There are five thousand people in this stupid school - give or take a few hundred. When there are enough people that a few hundred can be counted or discounted in the census, it's easy to understand how one insignificant person such as myself could get lost in the shuffle. My grades aren't good enough to be one of the honor students. I'm not hopeless enough to be one of the geeks. I'm certainly not good looking enough or athletic enough to climb the ranks of the elite. Out of five thousand people, roughly four thousand, six hundred twenty-two kids are just like me.
Invisible.
I've gone to school with a bunch of these kids since kindergarten, but that doesn't mean they recognize me in the halls. We may have been best friends on the playground, but puberty changes everything. Some were blessed, like my first-grade girlfriend, Rosalie, who has become the hottest girl in school. Jasper, my next-door neighbor since fourth grade, went the opposite direction and became leader of the geek squad. We still talk sometimes, but I never see him at school, so it's not like we stayed friends. The only person who still talks to me is Emmett, but that's because he likes to copy my French quizzes. He's dating Rosalie now, by the way.
I kind of wander aimlessly through my classes, keeping my grades up enough to appease my parents and maybe get into a good college three thousand miles from here. Sports, as previously mentioned, don't really appeal to me. I'm definitely not cut out for the chess club - mostly because I don't really care if I end up in checkmate. That just means the game is over, and I don't have to be bored anymore. I guess I like to read, but my books would put me firmly in geek territory with Jasper. Since no one really knows who I am, I doubt they'd care that I'm a sci-fi and fantasy fan. Still, I don't want to take any chances, so I leave the Sword of Mrathaman and Star Battle Excelsius books at home.
Most of the time, I'm okay with all of this. All right, I'm really not. Rosalie can be a bitch of the highest order, and she doesn't even remember my name, but I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we'd stayed together - or at least still talked. Maybe then I'd be the one pretending to like some stupid invisible kid so he'd let me copy his homework. At least I'm not tortured like Jasper, so that's enough to be thankful for.
I slam my locker door shut, prepared to start another day at the hellhole known as Sam Adams High School, and cringe when it makes a loud clang that echoes through the corridor. Pretty much the only thing that sets me apart from the other students here is that I'm always late. The benefit to being invisible is that my teachers don't seem to notice. Everyone is already in class when I zip my bag and make a run for American history.
As I turn the corner, I collide with someone else who must be late for class. There's a tangle of limbs as we both go flying, and I mutter an apology that falls on deaf ears. All I can see is brown hair whipping everywhere as the girl tries to gather her books. Since I only have to pick up my bag, I help her organize everything on the floor. When the pile is manageable, she looks up, and my world stops.
A moment passes. Five minutes pass. Maybe a year passes. I don't really know, because all I can see is brown. Brown eyes that welcome me in, look me over, and then sparkle in amusement. I don't even know what she looks like, but I know she's not angry.
As soon as my heart starts beating again, she takes the liberty of imparting another blow. I'm not sure I can even move when she finally speaks.
"Christ, you're beautiful."
With that, she lifts her belongings and leaves me staring after her with my jaw dropped all the way to my chest. Slender and yet somehow curvy, her body sways as she walks. Her hair, which is the first and last thing I see of her, reaches all the way to her waist. I'm already five minutes late by this point, and I can't even make myself care.
Finally, I return to my senses and remember where I am, and the world spins madly on.
This is just a short piece of fluff that wouldn't leave me alone. It's finished, so I'll post a chapter per day until it's done. Thanks to Tiffanyanne3 for the super-quick beta job!
