"You're not invisible"

A new peculiar. Excitement ran through us at the mention of those three words. Miss Peregrine had told us she was to be here in three days. It was three days ago when she said it. She was to be here today.

We were all gathered inside the living room of the new house Miss P had Sharon and his cousins built in Florida, where the great Jacob Portman currently lives with his parents. Oh, I think I should mention that they came through after a few weeks of us living with them. His mother hugged him so hard and apologized dozens of times for how they nearly sent him to a nuthouse. His father apologized just like his mother, though in less exaggeration. It was wonderful and we are much very relieved for it.

He sometimes come over to hang out with us and sometimes would stay the night when he doesn't have school the day after. He was here now, as eager as we are to meet the new peculiar. As curious as I am of what her peculiarity might be. Of what kind of surprise, if it is possible, she would bring us.

A knock was heard from the end of the hallway, where the front door was. I was the first to hear it, then Jake, who was sitting beside Emma on the couch, flicking through channels of our television. Then soon, Emma heard it too, Olive, who was happily hovering around, practicing her control of her gravity. She squealed in delight, already knowing.

"She's here!" Olive cheered.

I put away my book that I've been reading for four hours then stood up, smoothing the crease on my pants which is the only clothing I had on. I turned to my friends who are looking confused, except for the three who had figured it out the moment they heard the knock.

"Miss P is here with the new peculiar," I told them, "let's welcome her."

They're eyes brightened up hearing the information and they started cheering as we went to get the door to welcome the new addition. Emma was the one who volunteered to get the door, Jacob trailing after her. She reached out to grip the knob and turned, pulling the door open to reveal Miss P… and probably the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my whole life – and I have lived for over eighty years, mind you.

She was small, but fitting in her age, which is quite the same as Jacob, I assume. Her perfectly shaped face was framed by her hair which is a bunch of black curls with streaks of orange. And her eyes, the most unusual color of eyes I've ever seen. They're bright purple-colored eyes patterned with streaks of white and black which made it look like the early evening sky just before the sun fully sets. Her nose was slightly upturned and her cheeks are flushed, rosy, but her skin was pale. She was dressed casually in a grey hoodie and skinny jeans, which I've seen Jacob sometimes wear.

We locked eyes.

Her eyes widened a bit and then she looked away. But I could see her rosy cheeks turned redder. That or it's just the light.

Then Miss P spoke, "Children! This is Theresa Martin." She said, gesturing for the girl. "She'll be staying here with us."

A chorus of "hi"s and "hullo"s came from the other children. But I was still staring at her, and she on the ground.

Jacob cleared his throat. "I think we should let them come inside," he told us, and we quickly stepped aside for them to come in. Miss P first came in and then Theresa followed with her duffle bag on her shoulder.

"Miss Martin and I will have a word before she could meet you all." Miss P said, dismissively then turned to me, Jacob and Emma. "No eavesdropping." she warned.

We nodded.

"I'll prepare something to eat," said Jacob, already turning to the kitchen with Emma.

"Please do, Jake." Miss P told him with a smile before turning to her office.

I turned to see Theresa looking at me, but when she caught my eye, she quickly looked away. I shrugged and turned to follow Jacob in the kitchen. But when I got there, he wasn't preparing any food. He and Emma were kissing. Emma caught sight of me and nearly squealed, pushing off Jacob. She glared at me as Jacob studied the ground while scratching the back of his neck. If I rolled my eyes, they wouldn't have known. I shrugged and left the kitchen to go to the living room, picking up the book from where I set it and returned to reading quietly.

I've been thinking about it a lot. How it would feel to have someone special to you. Sure, Miss Peregrine and my friends are very special to me, but not in a way I wanted someone to be special. And in those times, I just hate my peculiarity. Okay, maybe not. I like sneaking up on people and stuff, though I can never sneak up on Miss P. But I just wanted to know what it feels like to have someone see me and, I don't know, like me? In a way that Jacob likes Emma and Emma likes Jacob. Yeah, like that.

