The Boy Who Could See My Soul

Chapter 1

I woke up before dawn, jolting awake from a vivid dream. I couldn't remember it exactly, but it hadn't been pleasant. There had definitely been yelling and some flashes of pain. 

I groaned, and sat up. It was darker than usual -- it was cloudy outside, about to rain. Without turning on the light, I trudged downstairs, expecting to hear the voices of my parents in the kitchen. But there were no lights on when I got there -- did I forget that they went out of town? 

There was something different about the kitchen, but I couldn't figure it out. It felt like I had been sleeping for a while, although I had been sure it had only been a night... 

Without eating breakfast, I set off for school. It was conveniently in walking distance -- I didn't have a car yet, and my best friend Eden usually took me. I had a feeling that she would have had a hangover from a party that she had gone to the night before, so I decided to get a head start. About halfway there I remembered that I had left my bag at her place -- maybe she would bring it when she came to school. 

On my walk, I didn't notice that I didn't trip or stumble as usual, or make any sound at all. I was too preoccupied in my thoughts. It was light outside now -- I could see the reds and yellows of the trees. I loved this time of year. 

To my surprise, Eden was already standing at her locker when I got to school. 

"Hey," I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Do you have my bag?" 

She ignored me and continued searching around in the locker that we shared. 

"Eden?" I said, louder. Still no response. Was she mad at me? 

Our friend Matt appeared behind us -- I asked him what was wrong with Eden, but he didn't answer me either. 

"Do you have the trig homework?" Matt asked casually. I rolled my eyes -- he probably wanted to copy her work. 

"Will you please acknowledge my existence now?" I pleaded. "Please, I don't know what I did!" I didn't care if I looked pathetic. This day was already going strangely enough. 

Eden snorted and handed him a slightly battered copy of her homework. "It took me forever to find that at the bottom of my locker," she warned. "Don't lose it." 

He smirked, then kissed her on the cheek before he went to his class. 

I was so shocked by this that I forgot to ask why they were taking trigonometry when we were still in sophomore math. Were Eden and Matt secretly dating now? Could they even see me? 

I studied Eden, now that her head was out of her locker. She had cut her hair short, but something else was different too. Eden looked tired, but not just from a lack of sleep.

-:-

I followed Eden around that day in a daze. She was a junior now -- her and Matt both. No one seemed to see me, and I remained invisible to everyone, no matter how hard I tried to get their attention. 

However long I had been sleeping, I had missed a lot. Eden and Matt were dating now -- I had suspected that they liked each other, but never thought it would actually happen. I guess whatever happened had pushed them closer together. It was unnerving going to Eden's classes with her. She had never been a good student in the past, which was why I was surprised to see her taking advanced classes and actually taking notes. 

Through most of her high school career, Eden had only cared about a few things: cheerleading, her friends, and boys -- particularly the dumb-but-cute ones on the football team. 

Now, however, she wasn't even in cheerleading anymore. I wondered what had happened. 

It was at lunch when I first saw him. Silas Lockwood.