Problems of an Invisible Girl

Chapter 8

"I am sorry. I wasn't feeling well." Rina said unconvincingly. "You selfish little brat! After everything, we have done for you! I give you a roof about your head and the food on your plate and this is how you thank me! You dare to disrespect me by disrespecting your brother like that! I don't want to hear any excuses! You are grounded! You are forbidden from going out with your friends indefinitely!" Her mother stated filled with rage. "Yes, mother." was all Rina said. Her mother never hit her or anything similar but sometimes Rina felt that it would be better if she hit her than using those words that cut into her heart painful. What also hurt a lot was being ignored most of her life. "Now go to your room! I can't even look at you right now!" Rina quickly went up to her room, knowing that as soon as her mother cooled off she would forget all about her. She was still grounded but for her, that was not a problem. Her mother forbade her to go out with her friends but the truth was she didn't have any friends outside the school. Even those in school weren't actually her friends, so she always preferred staying at home and reading books or watching TV. It wasn't actually punishment for her, it was just a regular day. If her brothers were grounded than that would have been a problem because they LOVED going out, but for her, it seemed as if nothing much changed except for the fact that she had to avoid her mother for a few days until she calmed down.

It was such a relief for her to run away from her mother's yelling, but before she managed to reach her room she was once again yelled at and this time by her brother. He told her a lot of mean and untrue things that hurt her more than she expected. After all, it wasn't the first time he told her those terrible things but for some reason, it still hurt. He was yelling so much that she got scared like she was never before so when she finally managed to escape into her room, her sanctuary, she started hyperventilating. "Oh, no not another panic attack!" She was angry with herself because she thought she learned to control them but since she had been under so much pressure with the whole invisibility thing she couldn't keep her panic under the wraps as well as she used to in the last couple of years. She couldn't breathe properly, and she kept gasping for air. Her heart was thumping like crazy and her whole body was shaking with fear. Her brother's mean words kept running through her head especially the ones that always hurt her. "You are not our sister. Dad found you near the dumpster and convinced mum to take you in. That is why you are so strange, you don't share our blood. You are just an intruder." As a child, he used to tell her that and it always made her cry. One day, while her father was still around, he heard her brother say that and saw her crying. That is when he told her that her brother was just being mean, that boys sometimes were, and that she shouldn't pay any attention to it. Usually she managed to listen to that advice, but that day she was so tired of everything and in turn, everything hurt more. It was painful that she had to deal with her problems alone, that her mother was unfair, that her brothers thought she was strange and didn't want to accept her as a part of the family. Not knowing how else to stop her panic attack she started listening to her favorite music and singing out loud and that seemed to help. She managed to calm down and stop thinking about bad things. Her focus was only on the beautiful song.

The next morning even though she was grounded she had to go to the store before going to school. She guessed it was another way for them to punish her. Well, she didn't mind it that much except for the fact that she could feel she was more depressed than usual. It was a consequence of everything that happened the previous day and Rina was worried that she might turn invisible once more. Nevertheless, she had no other choice but to go to the store, her mother was still angry with her which in turn meant she still existed in her mother's mind. So she couldn't rely on them forgetting about her, especially having in mind that they were all hungry. How could anyone eat everything they had in one night was beyond her, but she started towards the store in a hurry, in a useless effort to avoid becoming invisible while outside the house. The moment she exited her street she could feel it coming, the invisibility, so she hid in a nearby ally until she was completely invisible. After that, she thought what would be the best thing to do and decided that she might as well go to the story and maybe hide in the bathroom until she became visible again and then buy what she needed. She entered the store while a huge black haired guy was entering and since she had to be close behind him to be able to enter she overheard his phone conversation. "The coast is clear. There are no cameras or security of any kind." He whispered. "We can rob this place tonight, without any problems. Don't forget to bring your gun." He said quietly although as far as he could see there was no one around who could hear the conversation. Rina couldn't help but gasp loudly when she finally understood what was happening. The guy turned around swiftly but since he couldn't see anyone he relaxed a bit, although he did end his conversation abruptly. "What should I do?" Rina thought to herself as she tried not to make any additional sounds.

Telling the shop clerk wasn't possible since she was invisible but even if she weren't the clerk would probably dismiss it as a prank. After all, Rina was a teenager and people thought all the teenagers were the same, loud and pranksters. Instead, Rina thought of another possibility, an anonymous tip, but she couldn't get to a phone. Also, it would look a bit strange if there was a phone floating around in a telephone booth since she didn't have her cell with her. Instead, she decided to be old-fashioned. She wrote a note with her left hand, not wanting to risk people finding out she was the one who left the note. Then she quietly went behind the cash register and put the note where the clerk could see it soon. After doing that she went to the bathroom and hid there. The place was overcrowded and as the guy said there were no cameras, so she could easily join the crowd when she was back to her visible self. But after everything she had heard, she was even more nervous and anxious and it was a challenge to become visible again. Instead of using her usual tactics she tried to imagine herself, to visualize her whole body the way it was usually. In some movies, she had seen, she heard something about visualization being used in meditation and similar things, so she thought she might as well give it a try. Soon enough she was back to her visible self which surprised her greatly since it usually took a lot more time for her to return to normal. "Hm, I might have to start practicing this whole visualization thing. It might come in handy for school and for avoiding trouble at home." She thought to herself as she went back to the store to buy the necessary groceries. It was difficult not to check if the clerk saw the message or not, but she knew there was nothing more she could do, so she paid for the groceries and went home. "Well, I guess I'll find out what happened soon enough." She thought to herself as she headed for school. She felt it would be another of those long days she hated.