I was almost lost in my reading that I hardly notice when she entered the room. It was only when Claire and Olive cheered and there was an ooff! sound that I looked up to see her being squeezed by the two little girls. Bronwyn was stood up with Hugh, looking at them, while Enoch momentarily stopped playing with his clay soldiers to look up at her. Horace was just sitting on the couch and looking at them, the television forgotten. And then Enoch shrugged and turned back to his soldiers.

I stood up and went to greet her; she looked up and locked eyes with me. I don't why I did, but even though she wouldn't even see me doing it, but I smiled at her. "That's Olive and Claire," I told her.

She was still staring at me, and then she must've realized that I was talking to her because she said, "oh" with probably the most adorable voice I've ever heard.

I could feel my face heat up, and I'm just glad I'm invisible. I smiled again (and I still didn't know why, but I did) and offered her my invisible hand, which I put a white baller – a gift from Jacob – on. She reluctantly took it and let go after a few seconds. I quickly stuffed my hands on the pockets of my jeans, grateful once again for my invisibility.

"So, what's your peculiarity?" I asked her.

"My what?" came her reply.

I stared at her in confusion and then turned to Bronwyn and Hugh who just shrugged. "Miss Peregrine hasn't told you yet?"

"I… Yeah, a bit. But she never told me about my… p-p-" she seems to be unfamiliar with the word.

"Peculiarity." I helped her. "I'm Millard, by the way. Millard Nullings." I smiled for the third time. "Peculiarity is an ability that differentiates us from normal people. I, for example," I said, gesturing at myself, "cannot be seen by anyone."

She looked at me like I was crazy. "What do you mean 'can't be seen by anyone'?

Olive and Claire had let go of her now and were glancing at us with confused expressions.

"I'm invisible." I told her, a little proudly.

She was still giving me the look, her violet eyes staring brightly at mine… Staring. At. Mine?

"No, you're not."

And just like that, I finally met someone who could actually see me as clear as day.

"So that's your peculiarity," Theresa said, watching as Emma lit up a fire on her finger.

Emma smiled cockily, and blew out the fire from her finger. What a show off.

We're all gathered on the dining room, waiting for Jacob and Bronwyn to serve the food. I'm intentionally trying to avoid Theresa, attempting to sit away from her. I already embarrassed myself by being half naked on our first encounter, thank you. So yeah, I tried to sit on a seat away from her.

It was a failed attempt.

As soon as she entered the room and saw me, she sort of brightened up. And then I noticed the two empty seats beside me and froze. They were the only seats left to the table, not including Jacob's seat beside Emma, which is already a given to everyone.

So as it seems, I ended up sitting beside the girl who can see everything that are hidden from the normal eye. And to whom I have horribly embarrassed myself.

She turned to me.

"So, what else can you do, besides being hypothetically invisible?" She said with a smile.

I groaned, almost considering dropping my head on the table, if not for the plate placed in front of me. "I told you, I'm really invisible."

"Okay, I'm kidding." Theresa said, giggling. It was such a hypnotic sound that I cannot help but smile a bit.

Emma was giving me a knowing look, and somehow I know what she's thinking. She cleared her throat and spoke, "Theresa, you said that you can see Millard, right?"

Theresa slowly turned to her, tilts her head a little, straightened up and nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Emma smiled a little too fondly to be true. I could tell she was up to something and I could only hope it wouldn't be to embarrass me further to Theresa. I glared at her, but she cannot see. Bird help me.

Then she said, "Can you describe what Millard looks like?"

I froze and flushed. I could feel the heat creeping up my face as I turned to look at Theresa, who looked a bit embarrassed, but not as much as I am at the moment. She rocked a little on her seat, looking down at her empty plate. Then she looked up at Emma, with a determined look on her face. She was gonna describe how I look like to them – it's been literally decades since I last seen myself. And I was like eight that time, so I admit, half of me wants to know what I look like know. Half of me is scared, though. What if I look horrible now?

But then she said, "I could paint him for you."

I gaped at her for a moment, lost for words to say. Then when I recovered from my stupor, I spoke, "Y-you could do that?"

