Being Invisible

Chapter 1: The First Day

"Rose," Miriam called from downstairs, "Breakfast!"

I slowly opened my eyes & then shut them again. I set my feet down on the cold hardwood floor & lifted my head groggily. Today was going to be a bad day; I could feel it coursing through my whole body. Waking up at 6AM is no fun. Hmmph. 

I walked a few feet over to my closet & pulled out an ensemble that featured a faded pair of skinny jeans & a neon blue tank top which I happily covered with a sweatshirt that read Soaking up the Sun. I know I live in California but I know for a fact I don't tan so why bother showing more of my pale skin that necessary? 

I finished my outfit by slipping on hi tops that had so many different colors you'd think a rainbow threw up. I dragged my lazy butt downstairs to breakfast only to find the first sight I see is Miriam all over her boyfriend, Dallas. Good thing I hadn't had breakfast yet, otherwise it'd be coming right back up. Gross.

On the counter top there were 2 plates of blueberry pancakes which Lydia & Luci raced to & snatched up before I could even think of choosing pancakes as my breakfast, a glass of orange juice & a loaf of bread.

Toast & orange juice it is. 

i'm not going to say that I'm mistreated by my parents or sisters but I am definitely not top priority around here. My mother was. Oh, & here she came, stumbling around the corner & onto a stool at the counter. 

"Morning, my dearest Sunshine's" she called as Lydia & Luci circled the kitchen, spilling milk all over the floor which no doubt I'd be asked to clean up. My mom just looked over at what I was wearing with a disappointed look to her face. Since Miriam's only two years older than me I guess I'm supposed to act more like her. I should be wearing short shorts & a tube & look like I actually live in California instead of looking like I'm an eskimo in mom's eyes. She really irritated me sometimes.

"Is that what you're wearing Rose? It's your first day of high school, you want to make a good impression, don't you?" I didn't get a "good morning sunshine" like my sisters, only criticism. This was enough to set me off & so I just got up and walked to the door to pick up my bookbag & shuffled out the door without a word. I hadn't even eaten my junk of a breakfast. Darn it. It's okay, my family probably wouldn't even notice if I starved.

The school bus was at my house within 10 minutes & I was the only one out there. Miriam could drive but refused to take me with her for the fear of being seen with me. It would ruin her reputation or something like that...

It was about a 40 minute ride & then we were dropped off & let inside with 10 minute till first bell. I spent the first 3 minutes finding my locker & opening it. The next 2 minutes I piled all my horrid school supplies in. I spent the 4 minutes after that finding the right class & just as first bell rang I got myself situated in my seat. I hadn't found Stella but we had Biology together, in two periods. 

"Welcome, freshman. My name's Mr. Yock & I am obviously your World History teacher. Now let me begin our first class saying...." he dronwned on in a monotone voice. If I had to start the rest of my mornings like this I'd be dead within a week.

 World History seemed to drag on for hours. The bell saved me & I moved right on to Art. My family knew nothing whatsoever about my art abilities & I didn't plan to tell them either. My mother honestly wouldn't care, no matter how good I was & my father would call it a " junk job" & then ship me off to Harvard to be a lawyer instead. I didn't have any interest in that. I don't think I would want to be a professional artist either but I knew that I loved it & that's all that mattered & I wouldn't let anyone take that away from me. 

Art flew by too fast & I thought maybe I could survive World History if I looked forward to art as a reward afterwards. Biology time! I wasn't too excited about the actual biology part; I just wanted to see Stella!

There were pure white desk with two stools scattered all over the desk & it didn't look like there was a layout. I found Stella in the far corner of the room flipping through the biology book conviently placed in the middle of the desk. "Stella!" I shouted, which startled her & caused her to abrubtly slam the biology book shut & cause Miss Derup to give us both the evil eye. She loved us both, we babysat her five year old boy, Stevie, a couple years ago. But she still had to treat all of us the same, but she winked right after she gave us the evil eye. I ran over to Stella & picked her up in a huge bear hug which resulted in both of us laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. The bell rang & we sat down but kept talking in a hushed whisper to each other about our first & second periods. 

Miss Derup was about 28 & plenty full of youth so no one was surprised when she started off class saying " Who's ready to dissect stuff? Sadly, we don't get to start dissection till next semester but there's still fun stuff to do meantime. I hope you've picked a hard working partner, this partner will remain the same all year unless problems arise. Everyone please flip to page 20 in your books & we'll start off with the structure of cells, both animal & plant." She pulled up a short powerpoint & we took a few notes. We've been hearing this since 6th grade you'd think we know by now. 

After Biology was over Stella & I raced each other down the hall to lunch where we found greasy pizza & rotten fruit, it was only the first day, couldn't we have food that didn't scare off new students? Stella & I both brought our lunch due to the fact that Miriam had told us how bad the food was here. Miriam didn't eat lunch because the school food was too gross & "bringing your lunch was too kidish." To be honest, she didn't really eat at home much either. Oh well, she probably pigged out with her friends, she went to enough parties. 

I followed Stella over to a picnic table sitting in the open sun. "Aren't you burning up in the outfit?" Stella questioned. She knew I didn't tan...

"I'm used to it by now."

"But the temperature is like 80!"

"I'm fine, honestly."

Stella was my bestfriend but sometimes she really ticked me off, like just now. She thnks I wear stuff to cover my body because I'm insecure. And, well maybe I am. But I won't admit it to anyone. She only is so concerned about me because she cares. And because four years ago her brother commited suicide. He was 16. He got bullied so much though. He just got pushed over the edge. Stella regrets not noticing that her brother was being bullied. She always thinks if she couldv'e been the witness & said something to her mom or dad that things would have been different.

This story of my life started out to be just about my problems. But as I learned through obstacles & tragedies, it became more about other people. I was able to use my gift, invisbilty to help others, besides myself.