Invisible

FAMILY

MY LEGS PULL ME FORWARD, toward the place my life ended, where everything faded to black.

“Let me tell you something,” he said, his hands tugging at my shorts…

I keep walking, trying to concentrate on the houses we passed on the way to the wooded area. All brick houses, different colored shudders. Black, dark brown, ugly white…

“You can tell as many lies on me as you want. Just remember you’re not the only girl I could do this with.”

Just when I don’t think I can run anymore, when I'm sure my legs are about to give out… I see it. It’s right here in front of me, in the same place it’s always been. And somehow, it makes the memory go away, makes me come back to my own reality.

And the weird thing is it doesn’t hurt as much to be alive when I’m standing here.

Pictures over the fireplace, warm place to put our family.

Red, plaid sofa, the same one Mark and my mother bought when they first got married, worn on the sides.

My room bright white, furniture to fit a little girl like me.

I close my eyes, try to remember the first time we moved into this place, the first week we spent here. My mother would try to move in the furniture, nearly breaking herself in half while doing it.

She and Mark had one of the sweetest relationships I'd ever seen. It's as if they were meant to be together, despite what his parents thought of her. Honestly, I've never met Mark's parents. They'd never want to meet me anyway, being the seed of my mother. They had nasty words for her, racism a big part in their family.

I'm partly grateful Mark didn't turn out like that... But I can see where he gets his behavior.

I remember them dancing together one night. I was supposed to be asleep, but I'd gotten bored with staring at the ceiling, counting the number of seconds I'd been awake. Then I heard music, wanted to see what it was about.

When I got downstairs, I saw them... After a while, they saw me, didn't really get angry. My mother wasn't like that at all, and before she died, neither was Mark.

I remember love engulfing this place, remember the word home having a meaning, a place within my heart.

And I remember Mark saying the gift of a new heart stole everything away.

I frown, step toward the house. I'd always thought I'd live here the rest of my life, that I would die here in this house.

Seems perfect to die right outside.

I sigh, try not to think about the owner. Not that it matters, really. No one's ever seen him (her? them?), as if his life is as secretive as mine.

I step closer before I hear someone call my name. I jump before I realize it couldn’t be Jeremy. It was a girl whose voice was too familiar.

 “Dude,” Anna says, “you’re just in time. I was about to call you because there are a bunch of people in here who are dying to see you.”

She doesn’t wait for me to respond and she grabs my already trembling arm, stares at me as I try to pull away.

“I can’t,” I say, “I have something I need to do.”

“Please,” she urges as she tries to pull me toward her door, “It’s summer, so it can wait.”

“No, it can’t…”

I hesitate when I see the truck, and I realize exactly who she’s talking about. It’s not his truck… it’s his brother’s.

“No!” I say again as I try to yank away from her, “Now’s not a good time for—”

The front door opens, his Converses the first thing I see. Then his body. Then his head. Then his eyes. I may have seen him before, but I don’t remember seeing him like this.

He walks toward us, my body frozen solid, face covered with a stupid expression.

“Hey,” he says as he approaches me, his smile engulfing me.

I’m starting to hate him already.

I ignore him, stare at him. He looks the same, yet completely different. I don’t know what it is… maybe his smile, maybe his muscles, proving the fact that he’s still the same jock he used to be. His smile fades when he looks at me, his body somehow moving closer to mine. My blood starts rushing to my head, clogging my brain to the point where I can’t remember anything.

But I do remember his name… It’s Aiden.

“You okay?” Aiden asks. My eyes widen as my head fogs, spins. He glares at me.

“Emma?” he asks again. This time, my vision starts fading to black, and slowly, everything just starts to disappear.