She looked at me then flushed a little, averting my eyes. "Yes," she said softly.

"Hmm, that would be fantastic," said Miss Peregrine. "I would love to see what Millard looks like, but I'm afraid it'll have to wait for tomorrow. I'm sure you'll all be tired after dinner, especially Miss Martin."

Then Jacob came in with Bronwyn, both carrying our dinner for the night. The children cheered as the two set down two massive trays of lasagna. Apparently, that's one of the best foods in the 21st Century.

The benefit of this new house is that we all had our own rooms. We all have our own space, our privacy. Which I seem to be lacking now, because Jacob decided to stay the night, and there is no way Miss Peregrine would let him stay at Emma's. I'm over eighty years old, I know what it feels like to be a hormonal teenager once. To be honest, I still am a little hormonal for my liking. But it's the body's age, not the mind, I assure you. So yeah, Jacob's here, lying on an airbed he had brought.

"Do you like Theresa?" He asked out of nowhere, which caused me to choke on air for a second.

"Where in Bird's name did that come from?" I asked, well more like squeaked.

"Well, do you?" He asked again, propping on his elbow.

I shifted from my position, where I was lying on my back and staring at the ceiling, to peer down at him. "Do you?" I teased. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. You're too smitten with Emma to even catch a glimpse of other ladies."

"I'm not gonna deny anything."

"Good."

"And I know you like Theresa."

I sighed, knowing there's no way out of it. "I do."

He chuckled a little. "Well, it's probably good the she could see you, right?" He said, leaning back down on his bed. "Which brings me the question… How long was it since you've last seen yourself?"

I shifted back into my previous position, staring at the ceiling. "About decades ago, literally."

"Do you remember what you look like?"

"No."

"Do you want to know what you look like now?" he asked.

I stayed silent for second, before saying, "well, half of me wants to…"

"But?" he probed.

"But, half of me is scared to even see myself." I said, and then sighed. "It's been decades and I may not like what I see. Maybe I look horrible now. Maybe I look ugly or hideous or bad."

"You know those words mean the same, right?"

"Not the point." I deadpanned. "The point is, I've been so used to not seeing myself even in the mirror that it scares me that I have a chance to see what I look like now."

"I don't think you look ugly." He said after a moment of silence. "I mean, Theresa could see you. And I can see the look in her eyes. The look that people has when they see someone beautiful or handsome or whatever."

I could feel heat crawling up my face from the statement, but I still managed to snark, "Aww… Are you falling in love with me now, Jakey?" I joked, peering down at him.

How he managed to hit me in the face with a pillow was beyond me.

It was a warm morning the day after. I'm currently inside the music room with Miss Peregrine, listening as she teaches me how to play the piano. I've already learned some great classical pieces and those songs of the 21st Century Jacob had forced me to learn using that broadcasting website he called YouTube. Right now, Miss P's teaching me the Turkish March, which is fairly difficult as it seems.

"No. Try slowly at first." she told me as I try to play. "You need to be familiar with the tune before you could increase the tempo."

I try to do as she says and played the keys a little slower. I let myself get familiar with the keys and then when I thought I got the hang of it, I increased the tempo just a little bit. I managed to play the half of the piece with only a few errors. I was about to increase the tempo a little bit higher when a bang sound from upstairs.

"I better check on the others," said Miss P as she rose to walk out of the room. She stopped just by the door and turned to me, "continue practicing. I'll be right back." and then she's gone.

I sighed and tried to go back to playing. I was getting better, having fewer errors on the first half of the piece.

"You know, if normal people saw you playing, they might freak out." a voice from the doorway said. I turned to see Theresa, standing there with a smile on her beautiful face. "You look like a scene taken from a horror movie."

"A good one?" I asked, playing along.

She moved to the side and dragged a chair towards the piano. "No, it was the horrible one." she joked, "a badly edited horror movie with maybe the worst plot ever."

"Rude."

She laughed, and then calmed herself. "I didn't know you could play."

