Chapter 158: Iris Doesn’t Know How to Be Casual.

Iris Valentine had a pretty clear opinion about the whole introductions thing.

It was unnecessarily complicated, and the nerves everyone else had seemed like way too much.

Iris was sitting in her room at her desk, checking the group chat.

Yume had sent several messages talking about how important it was to make a good impression.

Aria had written a list of recommendations that no one had asked for.

Luna had pointed out that being honest was enough.

Ren had recommended not letting Aria organize anything.

Noah had written.

[Iris, please just let me know before you go.]

Iris looked at the message and then replied.

[Yes.]

Noah answered.

[Yes what?]

Iris wrote.

[I’ll let you know.]

Noah replied.

[Thanks.]

Iris put the phone down.

’I don’t get why they’re making such a big deal out of this.’

The solution was simple: just find Sarah or Emma and say.

"I’m Noah’s girlfriend."

Answer a few questions and that would be the end of it.

She didn’t need to practice, or bring gifts, or show up in some special way, and least of all prepare a dinner.

It was a conversation, nothing more.

Iris looked back at her computer screen.

She had been playing for almost an hour, but now she couldn’t focus.

She lost a match, frowned, tried again and lost another, so she leaned back slightly in her chair.

’So annoying.’

It wasn’t the game’s fault, she was thinking about the introduction.

Iris picked up her phone, opened the chat with Noah, and wrote.

[Tomorrow I’m going to introduce myself to your moms.]

Noah took only a few seconds.

[Tomorrow?]

[Yes.]

[How?]

Iris replied.

[By talking, duh.]

Several seconds passed and Noah sent another message.

[I meant where.]

Iris stared at the message.

[Wherever I find one of them.]

Noah replied.

[That doesn’t make me feel better.]

Iris answered him.

[I’m not going to do anything weird.]

Noah took a moment.

[They all said the same thing.]

Iris put the phone down.

She didn’t understand his concern, since she was different.

The next day, Iris left high school with a simple strategy: talk directly to Sarah. She had chosen Sarah because she seemed easier.

There wasn’t any particularly deep reason, she just knew her better than Emma.

Besides, after hearing what happened with Luna at the café, she already knew Sarah was aware of part of the situation, so that cut down on explanations.

Iris had managed to find out from Noah that Sarah would be at a shopping area that afternoon.

She hadn’t asked for more details, since she didn’t want to repeat Yume’s behavior.

She arrived at the place, looked around, and found Sarah pretty quickly.

She was walking into a clothing store, so Iris stopped.

’Okay.’

She just had to approach.

Go in, say hello, and tell the truth, that was easy.

Iris walked toward the store and, after three steps, stopped.

She watched Sarah from a distance while she was checking some clothes.

Iris didn’t move forward.

’I can do it when she comes out.’

That was more logical, since there was no point interrupting her while she was shopping, so Iris waited.

Five minutes, then seven, and Sarah came out with a small bag, so Iris straightened up.

’Now.’

Sarah started walking and Iris followed behind.

They were about twenty meters apart, so Iris sped up a little and then slowed down.

’I don’t need to run.’

Sarah crossed over to another store, so Iris followed her and went in a few seconds later.

Sarah started looking at personal care products, so Iris stayed near the entrance and watched her.

An employee approached.

"Need any help?"

Iris shook her head.

"No."

"Looking for something?"

"No, nothing."

The employee waited, but Iris kept looking toward Sarah, so the woman followed the direction of her gaze and then looked back at Iris.

"I see."

She walked away and Iris frowned slightly.

’What did she see?’

Sarah moved to another aisle and Iris did too.

Sarah stopped and Iris stopped.

Sarah picked up a product and Iris grabbed the first thing nearby, looked at it, it was hand cream.

She didn’t need hand cream, so she put it back.

Sarah turned, so Iris immediately looked at another shelf.

Sarah continued and Iris waited a few seconds before walking after her.

’This is ridiculous.’

She could approach her now, she just had to do it, so she took several steps.

She was less than ten meters away, but then Sarah started talking to a worker and Iris stopped again.

