Invisible

Chapter 3: A new partner

Hi! So, I was so excited to bring you all this story that I forgot a couple notes. A very special thank you goes out to @ladybugtastic for her invaluable help with figuring out all the names and personalities of this horde of kids! Another round of special thanks goes to my beta readers, I don't want to forget anyone but you know who you are. The pic on the cover is Lacey! The pic in this chapter is Blaze! I hope you guys are enjoying this story! Don't forget to vote and comment!

~Lacey~

Eyes fixed firmly to the floor, I headed towards the cafeteria. Where the classes were concerned, Ashley Waters was a big improvement over our last school but the students were just the same, all the same cliques and no one sees the invisible girl. It wasn't exactly a big shock but I had hoped for maybe one friend. No big deal, really, I was used to being alone. I grabbed a greasy, garlic smelling cheeseburger and some crisp fries before glancing around for my siblings. Maybe I could eat with one of them. I wasn't a big fan of looking like the pathetic loser I was by eating alone.

Micah and Isaiah had apparently found the other football jocks so they were out. I wanted to enjoy my food, not have it stolen. I never understood how my brothers could stand to hang around the meat head set. They weren't anything like most jocks, even if they forgot about me half the time. There was Sasha, heading toward a table with a gaggle of giggling girls. Hehe, try saying that five times fast. She stopped to say something to some guy in an orange shirt and was that blue in his hair? He blushed and she went to sit with the others. I shook my head, Sasha was making conquests already. No Katerina but I had seen the group propping up the fence in the parking lot this morning so I had a pretty good idea where she was. Now where is Wesley? I finally found Wesley at a table with some other brainy looking kids having some kind of serious discussion,judging from the looks in their faces. Several books were open on the table, papers scattered across it. Not in the mood for intellectual debate, I found an empty table near the door. I grabbed my notebook to start jotting down things. This was one of my favorite things to do, watch people and record my observations or guesses. Sometimes I even made up stories and personalities for people. I thought maybe someday I would use all the things I had recorded to write a book but I haven't had the courage to try yet.

Halfway through my burger someone plopped down next me and stole a fry. Startled I looked up, thinking one of my brothers had come by to bother me.

This was not my brother.

Dark, nearly black, tousled hair was paired with piercing green eyes that seemed to see right through me. His snug black shirt accented a well muscled chest that the leather jacket did nothing to hide. Torn black jeans hugged thighs that looked like they could crack nuts with the barest twitch and black motorcycle boots topped the whole thing off. He looked dangerous and, frankly, hot as hell. My mouth went dry, my eyes wide. He snatched a few more fries and I wanted to snap at him to get his own lunch, but I'm pretty sure I forgot how to talk. And breathe.

"So, gorgeous, you're new," it was a statement rather than a question. Why was he here? At my table? Talking to me? And did he just call ME gorgeous? I was desperately trying to get my brain cells firing again. "What's your name?" What? Name. Yes. I had one those. WHAT WAS IT?

"L...llll...ll... Lacey," I stammered out. I'm pretty sure that was the end of my coherence though. Without taking his eyes from mine, he reached out, fingers gently circling my wrist on the hand holding my burger. He leaned over, mere inches from my chest, and oh holy fuck, I really couldn't breathe as he stole a bite of my burger. He sat back with a "mmmm...", his fingers caressing the underside of my wrist as he let it go. I think I might have been trembling.

" Fucking faggot!" I heard the insult but only dimly registered it, my brain failing to work. Tall, dark and dangerous however looked that way, his eyes leaving mine for the first time since he sat down. I heard him curse and then he was gone. It took a full minute for my brain cells and lungs to start working again. Only then did I realize I had seen him lurking in the back of a couple of my classes that morning. But why was he even talking to me? No one noticed me. Ever.