3rd View
Another day, another abnormal problem for the workers at Junk-N-Stuff. As Maebel got dressed in her usual jeans and t-shirt, she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in!" She yelled.
Maebel watched as the door opened, but to her surprise, no one was revealed.
She furrowed her eyebrows, "Hello?"
She poked her head out into the hallway and again, saw no one.
"Long time no see," a voice behind her chuckled.
She jumped back with a yelp, "Jesus, Brad," she held her heart, "That's the third time in two days!"
Brad laughed, "You're easy to scare,"
Ray ran into the room, "Maebel, are you okay? I heard you scream,"
Maebel sighed and turned to Ray, "Yeah, I'm fine. But Brad's about to not be if he keeps scaring me,"
Ray rolled his eyes, "Of course he did,"
"You guys are no fun," Brad scoffed.
Ray shrugged at Maebel, "Come on, you guys. Maebel and I have work down in the Man Cave,"
Brad and Maebel groaned, but followed Ray down anyways. Meanwhile, down in the Man Cave, Henry and Charlotte were talking about Ray and Maebel's behavior lately, how they've been talking to themselves when nobody else is in the room; that they know of. Ray and Maebel stepped over the lip of the sprocket door, muttering to Brad, who, as usual, was being annoying.
"Is that a serious question?" Maebel scowled at him
"No, we can't go ride roller coasters with you because we have jobs," Ray rejected.
"Stop poking me," Maebel swatted Brad's hand away.
Henry and Charlotte shared a look. The three walked down the stairs and averted their attention to the other two. Maebel beamed at Henry who shyly smiled back.
"Hey guys," Ray greeted, "You find out any more info on that motorcycle thief? Will you not stand so close to me?" Ray jerked away from the invisible man.
"Or me," Maebel shuddered and took a step away, "I felt you breathing on my neck just now, thank you,"
Maebel and Ray turned back to the two and furrowed their eyebrows.
"Why are you guys staring at us?" Ray asked.
"Uh..." Charlotte trailed.
"Because you guys are talking to nobody," Henry shouted.
Charlotte shushed him.
"It's got to be said,"
Ray and Maebel shared a look and chuckled.
"Right, I haven't introduced you to Brad," Ray gestured toward the air beside him.
"Brad, this is Henry and Charlotte," Maebel pointed to the two, "Guys," she snapped her fingers, "This is invisible Brad,"
Charlotte and Henry hesitantly shook their heads.
"Hi, Brad," Charlotte waved cautiously.
"Looking good, Brad," Henry shrugged.
"Brad, say hi," Ray nodded in their direction, "Brad?" Ray felt around him and groaned, "Come on, Brad," he turned back to Henry and Charlotte, "I hate it when he does this. Maebel, help,"
Maebel sighed and waved her arms around, "Brad, stop this,"
The two heroes looked clinically insane looking for their friend.
"Gotcha!" Ray yelled and pushed Brad.
A tray with tools fell over, sending the contents scattering. Ray gripped Brad and pointed him in Charlotte and Henry's direction.
"Now, say hello to them," Maebel commanded.
"Hey, guys," Brad said, "I'm Brad,"
Henry and Charlotte looked shocked.
"There's no such thing as an invisible person," Charlotte shook her head.
"Okay, what would make you believe that Brad's real?" Ray asked.
"Let's see him slap Henry," Charlotte said.
Henry scoffed, "Yeah, come on, slap me, Brad," he mocked, "Right here on my-"
Henry violently jerked to side and fell to the floor. Maebel gasped. Henry struggled to get up.
Charlotte and Henry glanced at each other, "Hey, Brad," they trailed.
The five sat around the table eating lunch. Maebel sat on the edge next to Henry, next to him, Charlotte, then Ray, and across from Maebel, Brad.
"Hey, pass the ketchup?" Henry asked, reaching for the condiment.
The ketchup started floating over to Henry.
"Sure," Brad said, "Here you go,"
"So, Brad," Charlotte began, "I have a question. Did something make you become invisible or were you just born this way?"
Maebel sighed, knowing Brad and Ray were going to get into it.
"Nah, nobody's born invisible," Brad's voice moved behind the three kids.
Maebel's eyes slightly widened.
"Wait, I thought you were sitting right there," Charlotte gestured to the other edge of the couch.
"I was, but, my leg was cramping up so I'm walking around," Brad said.
"How do we talk to a guy we can't see?" Henry groaned.