"We met literally just yesterday."

She hummed in a non-committal tune. "Fair point."

"So, I've been thinking," she started, "I've noticed that everyone of you have powers-"

"Peculiarity." I corrected.

"Whatever." she said, rolling her eyes. "So yeah, every one of you has it, except Jacob." I stared at her blankly for a few moments. Then she said, "please don't look at me like that."

I blinked. "Like what?"

"Like you think I have hots for Jacob."

"Hots?" I asked.

"You know what I mean." she said and then glared. "I don't, just for your information. I'm just… curious. And he's pretty head over heels for Emma, which is ughhh." she made a gagging gesture.

I laughed at that. "Yeah, they're pretty gross sometimes."

She giggled and then scooted closer. "So tell me. What's Jacob's peculiarity?"

I sighed. "I think it's better to tell you the whole story about that."

So I recounted to her every last bit of what happened to us just a year ago: Abe's death which led Jacob to Cairnholm and to our house. And then the hollows and wights and Jacob's peculiarity and the library and pretty much everything.

"You know, if I haven't seen some weird stuff lately, I wouldn't believe that story." she said after I finished.

"Yeah, it's pretty much a miracle that we're still alive."

"Duh." she said. "So, where are the hollows and the wights now?"

"Most of them had been wiped out." I told her. "But there's this hollow that Jake decided to keep, which is pretty much in his control, being his first ever hollow-pet. I think he's contemplating on whether to name him or not."

"I wonder if I could see them too." she said.

"Who knows," I said, shrugging. "Maybe you could, or maybe your peculiarity was limited to invisible beings only. I don't know."

She shrugged and then smiled widely, like an idea just found its way into her head. "I think we should ask Jacob."

"You know what," I said, closing the music book on the piano, and then I closed the cover of the piano keys, "I think we should."

And that's how I found myself standing inside Miss Peregrine's office, Theresa standing on my right and Jacob on my left. Emma, who expectedly tagged along, was stood next to him. Miss P, momentarily disturbed from her readings narrowed her eyes at us. But then she sighed.

"I admit, I was thinking about the same thing the second you told us you could see Millard." she said.

"So, you're gonna let us go?" Jacob asked.

Miss Peregrine sighed again, "well, there's no stopping you children." she said and stood up, "But I'll have Miss Treecreeper to supervise you when you get there. You have a habit of getting way over your little heads." She said the last part looking at Emma and Jacob.

The two rolled their eyes.

"Thank you, Miss." said Theresa.

Miss P waved her off and shot a pointed look on Jacob. "You must remember to keep your hollow at bay. For Miss Martin's safety."

"I will." came Jacob's confident reply.

Miss Peregrine seemed to relax at that and smiled. "I'm just gonna get the keys for the car."

"No need," said Jacob, lifting his hand up to show a car key dangling on its chain. "I drove my car the way here. We're just gonna use that."

Miss Peregrine nodded. "Return before dark, then," and then we're dismissed.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Theresa cheered as Jacob drove to where the American loop was. She was sitting beside Emma on the back, since I called shotgun. Emma wasn't happy about it, and not knowing what the word means – other than a huge gun – made her even sourer than ever. But with that look on her face, it was worth it. Haha!

"We're meeting a ten-foot monster who eats peculiars and you think it's awesome?" I asked Theresa, peering over my seat. "I'd be wary of your definition of awesome."

She stuck her tongue at me. "Hey, it's not everyday you get to meet a real life monster."

"I think you should ask Jake." piped Emma.

Theresa turned to the boy in question. "You see him everyday?"

"He had more dates with his hollow than his girlfriend." I said.

"Shut up or I'll kick you out of the car while it's still running." he retorted.

"Mill's right though," Emma agreed, "and I can't help but feel rather jealous."

Jake groaned. "Come on Em, it's not like we're not together all the time." he said, "and I only see him twice a week." he added as he turned the car to the left. "And we practically have dates every other day."

"Whatever." Emma said, trying to feign mad but the smile on her face clearly gave it away.

