on the nerdy girl bingo?"

"How was I supposed to know?", protested Iris. "We all made mistakes when we were young!"

"From the way you describe yourself, you've certainly had a glow up since then.", teased Valerie. "You should hear what some of the guys say about you."

"You're one to talk.", Iris retorted back, blushing slightly. "Anyway, back to the story."

"N-no you don't!", she responded, almost too quickly. She could see his eyes narrow, and decided to change the subject before he had too much time to recall where he had seen her before.

"You could get into real trouble for this, you know.", she said.

He looked at her with a pained expression. It was clear he wasn't telling her something.

"Did they send you? Is this another one of their pranks?", he asked accusatorily.

"What do you mean?", she asked, confused. She continued, mixing a lie with a truth. "Nobody sent me. I-I was just passing by."

The boy looked around, almost expecting someone else to interrupt. When nothing happened, he sighed.

"Look, you can tell me what's going on.", she said with genuine concern in her voice. "I can tell you don't want to do this."

"Wait, you're telling me that trespassing on private property to enter a girls only party is a bad idea?", he sneered, resentment dripping from his voice.

"I'm sorry. It's just-"., he stopped, struggling to continue his sentence.

"It's okay.", she replied. "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

He sighed. "Fine. I don't know if I'm make a mistake telling you this, but I'm screwed anyway so what the hell."

"A bunch of dickhead fratboys have made my life hell. I asked them what it would take for them to leave me alone. They said, steal some girls' panties from the party tonight and we won't bother you again."

Iris was surprised to see him struggling to hold back tears. To her own surprise, she reached out to him, gently squeezing his arm.

"It's okay. Being bullied sucks - I should know.". She tried to smile.

"As if.", he retorted. "Pretty girls like you don't get bullied." He sighed, interrupting himself. "I'm sorry", he continued, "I shouldn't have said that."

Iris was surprised. She had been called a lot of things, but pretty wasn't really one of them.

"It's okay. I'm so sorry they asked you to do this.", she said. "You know what will happen if you try, right? You're going to get expelled."

"I know. But what do you expect me to do? I'm screwed either way.", he sighed defeatedly.

Iris was beginning to understand why he had been so defensive when he had replied to her text. He probably expected the messages to be coming from the bullies.

"I might have an idea.", she replied.