Invisible

ALICIA

ONCE I HEAR ALICIA’S VOICE, Spanish words engulfing Aiden’s room from downstairs, a somewhat motherly voice no one could possibly forget… I smile, and I can’t wait to get downstairs.

“I’m guessing she’s here,” Aiden says, rolling his eyes. I ignore him as I race downstairs, into the kitchen. She’s facing Jack, her hands on her hips and a concerned look on her face.

“You need to ask her what’s been going on lately,” she says in Spanish. My eyes widen. “You know it’s weird for her to just up and disappear like this, right?”

“Alicia, calm down,” Jack responds, “You shouldn’t interfere like that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because, it’s not right.”

“I don’t give a fuck. What did her mother tell us we should do if—”

Jack looks at me, then back at her. She glares at him before she turns toward me, her facial expression brightening. I frown.

“Emma!” she yells without much enthusiasm. She walks toward me, wraps her arms around me. When she pulls away from me, she smiles, and I can tell it’s fake.

“Is everything alright?” I ask as she stares at me, looks as if she’s confused. I guess I look different…

“Well… no,” she responds, “Emma, I’m a little worried about you. I mean, we haven’t heard from you since last summer, and it’s not normal.”

I come up with the same excuse.

“I was busy—”

“Emma, Ethan and Hannah are both pre-med, and they still found time. I know you. You could have managed.”

I want to laugh. She knows me, especially after what Jeremy did to me?

Right.

“I’m sorry, Ali,” I say, “I just… I don’t know, things just got out of hand last year.”

Yeah, they really did…

She looks at me, tries to find the truth hidden beneath the lie… I don’t know of she’ll find it or not.

But I’m hoping she won’t.

“Alright. I believe you.”

You shouldn’t.

I nod, back out of the kitchen. “I’ll just go back upstairs. I’m staying for dinner tonight.”

“That’s good. Ethan and Blake will be here.”

I force a fake smile as I walk through the threshold, into the living room. Then I hear Ali’s voice again, Spanish, words that nearly suffocate me. My eyes widen as my legs tense, freeze.

“She’s lying,” she says.

<><><>

Ali’s always looked the same to me, the same blue eyes that took over a room when she entered, the same long, wavy brown hair that took up most of her body. And I can’t forget how she’s always been with us, how she’s never acted like Mark…

Ever.

“Where is she?!” she exclaimed again as I stood at the top of the stairs. Aiden appeared around the corner, motioned for me to come down. I did, my legs growing weaker from how nervous I was. It had been nearly six years since I’d seen her, and she wasn’t exactly someone who would just forget about someone without a care in the world.

Nope. Nothing like me.

I walked into the living room, toward Ali as she stood near the kitchen threshold. She smiled at me.

“Emma!” she yelled as she ran toward me, wrapping her arms around me. As she pulled away, a harsh face appeared out of the kitchen, half of a sandwich stuck in his mouth.

“Whoa, wait,” Ethan said, his mouth half-full, “did she…” he trailed off when he looked at me. “Hey, Blake, look who’s here.” He walked toward me, gave me one of his bear hugs, nearly suffocating me.

“Ethan,” I struggled, “let… up!”

“Hell no,” he said, “I haven’t seen you in five years, so don’t complain.”

Once he had set me down, I saw Blake standing behind him

“Move, dork,” she said as she pushed Ethan to the side, hugged me. I smirked at her as she pulled away.

“Sorry, Emma,” she said, “Jackass wants to take up all your time.”

“Hey,” Ethan said, “I am not being a jackass.”

“Language,” Jack cut in.

Blake flushed. “Sorry, dad. But you do know how Ethan can be.”

Ethan rolled his eyes as he walked back into the kitchen. Ali stared at me long and hard, as if she’d missed me so much, she didn’t even know where to start.

“So this is the girl you were telling me about?” she asked Aiden, who was standing right behind me, “Emma?”

He nodded. “Yep. I was surprised when I saw her too.”

“Well, you’re going to have to tell us everything that’s been going on with you tonight.” She hesitated, turned toward the kitchen threshold. “Ethan, order pizza!”

Ethan appeared again, this time another sandwich in his hand, completely different from the first one. I laughed. He was still the same jock he was when I was ten.

“Why? We just bought food.”

“I don’t care. I want to spend time talking to Emma.”

“No, no,” I said, “I miss your food, Ali.”

She smiled at me, nodded. “Alright. I’ll cook then.” She turned away from me, walked into the kitchen. “Ethan, get out of here.”

I laughed again as Aiden took my hand, led me back upstairs.

“Is it always like that here?”

“Nah, it’s actually worse than this,” he said, “Ethan’s more of an asshole and Blake beats his ass every once in a while.”

He smirked as we walked back into his bedroom, shut the door. Then he kissed me, looked at me.

“Want to hang out tomorrow?” he asked. I glared at him jokingly, shook my head.

“I don’t know… is it going to be as innocent as this?”

“Probably… Depends.”

“Hmm… Alright. Where are we going?”

“Don’t know yet. But I know Ali’s going to want to see you… You still dance?”

“No. I hate ballet.”

“Well, that’s too bad because that’s where we’re going.”

I shrugged. Honestly, I didn’t really care.

I quit because Ali didn’t teach me.