Center of the Iris

Sitting on her bed, with crossed legs - a lady in her pajamas reading a book. More precisely, a romance book.

In this age, who doesn't want to dream about those fantastical love stories? If it is about transporting oneself to another dimension, isn't it cool that way? Becoming a villain in a story, isn't it thrilling enough to be adapted into a movie?

Jade was one of those people, and forever will be. She's an avid reader of love stories and had a large collection of that in her room.

"Stupid! How can he not see that he's being taken advantage of?"

Jade angrily yelled as she put down the book in her hands and took off her glasses. She had been reading this book for three days, and what she only got was a belly full of anger.

The story is about the common plot line of the popular handsome rich guy falling in love with a lower class poor girl.

That's not the reason why she is getting angry. Her reason is rather simple. It was obvious how the female lead was only after the male lead’s money, but the male lead turned a blind eye in the name of love. Such absurdity! 

Jade massaged her temples and held the book tightly in her hands, fixing her glasses. She doesn’t have bad eyes, it was just to complete the nerdy look everybody’s sporting these days. 

"Let's see where you will end up, stupid story!"

"Jade! Come out of your room right now and stop reading! The food is ready!"

"Just a moment!"

Jade yelled, replying to her mom downstairs. Her mom had always nagged her why she was always inside her room all day and wasting her time reading novels. Oftentimes, she would have forgotten to eat her meals had it not been for her mother reminding her. She is addicted to reading. Her life revolved around reading those piles of books.

Jade looked sharply at the book in her hands and started reading like crazy.

"Eating can wait, this thing cannot." She mumbled under her breath.

The scene she was reading was when the villain of that story finally ended her own life. She had a fallout with the male lead, who was then her former fiancé before the main characters met each other.

Due to the burning jealousy and hatred the villainess felt in her heart, she ended her own life. She knows she's better off dead than to see her man with somebody else.

Anyway, she had done her best to be deserving of him but he had not looked in her way even once. In those eyes contained only the cunning female lead – there was no one else. 

Jade suddenly felt so dizzy as she stared at the letters on the page. She wasn’t feeling sleepy at all, but the words felt like they were pulling her to sleep, as if they were dancing and her whole world was spinning. 

".... Jade...."

Before completely drowning in the darkness, she heard her mom calling her and the clicking of the doorknob.

An unending darkness stretched out from where she stands until to who-knows-where. It is endless. An infinite place of void.

Jade heard a female voice in her ears just like a whisper.

"I like Morris..."

"No matter what I do, why wouldn't you look at me even once?"

"I should be gone. Goodbye..."

A faraway voice, a stream of painful cries drifted in that dark space.

Jade felt a pull in her body and she willingly let herself be pulled by that unknown force.

Who knows where that dream will take her.

……

Jade didn't know how long her dream was. All she knew was that her whole body was aching all over. God knows why she is feeling like this.

When she opened her eyes, the hurtful rays of the sun greeted her eyes which she squinted and tried to adjust her sight. She closed her eyes again and put her arms over her face while taking a deep breath. She then slowly got up from the bed and stretched her arms with a big yawn. 

As usual, she felt around her eyes to remove eye mucus. She also breathed into her palms and smelled it.

"Oh! Gross!"

She didn’t stop there. With her straightened index finger, she put it inside – inside her nose and pulled out some boogers. Eww!

"Yuck!"

She then flicked it to the wall. She suddenly noticed that it was painted pink, and everything in her room was spiking pink – the kind of pink that is Barbie pink. Even her bed was of the same color, decorated with some pretty exaggerated ruffles and laces. 

“Has my room always been like this? Too much pink right in the morning….” 

When she stood up, her long, wavy golden hair cascaded down her shoulders. Jade stopped her movements and looked down on her hair. 

"Is my hair always this pretty, or was it frizzy, short, messy like a bird's nest, and as stiff as wire? Wow, this better be… real.” 

She foolishly smiled and walked out of the door, stretching her arms again. As she walked out the door of her bedroom, she saw a luxurious chandelier with mellow lights hanging on the high ceiling.

"Ah... "

Jade doesn’t remember their house being this luxurious. Since when were we so rich to afford such a big chandelier? Dad even loaned a good hundred thousand from the bank just to renovate the old house that must have been built since World War II. 

“Maybe Dad finally won the lottery and bought this mansion? This is impossible.” 

She walked down the spiral stairs and looked around the big mansion. It has always been her dream to live in a mansion. 

Krooooook...

At that moment, she heard her stomach growling in hunger. What time is it now? I’m starving. 

She walked down until she reached the lower floor and walked in circles. 

"Mom! Dad! Clepe! Keab! Where are you? Are we playing hide and seek? Come out now!"

She then heard hurried footsteps towards her direction.

‘Heh, they still run when I call for them. Such is the power of being the only daughter in the family.’ 

Then the footsteps stopped behind her. Jade thought of doing the thing she had always been doing every time she calls for her family and they arrive. She quickly turned around, and, “Gotcha! Ah… huh?”

Instead of her parents and her brothers, there was a long line of women in their thirties and wearing formal outfits, almost like those she sees in dramas. Their heads were deeply bowed to her direction. 

Then their loud and harmonized voice echoed over the whole place, “Good morning, milady!” 

“Uh… morning? Who are you? Wait… I need to get out of here!”

“Milady!” 

Jade turned her body around and started to run. Unexpectedly, she collided with something – or someone. 

"Ouch!"

She held her head and was about to throw curses to the person she bumped into. She angrily raised her head and looked up at that person. 

Instead of curses, her breathing stopped and her eyes widened, “Dad!”