True Places(67)

Iris lagged behind Suzanne, wishing herself away from here, this mockery of the place she loved more than anything else, the only home she had ever had and the only one she’d ever wanted. She’d rather be inside the ice palace with the cacti. It was more honest.

Suzanne called her name. Iris caught up. Suzanne pointed at the base of an old oak. “I’m wondering if you’ve seen that plant. The one about a foot high with the five leaflets.”

Iris hadn’t seen it for a very long time, but she’d spent too much time with it not to remember. “I used to help my mother dig it up.”

“Really?” Suzanne seemed surprised.

“We had a big patch. We dug it up in the fall.”

“And you sold it?”

“Some. My father took a sack with him.”

Suzanne was frowning. “You never mentioned ginseng.”

“I hadn’t thought about it. It was a long time ago.”

Suzanne stared at her as if Iris had a whole bunch of secrets wadded up in her brain. Maybe she did. Sometimes it was hard to know what to say and what to leave out. When it came to her life in the woods with Ash, with Mama and Daddy, most of the memories were so hard to find and so hard to hold on to they seemed like secrets to her, too.

Iris pictured herself squatting next to her mother, carefully brushing the dirt from the twisted root of the plant, still attached to the vivid green stem and the cluster of red berries in the center.

“Sang. Mama called it sang.”

Suzanne put her arms around Iris, then, and Iris didn’t pull away. Her tears came without her permission, hot and fast. Iris let Suzanne hold her, let her stroke her hair.

She let Suzanne rock her a little, in those fake woods.





CHAPTER 29

Brynn had maybe a half hour to get Iris ready for photos. It would’ve been simpler to have let Iris come along to the salon with her for an updo and makeup, but that was out of the question. Iris wasn’t the starved rat she had been when she first showed up, but she still wasn’t normal. She was a stick and moved too fast all the time. And something in her eyes was sketchy, like she knew a lot more than she let on. For tonight, Brynn needed her to look better than someone you’d find living beneath an underpass. Iris had to look, well, hot, or at least lukewarm.

“The color is super pretty on you, Iris.”

Iris glanced down at the dress like she’d forgotten what she had on. Brynn’s dress from sixth grade was too long on Iris, but the lilac color did bring out her eyes. And it was stretchy and hugged Iris’s so-called curves. Brynn’s mother was not going to approve, but by the time she saw it would be too late.

Brynn wielded the flat iron like a magic wand, setting loose curls in Iris’s hair.

“Lift your chin and close your eyes.” The girl did as she was told. Brynn applied eyeliner (navy, not black this time, and not all the way around, lol), mascara, blush, and pale lip gloss. “Ta-da!”

Iris studied herself in the vanity mirror, turning first one way then the other.

“I hope you’re not going to scowl like that in the photos.”

Iris pouted, lowered her chin, and widened her eyes. A perfect duck face.

Brynn laughed. “You’re learning, Iris.”

Iris smiled, genuinely this time.

Brynn heard high voices from downstairs. Her friends were arriving. Not all of them would fit in the limo, but they wanted to take pictures together while their makeup and hair were fresh. Plus Brynn’s house, with the white columns, wide porch, and huge flowering bushes, had the best scenery. Some of the boys would already have smoked weed, not caring if it showed, but all the girls would wait until after the photos. What was the point otherwise? Brynn had to pace herself anyway. She didn’t want to be trashed before she got to Robby’s party. When she’d seen him a few days ago, they’d hooked up—not all the way, but enough that she knew he wanted her. Seriously wanted her. So she’d get loose at Kendall’s but wait to get way live with him.

Iris got up, teetering on her heels.

“One sec.” Brynn went to her desk and opened the top drawer. “I got you something.” She handed Iris a phone.

“I have a phone.”

“But you can actually call on this one, and text.” She winked at Iris. “And take photos.”

Iris turned on the phone. The screensaver was a rainbow.

“Iris was the rainbow goddess, right?”

“Yes, the messenger for Zeus. That’s what my mother told me.” Iris held the phone by the edges, like it was delicate. “Thanks, Brynn.”

“No problem. I put my number in there for you. Just don’t let my mom know, okay? She treats you like a baby.” Brynn put her arm around Iris’s shoulders and guided her to face the full-length mirror. “Wait until the boys see you, Iris. Wait until Sam sees you.”

Iris blushed.

“Just wait. We’ll have so much fun.” Every teenager deserved to have fun, live on the edge a little. Even Iris.



The house was filled with people, and there were more outside on the porch and spreading over the lawn. Iris had thought it would only be a few of Brynn’s friends, but parents were there, too, and brothers and sisters and even some grandparents, including Suzanne’s parents. Worse than the crowd, though, was the look on Suzanne’s face when Iris came downstairs. Her mouth opened, but she didn’t say anything. She bit her lip, and her eyes were so sad, Iris had to look away. Suzanne went outside and pulled Brynn from her circle of friends, and although Iris couldn’t hear the conversation, she could tell Suzanne was angry from the way she grabbed Brynn’s arm. Whit took Suzanne away. Iris was confused. All the other girls had dressed up. Why shouldn’t she?