Maddy Shannon-Invisible

Am I Invisible

"I'll be at the clinic all day today. Your father has already gone to see Commander Taylor. Josh is probably with Skye and her friends and Zoe needs to go to school in about an hour. I expect you to get her there on time and to pick your sister up when school ends later today. I'll also need you to watch her after school." My mother tossed this casually over her shoulder as she moved from one part of the room to another gathering her supplies. Already expecting me to smile and nod, saying that I would do everything, like I had always done. Slapping on my signature smile and telling her not to worry she didn't even look over at me as she stepped out the front door. My façade immediately dropped as I sighed. Not once had my mother asked me what I had planned today even though she knew everyone else's schedules by heart. What if I had been to busy to watch Zoe for once? I shook my head. I wasn't going to let this get to me.

Stepping away from the door and past the kitchen I made my way to mine and Zoe's room. I walked in to see Zoe dressed in her favorite outfit and in all her five year old glory trying to brush her hair, unsuccessfully. Distracting myself from my earlier thoughts I grabbed the brush from her and gently maneuvered my way through the tangles. The motion reminded me of being back in 2149. Sitting in our crammed apartment helping her get ready. Once Dad had been sent to prison they had allowed her to attend the elementary school with no further issues. After all, a family is four.

She would wiggle and squirm but after fitting her re-breather on her face I would walk her there and then continue to the high school a few streets over. Josh always walked with his friends so he didn't ever see me before or during or even after the school day really. It was for the best anyway. He never saw the bullying... Although, I was invisible to the family anyway. Anything I did was often pushed off to the side. I mean, I had almost died and right in the middle of them comforting me Josh had overshadowed me by simply putting a capsule of medicine on the table. I couldn't remember the last time that my family had said they appreciated me for me. Or said they cared. That is, if they even did.

I was yanked out of my thoughts when Zoe pulled away. I saw that I had brushed through all of her hair and even put a headband in while I was thinking. Standing up I went to the kitchen to cut up some fruit for Zoe. She followed behind and sat at the table pulling out a paper to color on. She didn't say anything to me. I grabbed a bowl and began to make a fruit salad for her. I would have made one for myself but I truly wasn't hungry. Finishing up I placed the bowl in front of her and began cleaning up the sticky mess. She didn't glance up from her picture even as she grabbed a fork and dug in.
No thank you. No gapped tooth smile. I pretended not to notice.

I moved back into the room to get dressed myself. Looking in the mirror was like looking at a corpse. My eyes were dead, lacking there usual spark and my skin seemed pale and lifeless. I looked away ashamed of my appearance. I looked the exact same as in 2149. Terra Nova was supposed to be a fresh start. Apparently for everyone but me.

Once I had finished braiding a strand of my hair I came out of the room in my outfit and moved to grab all of Zoe's school supplies and after a moments thought, my own plex-pad. When they were all in my hand I looked at the clock to see it was time.

"Zoe, you have to go to school." Sighing she slid away from the table and grabbed my hand before walking with me out the door. She didn't say anything and I was to tired to whirl into a ramble of science facts. I'm sure it would only bore her anyways. I noticed that it was a bit cloudy but nothing to worry about right now. Maybe later tonight. We arrived right on time and I handed her the supplies before she ran into the building, excited to see her friends. I stood there a few moments before turning and heading down the road.

I noticed Josh walking with his friends and plastered on a smile and added a quick wave. He glanced over but quickly looked away obviously ashamed to be seen with me. My eyes landed on the ground sadly as I continued walking. Of course. It wasn't cool to be seen with your nerdy, dorky sister. Realizing I didn't want to be home right at that moment I travelled towards the walls around Terra Nova. Mark had once shown me an abandoned outlook while we were together. It was a great place to go if you wanted some peace and quiet and I loved the way it looked like a treehouse. After a short walk and cautious climb up into the outlook I was relieved to see that I was alone with my thoughts for as long as I wanted to be. No one knew where I was. No one would wonder where Maddy Shannon was because no one would bother to look.