"You two are gross, you know that?" I said to the two of them.

"Oh yeah? Or maybe it's because-"

"Shut up or I'll slam your face on the steering wheel."

Jacob rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet anyway.

The rest of the drive is spent with companionable silence. The two girls had fallen asleep after an hour or two. I pulled out my book from my bag, but before I opened it, Jacob spoke.

"Are you gonna do it?" he asked.

I looked at him, confused. "Do what?"

He turned to me with a teasing smile. "Ask her out?"

"Are you totally out of your mind?" I asked him incredulously.

He chuckled. "Come on, you like her, don't you?"

"That's not the point. How do you think would I be able to go on a date with her? She might be able to see me, but what about the normals?" I told him, and then added, "Besides, you're not even sure that she likes me too."

He sighed. "Come on, Mills. I could see the way she looks at you," Jacob said, "and I know because that's how Emma looks at me too, most of the times. That's the way-"

"Okay, okay." I cut in before he could go any further and cocked an eyebrow at him. "But seriously," I said, turning to Jacob. "Mills? Are we giving each other pet-names now?"

He punched me in the shoulder, hard. I rolled my eyes at him, rubbing at the sore shoulder.

We arrived at the loop just as the sun was at its peak and is beaming down at us. It was so hot; I would've stripped off all my clothes if not for Theresa who can see me. Inconvenient? I asked for this, and I won't be regretting anything.

"We're about to step inside a loop," I told her as the four of us make our way toward the awful wetlands. "You'll feel it when we pass the entrance."

"So… why are we wearing boots again?" she asked, glancing at our said boots.

"It's a little wet there." Emma told her, and grimaced.

Theresa stared at her flatly. "Something tells me "little" is an understatement."

And then we entered the loop. I felt the familiar change of air… and smelled the familiar stink and wetness of the land. Just as we entered, our boots instantly hit mud.

"Understatement of the century." I muttered to myself.

"Tell me about it." Theresa murmured.

"Guys, come on! Door's over there." Jacob said, walking ahead of us across the wide log that serves as a bridge across the swamp. Emma followed him, quietly ranting about how excited her boyfriend was to see his pet dog.

"Door?" Theresa asked me, looking skeptic.

I smiled at her. "You'll see."

Miss Treecreeper greeted us just as we stepped inside the Panloopticon. She was wearing a shiny purple blouse and black pencil-cut skirt that end just an inch below her knees. Her hair was a tangle of black curls with streaks of white and is styled in a loose bun to accommodate her oversized hat with shiny beetle-shaped emerald stones. She regarded us with a wide smile, her eyes disappearing from it.

"Children," she said, "how lovely to see you all again. Miss Peregrine had called me and asked to assist you."

"Yeah. We're to visit him." said Jacob.

Miss Treecreeper's smile became a little wary. "Of course."

"What's with her?" Theresa whispered to my ear.

"It had just been a year since hollow stopped eating peculiars." I whispered back to her.

Her mouth formed into an "o" as she thought through about the information. She gave a nod and dropped the whole thing.

Miss Treecreeper's gaze landed on her. "And who might this be?"

"I'm Theresa Martin, miss." she answered as politely as she can.

"I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"She's new." I told her, and for a brief moment, her eyes widened. Then she beamed at Theresa.

"And what might her peculiarity be?" she asked.

Theresa stepped in front, smiling. "I can see things that no one could see."

"Really?" she said, sounding interested. But the look on her face made her seem skeptic.

"She could see me." I said, sounding proud.

Miss Treecreeper seemed convinced by that. She told us to leave our boots by the door and then she began to guide us through the halls, despite the fact that we've basically been here long for us to remember where is which. It's probably the ymbryne nature kicking in.

Finally, we arrived at the room where Jacob's hollow is being held. The door was a thick metal vault door that is probably unnecessary since the hollow seemed to have lost its appetite for peculiars and settled with cooked meat. Normal meat, mind you, mostly beef, sometimes pork. We tend to avoid feeding him chicken, though. We fear the Armageddon chickens might drop several exploding eggs our way. We like to keep our limbs attached to our body, thank you very much.