"Here, Brad," Ray pulled out sunglasses, "Put these on and sit down,"
Brad did as he was told, "Yeah, okay,"
"So, you turned invisible, like, when?" Henry asked.
"Five years ago," Brad said, "It was all Captain Man and Danger Girl's fault,"
Maebel scoffed, "It was Ray's fault not mine,"
Brad chuckled, "I know. You're easily annoyed,"
Maebel rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat. Henry chuckled at her reaction and nudged her shoulder gently.
"Well, what happened?" Charlotte asked, intrigued by the invisible person.
"Okay, see, we were being chased by this insane criminal who wanted to turn Maebel and I invisible," Ray explained.
"Why?" Henry ate a fry.
"I don't know, because he hated us and I guess he knew how much we enjoy being visible?" Ray shrugged.
"Yeah, like I used to be," Brad got salty.
"It wasn't my fault," Ray defended.
"Yes, it was," argued Brad.
"Just tell us what happened," Henry rushed.
Ray sighed, "Okay, so, this evil dude was firing at us with his invisiblaster, right?"
"I was just riding my bike, minding my own business," Brad gritted through his teeth.
"When Ray dove out of the way, the invisiblaster's beam missed him and-"
"Hit me!" Brad interrupted Maebel.
Maebel shrugged her shoulder's with her jaw ajar.
"That's how Captain Man ruined my life," Brad said.
Ray leaned up in his seat, "How was I supposed to know you'd be riding your bike right behind me?"
"You owe me,"
Ray slammed his chicken leg down, "Look, didn't I lend you four-thousand bucks so you could buy that hot tub? Didn't I let you stay here in the Man Cave for two months after your girlfriend dumped you? And who payed for that nose job, huh? This guy," Ray gestured to himself.
"Great, now I have a beautiful nose that no one will ever see,"
"Their relationship is very complicated," Charlotte leaned over to her two friends.
Maebel nodded, then turned her attention back to Ray and Brad.
"What do you want from me, Brad?" Ray groaned.
Brad took off the sunglasses and threw them at Ray, "I wanna be yours and Maebel's sidekick,"
Maebel choked on her food.
"What?" Charlotte gaped.
"Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, hey," Henry paused, "They've already got a sidekick, me,"
"You're just a kid, who's visible," Brad said.
"Hence the name, Kid Danger," Maebel put emphasis when she said kid.
"So, you think you're better than me just cause I'm visible and you're not?" Henry asked.
"Henry, don't," Maebel warned.
"Let's not play the visibility card," Charlotte reasoned.
"Brad, I think it's time for you to go," Ray ushered the invisible man off of the couch next to him and stood up.
"Wait," Brad paused, "Think about what a great sidekick I'd be. I could sneak up on bad guys, and then-"
Maebel was yanked off of the couch and onto the floor, pulling the tray of ketchup covered fries with her.
She gripped the back of her head and stood, looking over to Ray, "Ow!"
Henry stood, handing her napkins so she could clean herself off, and helped her stand.
"See?" Brad chuckled, "She never saw that coming,"
Ray rolled his eyes, "Look, we already have an excellent sidekick and that's Henry," Ray gestured to the boy.
Maebel and Henry sat down again.
"Thank you," Henry said.
"Alright, what if Henry quits?" Brad asked.
"I'm never going to quit," Henry informed.
"He's not quitting," Maebel growled at Brad.
"But what if he does? Then what?"
"Alright, Brad, if Henry ever quits, you can be our sidekick, okay?" Ray shrugged, "Anything else?"
Maebel groaned and pulled a smushed fry out of her hair.
"Yeah," Brad said, "I want your shirt,"
"You can't have my shirt," Ray denied.
Suddenly, Ray's chest was exposed, and his shirt floated around the room. Maebel gagged and turned her head away, resting her forehead on Henry's shoulder. Henry chuckled at the girl and glanced to Charlotte, who smirked at him. A chill shot down Henry's spine when he looked down at Maebel, causing him to shiver.
"Hey! Brad!" Ray chased after the floating shirt, "Give me my shirt back, Brad. Kids," Ray covered his chest, "Don't look at this,"
Henry and Charlotte looked away from their boss and covered their eyes.
"Okay, seriously though, it's not funny anymore, so," Ray jerked toward his shirt, "Okay."
The two started to play tug of war with Ray's shirt. Hearing Ray's failure, Maebel started to giggle into Henry's shoulder.
"I'm not playing with you, man!" Ray chased Brad out of the room, "Brad! Brad! You don't wear clothes anyway,"
Maebel looked up and scrunched her face in disgust, "You guys have no idea how horrifying that was for me,"
Henry and Charlotte laughed with her and they continued to eat the food while listening to Ray's protests.
