“Alright, alright. Your dreams are subconscious creations that involve your day to day problems, or maybe something you’ve been dwelling on for a long time. I’m guessing that your subconscious is just summarizing the life changing events that happened in your life. You all were happy, but then... Well, you know.” Dahlia dodged the topic of my dad, as we both had the past few months. 

Though the knowledge of my father’s untimely death hadn’t ever spread like the plague, it wasn’t a secret. My brothers, sister, and I all had confided in our close friends, and I’m pretty sure all the staff at school knew. Of course, the other people that lived in the apartments that we did also knew. A few others knew, of course, but it was never the main topic of gossip. 

“Anyway, are you going to the 1800s Masquerade dance this Friday?” Dahlia changed the subject of our conversation. 

“And walk around with the snobby kids that are always crowding the dances? No, thanks. I’ll pass,” I told her dismissively. 

“Oh, come on! You can’t let me go by myself! Besides, we can coordinate outfits!” Oh no. She was playing on my weakness! The expression of creativity... 

“Uhh... Maybe,” I hesitantly replied. 

“Please? I’ll even let you choose my entire outfit! Plus, you won’t even have to talk to any of those sassy jerks at the party. You’ll be with me!” Dahlia was really trying to sway me into going. And to be honest, it was working. 

“Fine. But, I get to choose your entire outfit!” I told her, smiling. 

“Yay! You won’t regret it, I promise!” Dahlia was smiling even wider than I was. She had been trying to get me to agree to go to the party for at least a week and a half. At least one of us will be happy about this. 

I groaned, but it was in good nature; I was still smiling. We turned and began working on our homework. 

I didn’t see my two older siblings until lunch. They were both glowering, but luckily they weren’t glowering at each other. I’d bet that they were still angry about this morning, but just chose to ignore each other. And the rest of us, in Kaytelin’s case. 

Dahlia and I were sitting by the cafeteria, on the side facing the main entrance of the school. From this position, we could see nearly all of the student body population eating lunch by the front of the school, and also in through the windows of the cafeteria to see people there. 

Dahlia watched my head swing back and forth, looking at my sister sitting inside the cafeteria with her new ‘friends,’ then turning to look at my brother and his friends, who were lingering next to the main path. 

Finally, Dahlia seemed to have had enough. “Iris? Are you okay?” 

I turned to face her and said, “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” 

Dahlia shrugged. “I don’t know, you seem really fidgety. Are you worried about your siblings?” 

I sighed. Dahlia could read me better than anyone else. “Yeah. I mean, I feel guilty that they’re always fighting, and it’s not good for Braydon to grow up around that environment, especially if they shout and curse as much as they do. And the noise is really loud, and we have thin walls; we are so fortunate to have such kind and understanding neighbors! Why can’t we all just get along, we are still a family after all, but no, they have to fight literally twenty four-seven, every second of every day.” 

I stopped and stared at my best friend’s patient, understanding face. I looked away, into the cafeteria window and stared at my reflection. My face was starting to match the angry looks of my siblings. I sighed and tried to smile. I ended up grimacing. 

“I don’t know why you put up with me. I’m a pain in the butt.” I twisted my head back around to face Dahlia and expected her to agree. I still had that painful grimace on my face. “I’m sure you’d be better off without-” 

“No. I wouldn’t.” 

 I couldn’t even finish my sentence before Dahlia interrupted. She was wearing a stubborn expression, staring fiercely at me. She had taken off her glasses, and I felt like a small barrier between her and the world was removed. 

After her rather passionate interruption, I registered my own expression change. I felt the grimace completely vanish and get replaced with shock, and maybe a bit of some feeling that I couldn’t name. Appreciation? Joy? I’m not sure. 

“Why not?” I hesitantly asked. Surely she could see all the downsides of being my friend. 

“Because you are fun and smart and tough. You are amazing at caring for others but you also manage to find time to have fun. You helped me when I was going through a rough patch and when I was all moody. But when you go through something, I’m expected to drop you like a week-old sandwich. You are my best friend. I am your best friend. You are not getting rid of me that easily!” 

I could see that Dahlia was trying to keep a straight face, to keep the conversation serious. She was already failing when I cracked up, and soon we were laughing together. 

“Thanks, Dahlia. You really are a great best friend.” I hugged Dahlia and she hugged me back. Sometimes, I’m extra grateful for my best friend. Now was one of those times. 

“Anyway, what were we talking about?” I asked her once we broke apart. 

“I don’t know. I think we were talking about your insane older siblings?” Dahlia said jokingly. 

“Oh, yeah. They really should be more mature about our situation.” I sighed, my mood slowly dropping again. Noticing that I was getting steadily upset, Dahlia quickly changed the topic of our conversation. 

“So, what are we going to wear to the dance thing?” she asked. 

I willingly took the bait that was handed to me. “How about we go to your place sometime after school this week to sort out our outfits?” 

Dahlia nodded, agreeing. “Sure, sounds good.” I could hear the slight stiffness as she said this, the small grim shadow hovering over her expression. She never really liked anyone to come over to her place because of her... Unfortunate living style? Dislikeable family situations? 

Don’t get me wrong, Dahlia had no money problems. She has shelter and plenty of food. Actually, that’s an understatement. 

Where I am poor to the point of a six, er, five people family living in a very small four bedroom apartment, she has a three person family that lives in a mansion. We struggle on food and she thrives on feasts. But, while I (kind of) have a kind, calm, and accepting family, Dahlia is struggling with her parents and their incredulous beliefs and expectations. 

She doesn’t really like letting many people come over to her home mainly because, I believe, embarrassment. Her posh parents constantly nagged at her to do something or another. They couldn’t see the point of some things that Dahlia liked to do. 

I knew this because I occasionally went over to my best friend’s house to study together or, back in the day, play together. 

At first, she had been hesitant, but after some time, we grew closer and therefore more comfortable with each other. We now have gone to each other’s places so often that our families were no longer nervous or uncomfortable with the two of us. 

Still, I believed that Dahlia was still embarrassed about her parents, even though I had seen almost all of the worst scenarios. 

I gave Dahlia a weary smile and we continued eating our lunch. I tried not to stare at my two older siblings, and I would’ve loved to say that I succeeded… But that would be a lie. 

Sighing, I decided that I would calm down and stop worrying when my siblings were out of sight. Dahlia and I gathered our things, threw away our trash, and began walking to our next class. 

It was a good thing that we started walking already because our next class was Gym, which was held at the back of the school in the gymnasium or field. 

The bell rang as we arrived, so we had five minutes to talk or mingle with other students. Neither seemed very appealing to either of us, so we spent that time reading or daydreaming. 

“Gather ‘round, class! Today, we begin... basketball!” our physical education coach shouted out. Yay.