Jacob grabbed the wheel and turned. It gave a quiet groan as the door unlocks. Jacob pushed it open, revealing a whole ten foot shadow-like creature. Jacob sees different.

"Hello?" Jacob said, approaching the hollow.

"What is that?" Theresa asked, eyeing the shadow.

Jacob turned to her and smiled. "It's my hollow."

Both Emma and I turned to the girl. "Could you see it?"

Theresa nodded a little, eyes never leaving the creature. I worry she'd scream and run, but the gleam in her eyes said otherwise. She seemed like she was rather adored by it.

"It's beautiful." she said, softly.

We gaped at her.

"I-I wouldn't call that thing… beautiful." Jacob told her.

"It's horrifying, yes." Theresa agreed, but then she added. "It's beautiful in a horrifying way."

Jacob seemed to understand. I felt like I kind of understand too. Maybe just a little bit.

"You wanna come closer?" Jacob asked Theresa.

Emma stepped forward, looking worried. "I don't think that's-"

"Yeah." Theresa said, cutting Emma off. "That'll be cool."

Jacob nodded and led her toward the creature. There was a smile on her face that I couldn't quite understand. It was like an explorer who just found another great wonder of the Earth. Like an artist, seeing her art hanging on the walls of a well-known museum.

She lifted up her hand toward the creature, about to touch it.

I stepped forward with my hands up front. "Wait."

Theresa ignored as she reach for the creature. Jacob was smiling at them, slowly stepping away. He stopped just beside me and whispered.

"I think he likes her."

"Yeah. Probably for lunch." I told Jacob, sternly.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "He's lost his appetite for peculiar souls like a year ago."

The creature huffed, which caught our attention, and met Theresa's hand with its forehead. Jacob smiled proudly, and I stared in awe. Emma looked as if she's about to incinerate the hollow.

Theresa began patting its head softly and ruffled its human-like hair. It made a sound that sounds, suspiciously, like a purr.

"Did your hollow just purred at her?" I asked Jacob, not quite believing what I'm seeing – or rather hearing.

"I don't know. He doesn't do that with me." Jacob said softly, looking just as shocked as me. Emma was stood frozen, staring at the scene.

After a few more minutes of Theresa petting the hollow, she stepped back. The Hollow stepped back too and sat in front of her, or at least that's what it looks like it was doing. I can't really tell.

She turned to us looking like a little girl who just got home from Disney World – yeah, we once went there. Well, they legally went there, I snuck in. She was grinning and it met her eyes. She looked beautiful and my breath caught as she looked directly at me, her smile widening even more. She started to walk towards me, going faster until she was practically running. She crashed unto me, wrapping me in her arms, and I almost fell on my back from the weight and shock. Luckily, I managed to step back a little and got back in balance.

"Thanks, Mill." she said, her voice muffled as she buried her face on my shoulder.

From the looks that Emma and Jacob are giving me, I blushing red as a tomato.

I reluctantly hugged her back, relaxing as she hugged me tighter. "Anytime," I told her, which was the only word I could get out right now.

She pulled away and took my hand. She turned to Emma and Jacob. "Come on, let's go home."

Everyone was waiting for us when we got back, demanding us to tell them if Theresa could see hollows or not. Olive jumped and stayed on air as we told them the news. They cheered and congratulated Theresa like she just graduated from college. They didn't much understand Theresa telling them how beautiful the hollow, though.

Jacob stayed the night on my room once again, being on his summer break and all. So I reckoned it might be the time to ask him about the things that are currently bugging me: Theresa hugging me, to be specific.

"How does it feel like when Emma hugs you?" I asked Jacob that night, lying on my back on the bed and staring at the ceiling.

"Warm." He answered. "Like you won't even realize that you were cold until you felt that warmth wrapped around you."

I tried to think of how I felt when Theresa hugged me. She fit herself perfectly against me, occupying every hollow space she could occupy as she wraps her strong and warm hands around me. And I understand what Jacob meant how he felt when Emma hugs him. The kind of warmth you never realize you needed until you felt it.

