Problems of an Invisible Girl

Chapter 25

The next day at school Rina tried to act as if it was just another regular day for her. She had to act as if there wasn't a storm of emotions brewing inside her heart and follow the boring lessons.

On the one hand, she was disappointed with Grace and with the guys she used to call her brothers for being able to turn their back on her with no regret.
On the other hand, she was exhilarated since she finally had the opportunity to meet her real mother, and she found out that she had a sister. Something she had always wished was true.

Now that her dream had become a reality she needed some time to adjust. It was awesome that she had a sister, but she still couldn't completely grasp what it all meant for her.
Her head was buzzing from all the opposing information and emotions, so much so that she could barely pretend she was listening to the teacher.

In just a few days, her life was turned upside down, and yet she was still expected to act normal.
Nothing was normal for her, not anymore.
Thinking about it, her life was never normal.
It was never good.
Maybe all that happened was for the best.

Her 'friends' kept talking about their lives, completely ignoring her, and she actually preferred it that way. In the past, it bothered her but now she was actually relieved she didn't have to fake concern for people who never showed her any.

She didn't know what she would or wouldn't say to them if they asked for her opinion.
What could she say about the fact that one of them was dating a married guy twice her age and the other one was dreaming about dating her cousin?

Rina couldn't help but wonder why they considered themselves her friends. She didn't think of them as her real friends. She had no real friends in that school.
Real friends cared about each other. They helped each other out, none of which was done by her so-called friends.
They only acknowledged her when they needed something. After she helped them out they would flip a switch, and she would be invisible, once more.

She spent most of her school breaks hiding away in corners or nooks and crannies that other people didn't even notice. Afraid of how much more the world could hurt her.
She would pull out a book and get swept away into an adventure where she was the hero.
Her life mattered.

Sometimes she would sit down and write some stories about worlds where people loved and respected each other.
Worlds in which everyone mattered, no matter how small they felt.
Their special light was the most precious gift to the world. Without them, the world would have been a shade darker and that was something no one wanted.
It was a world of friends, family and joy, her haven.


Now that she knew that there were people out there, in the real world, who cared about her, it was different.
She didn't feel the need to run away to another world.
However, she did feel the need to distance herself from her 'friends'.

Mostly, she just couldn't wait for the school to end so that she could meet up with Serena and try to figure out what they should do next.
She wasn't sure if she would see their mother ever again, but she had hope.
Maybe, she would come back.
Rina hoped that she might even get a chance to meet her father.

When the classes finally ended, she rushed out as soon as the bell rang.
"Did you find us an apartment?" Rina asked as soon as Serena was close enough to hear.
"No, not yet, but I think I am close. There is an ad for an apartment that sounds perfect. We should check it out. But first I need to tell you that I found something interesting. A potential cause of our invisibility." Serena said.

That picked Rina's interest, so she settled down on the park bench they just reached waiting for Serena to tell her what she found out.
"There is a possibility that we are cursed," Serena said.
Rina tried to contain her laughter but finally, it came out in a flood that she couldn't control.
She laughed so hard that there were tears streaming down her face.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Rina asked seeing Serena's serious expression.

"I didn't believe in invisibility either, but here we are. Why would curses be any less real?
How do we know what's real anymore?
What if all the stories we ever heard were based on real life?
We can't rule out any possibilities.
A curse would actually make sense since our whole family suffers from the serious case of invisibility." Serena said.

That made Rina think.
Although she wasn't the type of person to believe in curses she couldn't help but think about what Serena said. Strangely, it did make sense.
Why would a curse be any less real than anything else?

It left her wondering what kind of things were possible and what they could do about their small invisibility problem.
Her whole world no longer made sense.
She wasn't who she thought she was, and even the world didn't follow the basic rules she was always taught the world worked by.

How could anyone accept that new reality?
Rina felt like newborn learning how to walk for the first time and it was exhausting. It was a big challenge to relearn everything at the age of eighteen, but she thought she could do it.

Suddenly they heard a male voice behind them.
"Those are some excellent theories. Would you like to know what I think?"