The Invisible Boy

Chapter 2

When I wake the next morning the sun is peeping through the curtains and there is a cold cup of tea on my bedside table. I smile and head downstairs, finding mum with a heap of tests at the kitchen table.

She circles the final mark with a red pen before looking up and smiling. "Afternoon."

I glance at the clock, and sure enough it's past midday. "Oops," I say, grinning as I pour my cold tea into the sink and put the kettle on again. "Sorry."

Mum laughs, putting the test she's just marked to the side and picking up the next one. She teaches at the local primary school, a job I wouldn't have if you paid me. Which I guess they would, but that's not the point. Those kids are a right pain in the-

"So, I'm guessing you have work to do?" Mum asks, interrupting my thoughts.

I sigh. "When do I not?"

"Better get to it, then," she says, putting a big red X on the question she's marking. "I'll be right here, drowning in marking, if you need me."

I smile and finish making my cup of tea, then retreat back into my room.

I spend the day at my desk, pretending to work when really I'm just eyeing my phone on the table next to me, hoping for it to make a sound. It's only at six o'clock, when it's almost dark, that he finally sends me a message.

Wanna meet up tomorrow after school?

I grin, and text back straight away. Okay. Where shall we meet?

How about the new Cafe Nero in town?

Perfect. See you there just after 3 :)

I smile, locking my phone and putting it down in front of me. At least now I have something to look forward to after the horror that is school tomorrow.

As expected, the day drags by, and the teachers are still nagging us about the importance this year and our AS-Levels, which is getting pretty old seeing as they've been on about it since school started almost two months ago. When the bell finally rings for the end of the day I'm out of there faster than you can say Double Physics.

I take the bus into town - along with half the school - and find my way to the new Cafe Nero. The high street is pretty busy, but I manage to spot Michael already standing outside. My face breaks into a grin when I see him, and I give him a little wave. He smiles and waves back.

"Hi," I say when I reach him, slightly breathless.

I am so unfit.

"Hey," he replies, grinning. "Good day at school?"

I give him a look which says it all, and he laughs. "I'll take that as a no."

I smile. "A definite no," I say.

"Thanks for coming, by the way," Michael says.

I frown. "Why wouldn't I?"

He shrugs. "Saturday night seems like a dream now," he says sheepishly. "I couldn't be sure you were real."

I laugh. "I'm just as real as you are."

Michael smiles, but it doesn't touch his eyes. "See, that's the thing..."

I raise my eyebrows. "What thing?"

He takes a deep breath before he speaks. "I'm ... kind of ... invisible."

I blink. "What?"

He sighs. "You're the first person who's been able to see me," he says. "To everyone else, I'm invisible."

"So, like... no one notices you? You're a wallflower?"

"No, not like that..." He's shaking his head and looking at the ground.

Is he delusional?

He meets my eye again. "Hang on, I'll prove it to you."

"What do you me-?"

Before I can finish speaking, he's gone. He's run off to the middle of the street, and suddenly he's yelling at the top of his lungs.

"ANYONE WANT TO BUY ENCHILADAS?"

Of all the things he could have said.

I feel the heat rising in my cheeks, and I glance around anxiously. I'm more embarrassed for him than for myself.

But no one's looking. No one even gives him a second glance.

"I PROMISE THEY TASTE AMAZING - IMOGEN WILL TELL YOU!"

His gaze meets mine, and I stare back, dumbstruck. The people around continue doing whatever they were doing as if nothing just happened.

And I guess, for them, nothing did.

I am still gaping at Michael as he walks back towards me slowly. A woman looking down at her phone hurries past him, passing by a hair's breadth - so close they almost touch - but she doesn't even glance in his direction.

Like he wasn't even there.

He stops right in front of me, his gaze never leaving mine. He doesn't say anything, just looks right into my eyes.

"This is... weird," I say.

He gives me a small smile. "Tell me about it."

"How... did this happen?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. It just did."

He looks down, and I stare at his face, wondering what he's thinking. Am I really the only person who can see him? To everyone else, am I just talking to thin air?

Well, I'm sure I'll be getting some odd looks.

"So... you're invisible." I have to say it, to confirm it. The sentence sounds strange on my tongue.

He meets my eye again, looking almost vulnerable. "Do you mind?"

I'm taken aback - that's a question I definitely wasn't expecting. Do I mind that I'm talking to an invisible person? Do I mind that I can't go anywhere with him without people thinking I'm crazy?

But I'm the only person who he can talk to. How can I say no to his friendship when he has no one else to turn to? Besides, I've enjoyed spending time with him so far, I like his company. Why forfeit that for the tiny matter of him being invisible?

Now that's a thought I never thought I'd have.

I sigh and smile at him. "No, of course I don't mind."

His anxious expression breaks into the most beautiful grin that lights up his whole face, and I can't help but grin back.

"Thank you," he says earnestly.

We continue simply grinning at each other for a while longer. I am the first to break the silence. "So... what now?"

If at all possible, Michael's grin broadens. "Well, I've made you come all this way to this coffee shop, so I guess we should get coffee."

I laugh. "Yeah, I guess we should."

And so that is exactly what we do.