Problems of an Invisible Girl

Chapter 2

She was walking back home from school and for the first time in a long time, she felt hopeful and happy. It was her birthday, and she sometimes had nice and comfortable birthdays. In her mind's eye, she could already see the delicious cake and the candles perfectly arranged on it. Her mother was an excellent cook and baker, so she anticipated that it would be very tasty and beautiful. The sweet flavor of the cake might lessen the sour taste in her mouth left by the fact that all of her friends forgot about her birthday. It wasn't so surprising but still, she hoped that for once they would remember. Maybe it was her own fault, she always did her best to stay in the shadows, never to draw attention. She thought that would be a good way to avoid being hurt but it had also stopped her from ever being noticed or loved, as a friend, as a girlfriend, as anything.

When she arrived home she was welcomed by silence, which was very strange having in mind that she had three older brothers and that they were always very loud. They were always listening to very loud music or just arguing with each other, but they were NEVER quiet. "Oh, my gosh! This must be my surprise party! I have never had my own party before! This is awesome!" she thought excitedly. She started entering the house slowly preparing herself to act surprised once they jumped out to surprise her. Standing there in the darkness she was feeling happier than she ever felt before, they remembered her birthday that was all that mattered. After a few moments she thought they might not have heard her come in, so she made some noise, nothing. Finally, she decided to turn on the lights and see why it took them so long. She realized that the house was actually empty once she turned the lights on. The idea of a surprise party for her turned out to be just one of her many daydreams. She looked around the house searching for any sign that they remembered her birthday, she thought that they might have put the cake in the fridge. To her disappointment, there was no cake but once she closed it she finally noticed a note attached under the magnet. "We went to a football game don't wait up!" and that was all.

Finally, the horrible truth sank in, they forgot about her birthday, they forgot about her EIGHTEENTH birthday. It was such a huge event in anyone's life that she just assumed that they would surely remember that one on time, although they usually remembered a few days after her actual birthday. Her brothers birthdays were such big and lavish events that they were talked about for days, and she hoped that at least on her eighteenth birthday they would finally see her. Maybe it was too much to ask for the same kind of ostentatious party as her brothers had but at least they could have remembered it, was it too much to ask? Not knowing what else to do she went to her room and started crying. She cried for them remembering to go to some stupid football game but not remembering her birthday. For them not treating her the same way as they treated each other. Then she cried for being so different and not being who they wanted her to be. After a while, she cried herself to sleep and when she woke up it was morning, her birthday had come and gone without anyone even noticing. She felt overwhelming sadness and the strong feeling of being invisible, of not even being there, of not being important enough to even have the corporeal form. Sleepily she entered the bathroom and started brushing her teeth reflexively and that is when she started screaming.