Invisible

Chapter Four: Some motherly advice.

While Georgia was getting changed I decided to give my mom a call, holding the ice pack to my nose I dug through my bag for my phone.

"Willow? Thank God!" My mother answered on the second ring, concern evident in her tone.

"Hey mom, sorry I didn't call earlier. We decided to head to the beach" I say absent mindedly, my mind was still elsewhere. I don't understand why Carter not recognising me is bothering me so much, it's no different than back at school.

"It's okay honey, I'm just glad you got there alright" I heard my father's voice in the background as I tell her about bumping into some guys from school, leaving out the injury. If she knew that she'd be here by morning, the contents of a pharmacy in tow.

"Your father sends his love. He also said that if there's not enough gas for the bbq that there's more full canisters in the basement". I suppress a chuckle as I hear him continue talking, only to be shushed by my mother. "If she wanted to speak to you she'd have rang your phone. Now please, go back to whatever you were doing".

"Thanks again for letting us up here for the whole summer. Rayne really needs this time away from his parents, and I wanted to give him an 18th birthday that he'll never forget" I said into the phone as I dropped the ice pack into the sink and headed for the stairs. My mom was quiet for a few seconds before responding.

"You drove a hard bargain Willow. We could hardly say no, just please remember to check in with us everyday, even just a simple text to let us know you guys are all okay". It had taken months to persuade my parents to let us have the house for the holidays. My grandfather had been a doddle to win over, however his son and daughter in law had proved a lot more challenging.

"And Willow, please remember you're on holiday, let your hair down. Literally. It's always in that ponytail" I gasped at my mother's words. Why was everyone so against my ponytail? It was neat and functional, what's the problem? "Just try and have fun, maybe even meet a nice guy, have a holiday romance" my mouth dropped open in shock.

"Mom!" I complained "I am not discussing my love life with you. I'm gonna go now" I quickly hung up and dropped my phone onto my bed.

It took me twenty minutes to dig through the contents of my bags and bring together a simple outfit that wasn't too skimpy. In the end I settled for some red sandshoes, a pair of ripped skinny jeans, and a white vest top with a tartan shirt over it. My eyes were beginning to sting so I stepped over to my dresser and carefully took out my contact lenses, dropping them into the bin I slid my glasses onto my face. They were big with black frames, however, I was wearing them years before the hipsters. Me and Rayne used to joke about me kicking off the whole craze.

I blinked a few times allowing my eyes to adjust to the change before walking to my mirror. Looking myself over I decided that maybe my new wardrobe wasn't the worst thing in the world. Although I'd never have bought this attire myself, and it made me look like a cowgirl, it was growing on me.

My eyes finally settled on my hair. Reaching up I pulled it around to lie over my shoulder, my mother's words coming back to me. I lost track of time, stood just looking at myself in the mirror, studying the face I looked at every morning, my blue eyes staring studiously right back. Slowly my hand lifted and closed on my bobble, gently I pulled it out allowing my hair to fall free. Putting the bobble on my wrist I reached up and ruffled my hair, allowing it to fall naturally over my shoulders.

A wolf whistle from behind made me jump and I spun around to see Rayne standing in my open door, a smug grin plastered on his face.

"You definitely suit having your hair down, you look gorgeous" his voice was genuine, void of any sarcasm. Smiling I turned back to my reflection.

"Yeah" I commented "I think I like it to."

In those few seconds before leaving my room I wondered why everyone said I was pretty, well 'everyone' being my family and they few unlucky people that chose to befriend me. I'd always thought I was nothing special, nothing that would make a guy stop and look twice. I was just average, just Willow.