’Later.’

She waited until Sarah finished talking and moved forward.

Sarah left the store and Iris closed her eyes for a second before following her.

After ten minutes, Iris started to notice a problem: she had been following Sarah for way too long.

Not because she wanted to, she simply couldn’t find a moment she considered appropriate.

Every time she could get closer, Sarah did something.

Went into a store, checked her phone, talked to someone, looked at a display window, so Iris didn’t want to interrupt.

That was all.

It had nothing to do with nerves, absolutely nothing.

’I’m not nervous.’

Sarah went into another store and Iris went in behind her.

’This is just bad timing.’

Sarah looked back and Iris looked away.

She found a shelf with accessories, picked one up, examined it, it was a hair ribbon, so she put it down.

Sarah kept walking and Iris followed, this time farther away.

’Too far.’

She didn’t want to look suspicious, though it was probably already too late for that.

Sarah left, so Iris waited ten seconds and then went out.

She followed her down the main hallway and Sarah stopped in front of a store, so Iris did too.

Sarah looked at a display window and Iris looked at another.

Sarah started walking again and Iris did the same.

’This is worse than just talking.’

Iris remembered Yume and how she had described trying to create a casual encounter.

At the time it had seemed stupid, but now she understood one thing: trying to make a conversation seem natural took way too much effort.

’I should have just gone straight up to her.’

She could still do it, so Iris sped up, but Sarah suddenly turned and Iris stopped immediately.

Their eyes met and there was a brief silence.

Sarah frowned slightly, while Iris said nothing, so Sarah started walking again and Iris exhaled.

’Okay.’

She waited a few seconds and followed her again.

A few more minutes passed.

Sarah changed stores and Iris did too.

Sarah stopped and Iris stopped.

Sarah started walking more slowly and Iris slowed down.

Sarah turned down another aisle and Iris did the same.

Finally, Sarah stopped completely and turned, but this time she didn’t look away.

Iris stood still and Sarah watched her for several seconds before asking.

"Do you need something?"

Iris answered.

"No."

Sarah raised an eyebrow and Iris kept her serious expression.

Sarah waited, but Iris didn’t say anything else.

"Then why have you been following me for fifteen minutes?"

Iris went completely silent when she heard that.

’Fifteen minutes?’

It had been longer than she thought.

Sarah crossed her arms and Iris tried to think of an answer, but couldn’t find one.

Sarah watched her, waiting for the response.

"Well?"

Iris looked to the side.

"I wasn’t following you, trust me."

Sarah looked behind her and then pointed at the path they had taken.

"You changed stores with me four times."

Iris stayed silent and Sarah added.

"When I stopped, you stopped."

There was silence, since that was the only answer Iris had to that evidence.

"When I changed direction, too."

Iris couldn’t argue with that and Sarah looked at her.

"And five minutes ago you pretended to be interested in a hair ribbon."

Iris frowned slightly.

"Maybe I was actually thinking about buying it."

"But you didn’t buy it."

"No."

Sarah started to smile, so Iris understood the situation could no longer be saved.

’This is a waste of time. I just have to tell her, but I...’

The nerves consumed her and she decided to make a strategic retreat for the day, so she fled, leaving Sarah behind, who didn’t really understand what had just happened.

Iris started running toward the station while thinking about everything that had occurred.

All she had needed to do was talk, but she couldn’t, and the problem had gotten bigger because she had spent fifteen minutes in a chase that was uncomfortable to remember.

Iris stopped a few blocks later, took out her phone, and saw that Noah had written her privately.

[Everything okay?]

Iris replied.

[I don’t think so.]

Noah answered.

[What did you do?]

Iris looked at the screen and thought about lying, but it wasn’t worth it anymore.

[I accidentally followed your mom.]

The reply came in less than five seconds.

[WHAT?]

Iris put the phone away.

’I’ll explain later.’

She continued her escape, but walking now, since she had gotten tired.

She had learned something important that day: casual encounters were a waste of time.

Her next move was simply to tell them straight about her relationship with Noah, since that was much more efficient and a lot less suspicious.