Kaley closed her locker, a stack of books in her arms as she prepared to go to class. Just as she was turning, Abigail crashed directly into her.
The books went flying to the ground, scattering in all different directions while the pages fluttered. Kaley’s fall was broken by the row of lockers as she fell against them.
Abigail never even noticed.
She was too busy with her conversation, her minions flanking both sides and listening intently. Their laughter echoed off the walls as people scrambled to get out of their way.
Kaley often wondered if she was, in fact, invisible. It was moments like these that brought the question to life again. Abigail hadn’t seen her, neither had anyone else. Did that mean she had somehow turned see-through?
Nobody stopped to help her collect her books. Kaley crouched down and picked them up, grateful it was only her books that had ended up on the floor and not the contents of her backpack too.
Harper caught up with her just as she was standing. “I have the best idea in the world.”
“You’d better tell me what it is then,” Kaley replied, waiting expectantly. She was used to her best friend making outrageous claims but maybe this time her idea really was the best one in the world.
Harper paused for dramatic effect, drawing out the anticipation to really annoying lengths. “I’m going to play my violin in the talent show!”
The smile on her face meant Kaley couldn’t be unhappy with her. “That’s great. What song will you perform?”
“Well, I decided I’m going to blow them all out of the water with something modern. I’m not going to stand there doing some classical, boring piece. I’m going to redefine the notion of cool.”
They started walking to class, weaving through the other students who were all busy with their own missions. “What would you do with the prize money?”
“Put it in the bank. I’m saving up for a car. By the time I can afford one, I might have my license. Or be a senior citizen, one or the other.” Harper shrugged, and Kaley loved her all the more for her answer.
They reached their English class and went inside, finding desks beside each other. The teacher joined them just as the bell was ringing out in ear-shattering levels.
Kaley settled into the lecture, listening intently but not really hearing. She was distracted by the boy sitting in the back row. She could see him out of the corner of her eye.
Eli.
He was the very definition of hot. If there was one guy she could picture in a daydream, it would be him. Not only because of his cute, messy hair, but because he seemed different to the other jocks. He was smart, she could tell.
Her gaze roamed to him again, just in time to see him staring back at her. Heat made her cheeks rosy as she felt self-conscious embarrassment creeping over her face.
Perhaps she wasn’t as invisible as she thought. If Eli could see her, maybe others could too? Maybe not people like Abigail and her friends, but they didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
Just as Kaley was about to mouth something to Eli, he grinned and nodded. Confused, she turned her head around to the front of the classroom again. Eli’s friend, Matt, was sitting at the desk in front of hers. He wasn’t looking at her at all.
The embarrassment burned in earnest this time, making every part of her hot and humiliated. She was silly for thinking Eli was any different from the rest of them.
Invisible.
As always.
A note landed on Kaley’s desk a few minutes later while she tried to cool her skin. She smoothed it out, recognizing Harvey’s familiar handwriting. It only had a few words on it:
Speed painting?
Frog impressions?
Tap dancing duet?
Kaley turned around until she spotted Harvey. He was pretending to pay attention to the teacher but she wasn’t fooled. In his mind, he would be trying to think of even more ridiculous suggestions for the talent show.
She shook her head and folded the note into her book. If there was a talent show for being a great friend, Harvey would definitely win it. He made her forget all about the earlier incident with Eli.
By lunchtime, it was just a distant memory.
Kaley took her tray to an empty table and sat down, looking forward to eating lunch. Her stomach was rumbling and begging for some tasty goodness. Unfortunately, the cafeteria only managed ordinary blandness.
Harvey quickly sat opposite her with his tray. “So what did you think of my suggestions? I was expecting an outstanding ‘yes’.”
Kaley laughed. “I don’t think I excel at any of your suggestions. My frog impression sucks.”
He shrugged and took a spoonful of the grey mush from his plate. It was supposed to be mashed potatoes. It might have been… a week ago.
“What about your guitar? You can play, right? I’ve seen you with it through the window.”
Kaley froze, her mind reeling with a plausible lie. “I’m really terrible at it.”
“But you’ve been going to lessons since, like, forever.” His face wrinkled with confusion. “Surely you can play something by now?”
“I’m a really slow learner. Playing the guitar is hard. Trust me, nobody will call me talented. It wouldn’t win us first prize.” She purposefully played with her food, making sure she didn’t have to make eye contact with him again.
“Will you play me something so I can be the judge of that?” Harvey asked. “You might be really good, just a really bad judge of yourself.”
His perfectly reasonable request made Kaley want to run away from the conversation. She knew she wasn’t the best guitarist in the world but she didn’t suck either. If she played for Harvey, he would know part of her secret.
That couldn’t happen.
Not for anything in the world.
“Even if you think I’m not terrible, I still wouldn’t be able to play in front of the whole school,” she replied, hoping a half-truth was better than a total lie. “I would freeze up and then be the laughing stock of the school.”
“I’d be there with you.”
“Doing what? Singing?”
Harvey shrugged with just one shoulder. “I can hold a tune. It’s not like they expect us to be professional or anything. It’s just a school show.”
Kaley gave him an apologetic look but wouldn’t give in. Protecting her secret was the single most important thing in her life. If people discovered her talents or her songbook, everything about her would be exposed. It was too much of a risk, even for her best friends.
Thankfully, Harvey dropped the subject and they moved on to safer things like homework. Kaley excused herself halfway through the break. She had something to do that would guarantee her non-participation in the talent show.
She found the signup sheet outside the auditorium. The talent show needed crew members as well as talented acts. She added her name to the list, volunteering to be behind the curtains instead of in front of them.
It was a perfect solution.
Chapter 4