At Lunch, I went to the cafeteria. I'd packed my own food- remembering the grisly healthy school versions. Mia waved me over and I walked over, mentally prepping my back story.

"Everyone, meet Caroline. Caroline, meet Aiden, Grace, Jay, Elizabeth and Milo- they're dating- Jax and the fabulous moi!" Mia introduced and I laughed, still standing.

Suddenly, two hands clasped on my shoulders.

I blame instincts on what happened next.

I spun around and kneed whoever was holding me between the legs. I then stomped on their foot and was about to punch them, when I realised it was Cole.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" I cried, slapping my hand over my mouth. Behind him, James was laughing hysterically while Cole swore violently.

"I told you not to scare her!" James rightened himself up and wiped his eyes, "hi Ir- Caroline."

"James, Cole?" Grace frowned and cocked her head to the side, "what're you doing here?"

"Caroline here," he slung an arm around my shoulders, "is my close friend so I came to see how she was doing."

"Me too," Cole wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Well, I'm fine," I smiled. Lies. "So you can go if you want."

"We'll stay," Cole replied, sitting down next to Mia, "if that's okay."

"The more the merrier," Jay grinned.

Throughout the entire Lunch, it felt like someone was repeatedly stomping on my heart. I just realised how much I missed my friends and it hurt that I had to talk to them as Caroline Brockwood- rather than Iris West-Brown. It only got worse when my brothers came over.

"Hey guys," Oscar smiled, although he looked tired, "who's this?" He looked at me kindly.

"I'm Caroline," I forced out. Under the table, Cole and James intertwined their fingers with my own and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Hi Caroline," Oscar waved, "hi Cole and James. I'm Oscar and these are my brothers: Daimen, Julian, Will and Brandon." They each waved, except from Daimen who was studying me curiously.

"Sorry, do I know you?" He asked.

I shook my head, "that's the second or third time someone has said that to me... I guess I just remind you of someone you used to know."

"Yeah..." Daimen frowned thoughtfully, "you remind me of," he hesitated, "her."

Instantly, the atmosphere in our circle became tense and somber.

"Who's her?" I asked.

"Our sister," Will said shortly, "she died last year."

"Oh," I mumbled. I gripped Cole and James' hands slightly tighter, "I'm sorry," for more than one reason.

"Not you fault," Jax spoke mechanically.

"Why don't you guys come round to ours after school?" Brandon suggested and we all agreed.

There's something incredibly familiar about Caroline. Weirdly, I felt brotherly love and protectiveness towards her- something I had only felt towards Iris.

Could it be possible-?

No. Iris is dead. She is not coming back.

I sighed inaudibly. I kept replaying the scene in my mind.

We had gone to the abandoned warehouse to get Iris back- or help her. The fight was going well; we appeared to be winning.

I looked at Iris and felt a fierce pride overcome me as I looked at my baby sister fighting. Suddenly, I saw a man in the shadows pointing a gun at Iris. He fired.

I screamed her name, but was powerless to do anything but watch as the bullets hit her. I've never felt so angry, afraid or sad in my life.

The few months after that were Hell. Me, my family, Jax and Alex barely ate, slept or socialised. We were like the walking dead. Our extended family had flown in from Italy- devastated that they couldn't have met Iris. They pulled us out of the dark cesspool and helped us overcome our grief.

End of flashback.

I blinked and shook my head slightly, hoping no one had realised that I'd zoned out. We talked for a while before me and my brothers left to go to our next lesson- which started earlier than our friends'

My brothers left a short while back and me and my friends were chatting. I was dying to ask how Alex was, but I couldn't since that would reveal my identity.

"Hello," we all looked up and saw Ruby.

"Goodbye," Milo said shortly.

"Calm down, I just wanted to see the newcomer," she smiled with fake sweetness at me. Her hair was brown and fell in waves down to her back and her green eyes flashed viciously.

"I'm Caroline," I said, "and you are...?"

"Ruby," she extended a delicate manicured hand and shook mine. She proceeded to say in a stage whisper, "don't hang around with these losers," she looked at Elizabeth pointedly, "they're disgusting."

Elizabeth coolly raised an eyebrow and stood up, "excuse me?"

Ruby sneered, "you heard me. You're all disgusting freaks. Just like your dead, stupid friend."

A loud crack! Filled the air and I gasped in shock as Mia slapped Ruby. She yelled several words that weren't PG13 before sitting down and calmly finishing her sandwich.

"How dare you?!" Ruby snarled and glared at Mia, but she was too scared to fight back. Instead, she rounded on Elizabeth and began saying some very cruel things. By the end of it, I was ready to jump up and beat the snickers out of Ruby.

Elizabeth smirked wickedly and began chanting in a foreign language. It was eerie how her voice rose and fell and the anger she spoke with was directed at Ruby. After she finished, she smiled, satisfied, and sat down.

"What was that?" Ruby asked.

"Oh just some curse my African grandparents taught me," Elizabeth spoke casually, "if I were you, I wouldn't brush my hair too much. Oh and be careful about the makeup I apply."

The look on Ruby's red face was priceless. She stuttered a bit before turning around and storming back to her table.

"Okay, Liz, that was hilarious but what was that, though?" Milo asked.

"A cake recipe and some swear words," Elizabeth shrugged and bowed when we all clapped.

God I missed them so much.