"You're an idiot if you still think she doesn't like you." Jacob said.

"Maybe… maybe she just likes me like how you like us." I said, not really believing it.

Suddenly, Jacob is loomed over me and flicked my forehead. "You know what's your problem is?" he sat back on his airbed and glared at me, though it's half-hearted at best. "You just can't accept the fact that someone does like you. Like, you're thinking that because you're invisible you're doomed to be loveless."

"That's not true!" I told him.

Jacob cocked his eyebrow. "Is it?"

I sighed and sat up and faced him. "Fine! You're right." I said, "I'm having a hard time believing it. I'm having a hard time accepting it because… because I'm afraid that if she ever finds someone better than me, she'll just leave me. Because things like this are doomed to fail."

Silence fell over us.

Then Jacob spoke up.

"Mill, I know how you feel." he said, slowly, he's face turning soft. "I've been there, man. I had a hard time accepting that Emma likes me, too, because of her past with my grandpa. I was scared that maybe she just likes me because I look like him, and if she sees that I'm not like my grandfather, she'll break up with me."

"Emma will never leave you." I told him. "She loves you no matter what."

"But I didn't know that at the time. I took a risk with her."

"I fail to see what your point is." I said to him, but it was a lie. I can clearly see his point. He didn't know how Emma really feels about him those times when were on 1940. He took a risk, a huge and dangerous risk, and in the end he won over Emma.

He wants me to take a risk with Theresa, too.

I was busy with all the math books Jacob had lend me from his school when Theresa knocked at my opened door. I turned to her and looked at her suspiciously. She was covered in paint and dirt, her apron having the most amounts of smudged paint and, probably, pencil dust. She was grinning, her hands hidden behind her. She took a step inside and closed the door, still grinning.

"Uh… Theresa?" I asked, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Her voice was almost a yell when she spoke. "I finished it!"

"Finished what?"

"This." Grinning still, she took her hands from behind her and thrust something at me.

It was a painting of a blond-haired teenager wearing a grey Spurs shirt and black. His hair was almost shoulder length and his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. His skin was pale, and his build was slight muscular. He was sitting on a chair beside a table with a pot of white roses, reading a book which is oddly familiar.

I took the painting from her hands, scanning every detail of it once again and again and again. Then my eyes grew wide. "Is this… me?" I asked looking up at her.

Her grin turned to a fond smile. "Yes." she said. "It's you, Millard."

I stared back on the painting in my hands. This is me? This boy… this good-looking boy… this… is me? I wasn't aware of my tears building up in my eyes until I felt them stream slowly down my cheeks. I turned around and placed the canvas on my desk, not wanting to have tears on them.

A hand touched my shoulder.

"Millard, are you okay?" Theresa asked, slowly walking around me to see my face.

I looked up at her and slowly stood up, meeting her eyes. I felt my hands shaking and I brought them to her face, cupping each side. She stared in my eyes, confusion evident in them.

And then I crashed my lips on hers.

For I moment, I thought she would push me back kick me in the nuts or slap me in the face. But instead, she kissed me back. But after a few seconds of it, she pulled back and took my hands from her face and linked them with hers, our fingers intertwined.

She was smiling.

I wrapped my arms around her and she wrapped hers around me. We held each other, feeling each other's warmth, and I don't think I could ever let go. She buried her face on the hollow of my chest and I peppered kisses on her hair.

"Thank you." I whispered into her hair, meaning every word. That was the first time in over eighty years that I've seen myself. And this girl, this beautiful and kind and unpredictable girl, was the one who made me see myself again. And now I know what Jacob felt when Emma came to his rescue that day when his parents decided to send him to a nuthouse. I know what Emma felt when Jacob said that she was all that really matters to him, that she was the reason his stayed, that she was the reason he tried to and became strong, a new person.

And I know, in this moment, that I'm now in love with Theresa Martin, the only girl in my life, and probably in the whole world, who can see me.

And I know she loves me too.