Iris slammed her lunch tray down on the table befor inserting herself in between her two best friends. She moaned before slamming her forehead next to the tray.

"Amber?" James asked on her right, his messy blond hair catching the sunlight, turning it gold.

"Do you see her? Of course it's Amber, you knucklehead!" Vanessa retorted on Iris' left, her red hair blazing like a bonfire.

"I am not a knucklehead!"

"Sure," She replied, picking at her razor sharp acrylics. "Maybe in your dreams."

"You wish your dreams were as good as mine!"

"Do they involve Cindy?"

"Uhhhh... no?"

"Mmmn. Thought so. And for the record, I'd tap that."

James flushed red. "That's my girlfriend!"

Through all of their bickering, Iris couldn't help but crack a smile at their antics. As she dug into her food, Vanessa let out a loud gasp.

"Who is that?"

Iris followed Vanessa's gaze to a tall guy standing in the doorway of the cafeteria. His chocolate brown eyes surveyed the suddenly quite room as a hand ran through his messy shoulder length black hair. They continued to sweep back and forth across the room until they landed on Iris. She let out a massive groan as he smirked and began to walk over. Vanessa scratched at Iris' hand but Iris refused to look up, even when she felt a presence approach her from behind.

"Not interested. Bye bye." She said curtly, not letting the stranger get in a word edgewise.

Vanessa jabbed her sharp nails into Iris' side as the stranger spoke.

"Actually, I was going to ask if you knew where Rana Abboud is."

Iris lifted her head and met his eyes. He had an amused eyebrow raised as Iris flushed red from embarrassment.

"Sorry." She murmured, looking at the table.

"No problem. It was, refreshing."

Iris surveyed the newcomer, taking in his cool demeanour and wardrobe choices. In her opinion, the ripped black jeans and leather jacket combo was way to over played.

"Why do you want Rana?" Iris questioned. She knew Rana from biology, a real loudmouth with a comeback always on the tip of her tongue.

He studied Iris for a minute before replying. "I'm her brother. I need to talk to her about something important."

Iris took in his pale complexion, drawing comparisons between him and the Arabic girl he was looking for. She opened her mouth to question him more as Vanessa stood up, grabbed his arm and began to drag him out of the cafeteria.

"C'mon handsome, I'll show you where Rana hangs out. And the names Vanessa." She flirted as her red hair bounced around her face, her eyelashes fluttering over her brown eyes.

"Zac. It's a pleasure." He replied.

Vanessa giggled as they left and turned the corner. James rolled his eyes as Iris repeatedly banged her head on the table.

"Stop doing that! You can't afford to do that, you're the only one with brain cells left in this group!"

That elicited a smile from Iris as she stopped.

"You're an idiot James."

"Yeah, but you love me anyway."

Iris shrugged. James smirked, knowing he was right.

"You're not denying it."

She laughed as she stood up from the table, making sure to shove his shoulder playfully as she got up. James followed her with his own tray and they both dumped them at the clean up station.

"We should go find Vanessa and make sure that she hasn't ravished the poor boy already." James commented, eyes sweeping the cafeteria. Iris studied his face for a moment before smiling internally.

"Agreed."

As the two of them began to walk, a large explosion went off outside, shaking the entire building. People screamed as dust rained down on people while other were knocked off their feet, including Iris and James. James fell on top of Iris cushioning his fall while Iris got the wind knocked out of her.

"Iris!" James yelled. "Iris! Can you hear me?"

"Of course I can!" She groaned, pushing James off.

Iris sat up and surveyed the hordes of panicked people, all of them running out the doors. Iris pulled James up from the floor just before another wave of students trampled him. She surveyed the room before grabbing James' hand and jumping up on an empty table.

"Hey, what are you-"

Iris cupped her hands around her mouth and took a deep breath.

"STOP!"

Her naturally loud and booming voice reverberated around the room, causing everyone still in the cafeteria to stop and look at her.

"Everybody, calm down. Panicking isn't going to help us. Now sit all of your butts back in your seats and stay quiet."

A lot of people mumbled and groaned, but everyone returned to their seats while James whistle appreciatively.

"I've said it once but I'll say it again, you would make a great school president." He said as Iris hopped off the table.

"No thanks, you know that I..." She trailed off, her eyes widening.

"What's wrong?" James asked, concerned.

"Vanessa." Iris whispered. James' eyes widened, matching Iris'

"She can't have gone far." He fretted. "She's gotta be close."

"You check inside, I'll check outside." Iris said, immediately bolting out of the cafeteria, headed straight for the outside doors.

"Hey!" A familiar voice called out. Iris groaned internally.

Really, she wants to talk now?

Iris continued to run, leaving Amber behind her. Or so she thought. As Iris finally got out of the building, the air became thirty degrees colder, making her stop in her tracks. As she lifted her head up to the sky, Amber crashed into Iris' solid back.

"Don't you dare run away from me again when I'm talking to you." She panted, face flushed red.

"Amber, shut up."

"Excuse me!?" She yelled shrilly. "Don't you dare talk to me that way!"

"SHUT UP!" Iris snapped, turning around to face Amber. "Would you get your head out of your tiny culo and think about something other than yourself?"

Amber finally focused on the sky behind Iris, her jaw slackening as she saw the giant black wave that towered over the buildings. Iris grabbed her wrist and dragged her back into the school, taking the opportunity to save Amber before she started whining again.

She shut the doors behind her and locked them as Amber stared outside in horror. Amber finally seemed to regain some sense, enough to start freaking out.

"Oh my god, what is that thing? We're gonna die, aren't we?" She panicked.

Iris ignored her and began to run off. Amber grabbed her upper arm and yanked  Iris back.

"What?" Iris asked, clearly annoyed. "Unlike you, I have a friend I care about who's out there somewhere. And I don't know if she's okay or not. So if you'll excuse me, I have a friend to find and possibly save from that freaky black wave thing."

She yanked her arm out of Amber's grip and took off, leaving Amber behind. She debated for a minute before letting out a groan and chasing after Iris.

"I'm so going to regret this."

1180 words. How proud are you guys? Because I am so proud of myself.

Any thoughts on these pictures that I keep putting up? On the characters? The story? My terrible writing?

Shoutout to live_life_with_books for being down to fight someone over a ship.

Don't forget to vote, comment and share!

- Samantha