***
Maebel
I bit my lip as I watched the red piece of plastic miss the hole again. I chucked another one as Henry paced around Ray and I playing Trouser Bugs.
"So, I'm sound asleep in my bed and Brad sneaks into my house and flips my bed over," Henry moved to the other side of the couch.
I hummed tiredly in response, "Stupid ant!"
"This game's impossible," Ray groaned, "I can't get all these ants in this little pair of pants,"
"I feel like you guys aren't listening to me," Henry shrugged.
I furrowed my eyebrows at him, "Sorry what did you say?" I tossed another plastic ant, "I wasn't listening," I smiled up at him.
Henry huffed in response.
Ray turned to him, "Look, I know Brad's kind of obnoxious,"
I chuckled, "Kind of? When I was nine he took me to Chuck-E-Cheese, threw me Chuck E's microphone, and sang into it convincing everyone 'puberty hit me hard," I air quoted.
"Wait, that was you?" Henry gaped.
I nodded, "Unfortunately," I stood, "I had to walk a trail of tears that day,"
Henry shook his head, "Oh yeah? Brad snuck into my school, put a bucket on my teacher's head, splashed water on my area, and then spanked my teacher with a mop,"
I scrunched my face, "Why do men have to be so confusing?" I spoke to no one.
Henry and Ray shared a look, but shrugged me off.
"Yeah, that's Brad," Ray sighed, flicking another ant away.
"And every time, before he runs away, he goes, 'quit your job," Henry mocked.
"Oh boy," I shook my head and moved to the control center to work.
"Hey! Another ant... in the pants," Ray beamed.
I looked up from my tablet, "Ah geez," I groaned, realizing I was stuck with the two for a long while.
"Hey, what is that?" I hear Henry.
Looking up, I follow their gaze over to a floating object.
"I don't know, looks like a steel pipe, but, why would it-"
"Brad!" Henry yelled over Ray.
The steel pipe flew in Henry's direction.
"What are you-"
Henry fell to the ground, yelling in pain. Brad had swung and hit Henry's shin. I jumped out of my chair, ran over, and slid next to him, pulling his pant leg up to see a giant red mark where the pipe had contact with.
"Quit your job," Brad ordered and ran away.
"This has to stop, Brad!" Ray yelled.
Henry repetitively glanced from me to his leg and back again, "Oh, why? Why? Why?"
"I'll go get the first aid kit," Ray said and rushed off.
"That hurt bad!" He yelled.
I sighed and rubbed Henry's back, calming him down. Feeling him tense underneath my touch, I immediately retract my hand and clear my throat. He threw his head back and gave me puppy dog eyes. I laughed and placed my hand on his back again, rubbing in circles before Henry slid further down, laying his head in my lap and looking up at me.
"Are you okay?" I asked, lacing my hands in his hair.
"My leg isn't," he said tiredly, "but I am,"
I smiled down at him, he returned it.
"Henry?" I said, tapping his cheek slightly.
He locked eyes with me, "Yeah?"
I bit my lip and shifted in my spot, "I have to pee,"
He smirked and slithered his arms around my waist, pulling himself closer.
"I have to pee, Hen,"
He stared up at me blankly. I huffed and fell against the couch before looking down at him again.
"What are we?" I continued to play with his hair.
He glanced away from me, "What do you wanna be?"
I smiled slightly, "Well, I don't want to stay friends,"
He sat up, "If that means what I think it means then-"
"What are we talking about?" Ray said kneeling in front of us with the first aid kit.
Henry rolled his pant leg up revealing a dark purple bruise. I winced just looking at it.
"Ray," Henry said, grabbing his attention.
"Yeah?" Ray placed an ice pack on Henry's leg and looked up at him.
"May I have your permission to ask Maebel to be my girlfriend?"
I froze in place, blushing bright red. Ray paused, looking Henry dead in the eye. I watched him cautiously, wanting to know how this was going to go.
Ray glanced at me and softly smiled, "You got it, kid,"
Henry grabbed my hand, "May I have the honor of having you to be my- ow!" Henry shouted when Ray applied pressure to his leg.
"Sorry," Ray apologized.
Henry turned back to me, "Will you be my girlfriend, Maebel?"
I stared into his eyes and smiled, "Of course I will, Henry."
He smiled and leaned his head on the back of the couch, staring at me. He grabbed my chin and pulled me in, connecting our lips.
