Who Is Iris?

Thump. Iris collapsed on her new bed, unopened boxes around. She was exhausted from all the unpacking she did. She was about to drift off to sleep when something cold touched her cheek. Startled, she looked towards the culprit. "Sorry, I just thought you might need a drink." The other girl set down a can of cola on her bedside table. "I'm Dawn Dela Fuentez by the way, your roommate. Hope you won't find me too annoying," she said, a teasing smile directed at Iris. Giggling, Iris got up and grabbed the cola. Opening it she said, "Iris Villareal. Though I don't think you could get any more annoying than my cousins." She laughed, before downing the cola. "Arts Department then guessing from your ridiculous amount of oil paints and brushes. God I never know how y'all carry so much." She looked confounded pointing at Iris' stuff. "Oh yeah, we don't either, it's just a power all artists have," Iris said with the most serious face ever. "I'm guessing you're an in Acounting? Judging from your post-its on your wall." Raising an eyebrow, she gestured to Dawn's wall filled with different colored post-it notes. "I am actually-." Dawn suddenly looked at the clock before looking back at Iris. "We'll need to cut this conversation short, it's almost time for dinner." She threw her can in the trashcan and headed for the door. Opening it she paused, turned to Iris, and asked, "Want to join me and my friends?" Iris thought for a moment and said, "Yeah, you can go first though, I need to freshen up a bit." A smile was directed towards Dawn as she nodded and left for the Dining Hall. Once Dawn left, Iris sighed and got up up from her bed. She entered their shared bathroom and washed her face. After washing her face she looked at herself in the mirror. She started recounting what her mother said before she left for university. "This is a new start Iris. Remember what your therapist told you. And remember to make good friends." Mother Villareal said whilst handing her her bags. Though I think the good friends will be a bit hard. She thought to herself. And went out of the room to go have dinner. When she entered the dining hall, she was greeted with the sound of chatter and laughter amongst the other students. She scanned the room, looking for Dawn and her friends. When she found them, she saw that Dawn was waving at her. Smiling, she approached their table. She was ushered into an empty seat next to Dawn and introduced herself. "Iris Villareal. Arts Department. And Dawn's roommate." One of the people at the table perked up. "The Iris Villareal?! I love your artworks!" A person with bright pink hair looked at her with stars in her eyes. "I can't believe you didn't tell me your roommate is my idol." She said to her friend looking somewhat betrayed. "Alex loves you." Dawn piped up right next to her. "I knew she would freak out if I told her so I just didn't. And their reaction earlier was priceless." She said barely holding in her laugh. "This isn't funny D!" Alex shouted at Dawn. Dawn just burst out laughing. "Now now. Stop fighting children." A mocking voice said behind Iris. The person sat down next to Alex with an amused smile on their face. They were wearing bold make-up and had some piercings. "The names Farhana. Farhana Wong. This one next to me is Alexandria Ammar." Farhana said nudging Alex. Alex groaned. "You can call me Alex, only my family calls me Alexandria." She said biting the chicken wing in her hand. Dawn smiled and turned to Iris. "My pronouns are she/her, Alex's is she/they, and Farhana's is she/him," she said, pointing towards the other two as she spoke. Iris gave them a soft smile and nodded. "Good to know. But first I need to eat." She said while reaching out for the chicken and biting into it. She paused for a while before eating like she hasn't in years. The others laughed and began digging in.