"Hey, hey," Ray furrowed his eyebrows, "Not in front of me," he paused, "Or, preferably, not at all,"
Henry and I laughed and pulled apart.
***
I watched as Henry slammed his freezer drawer shut. He was frustrated because he kept ending up with injuries from Brad beating him up
"This better work," he limped over to Charlotte and I.
I sighed, "Let's hope so. We don't need another shin splint," I nudged him.
"What is that?" Charlotte asked, looking at the turkey leg Henry held to his eye.
"Turkey leg," he pulled it off his face, "How's my eye look?"
I winced and softly pushed it back onto his face.
"Yeah, keep the leg on it," Charlotte gagged.
The doorbell rang and Henry sighed, "Finally,"
Charlotte and I watched as Henry limped over to open the door. Ray walked in and glanced around the room cautiously.
"You're parents here?" Ray asked and moved near the coffee table.
"No, just come in," Henry said.
"So, what happened now?"
Charlotte moved to sit on the couch.
"This," Henry pulled the leg away, revealing his eye.
Ray yelped, "Who gave you the black eye?"
"Invisible Brad,"
"He punched you?"
"Worse," Henry said, "I was in gym class today, and I was standing behind Mitch Bilsky,"
"So, what'd invisible Brad do?"
"He pinched Mitch Bilsky on the butt to make Mitch think I did it!"
Ray winced, "Yeah, guys don't like that,"
"No, they don't,"
"Uh, girls don't like that either, just so you know," Charlotte chimed.
I swallowed my water, "Speak for yourself,"
Ray and Charlotte sent me weird looks, Henry thinned his lips and nodded.
"You guys have no room to judge me,"
Henry shrugged me off, "We got to do something about Brad,"
"Don't worry, we're going to get him," Ray reassured.
"I doubt it," a voice spoke into my ear.
I screamed and jumped out of my chair, suddenly being pushed into the counter.
"Quit your job!" Brad said and threw Henry onto the armchair.
The front door to Henry's house opened, "You have a beautiful home," Brad said and shut the door.
I grunted in annoyance and stood up, watching as Henry beat the door with the turkey leg.
"How do we beat a guy we can't see?" Henry groaned.
"We can fix it so we can see him," Charlotte informed.
"How?" Ray asked.
"Yeah, how?" Henry repeated.
I moved next to Charlotte, who glanced at me with a smile, "With paint,"
"Come on, how is paint gonna..."
"I don't really think that paint is the answer that we're..."
Charlotte and I glanced at each other.
"Paint..." the two said in unison, realizing the plan.
"Ah geez," I held my head in my hands.
"Okay, is the trip wire set?" Henry asked, standing high on a ladder.
Ray was out convincing invisible Brad that Henry quit his job being Kid Danger in hopes he would come back to the man cave and get doused in red paint.
"Just about," Charlotte informed.
Henry chuckled, "Oh, this is going to be so great. Invisible Brad's going to get covered with red paint, so we'll be able to see him, and then were going to kick him about fifty times right in his invisible-"
"Okay, we get it," Charlotte said, cutting him off.
I furrowed my eyebrows, "I'm just getting prepared to clean up the mess because I know Ray is going to make us,"
Henry started to climb down the ladder as the alarm to the tubes rang. Ray's tube fell down to reveal a gobsmacked Ray.
"Ray?" Henry gaped.
"Why'd you come down the tube?" Charlotte asked.
"You were supposed to walk out of the elevator with Brad," Henry said.
Ray started to stumble down the steps, "I... I need to sit down," he sat on the couch.
I glanced over to Charlotte and Henry with a confused face, "Ray, are you okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What's wrong? Is Brad in here with us now?" Henry looked around the room.
"I wish he was," Ray's face tightened.
"Well, what happened?" Charlotte asked.
"Everything was going according to plan," Ray looked up to us three, "I told invisible Brad that Henry quit and that he could be our new sidekick,"
"And did he buy it?" Asked Henry eagerly.
"Oh... he bought it,"
"What does that mean?" I shrugged.
"Well, we were finishing our root beers, we took a selfie, I paid the check, and then we were walking across the street together on our way here,"
"And?" Henry said.
"Brad got hit by a bus,"
My jaw fell ajar.
"I guess the driver just didn't see him," Ray looked down.
I patted his shoulder out of comfort, to which he patted my hand and sighed. Brad may have been annoying, but he sometimes lit up the room. I know that there's a possibility I'll miss him, but it's extremely slim.