Translucent

Desk

Rhiannon wasn't prepared for the folded piece of paper that landed on her desk from across the room. It thudded gently onto the wooden surface, unable to be heard by anyone on the desk along, in front or behind. She flinched back a tad, her pencil leaving the paper that shared the space on the desk.

She looked in the direction of the paper's arrival, locating the source to the desk on the far side of the room, belonging to her friend Jessica. Jessica was looking at Rhiannon intensely in a bid to gain her attention, without smiling. She gave a mousey wave to the other girl, plucking the notes from the table and nimbly pulled the folded parts away from each other. It was a message, written as a single sentence on the crumbled page that read: I know about the watch.

No wonder she wasn't smiling.

Rhiannon scrawled across the page at lightning speed, feeling her stomach slowly sink at the idea of someone else knowing about the watch. She didn't mean for it to happen, it was an accident. She didn't mean for things to go this far. Folding the paper and throwing it aggressively, it hit Jessica's desk with another light thump that Rhiannon didn't hear. She was too busy with the anxious thoughts she was desperately trying to avoid.

The reply read: I don't know what you mean.

She could feel her heart in her throat but decided to bury her attention into her English work. 

Rhiannon hated comprehension. It seemed like a failing of the school system to force students that could already read to do papers and papers of analysis. She thought of this as she filled out her papers laid out on her desk. 

The classroom was quiet, aside from the scratching of pencils and the low hum of breathing and fidgeting of other girls.

The same folded lump of paper landed on her desk again. This time it was more crumpled. She didn't look up at Jessica as she ripped open the note.

It read: Meet me in the bathroom at lunch. We'll talk.

She looked up at the clock. 10 minutes until lunch. She only had to continue with this drudgery for 10 minutes. She only had to worry and fear for 10 minutes.

At this point, Rhiannon began to rush through the worksheets, scrawling across the pages with focused determination. Her mind was cloudy that day but she knew that as long as she could work through the next 10 minutes, she could deal with some of the clouds.

As she thought this, the signalling bell for the whole school cut through the quiet, and Rhiannon felt the shock flood her body as the sound assaulted her ears.

What she wasn't ready for was the gut feelings of her body shifting, the tingling feeling of her skin slowly fading from the world into the sickly translucent paper that showed her anatomy and her body dropping through her chair and landing on the floor with an obvious clatter.

It only lasted a moment but a moment was enough to allow her through the chair and onto the floor, the anxiety build-up finally giving way to her condition. The wave of hushed and concerned whispers of the other girls washed over Rhiannon's head as she tried to orientate herself with her new position. She was stuck under the legs of her chair.

"Miss Hightower?" she heard from the front of the classroom, her teacher, Mrs Neill, rising from her chair at the front of the classroom. Rhiannon felt the panic rise in her chest as she realised that her classmates were now still looking at her as their teacher made her way around her desk. Rhiannon was swift in the execution of a malformed plan, knocking the chair over and groaning as if she hit her head. She hadn't hit her head but it sounded like a better story in her mind.

"Are you alright, Rhiannon?" the older woman asked again, her stride swifter than her physique would suggest. Rhiannon was going to play the game and play it well.

"Mrs Neill?" her tone was questioning as if she was dazed. If Rhiannon had anything going for her these days, it was her acting ability.

"Ladies, I suggest you head off to lunch!" she raised her voice towards the rest of the class and the girls hushed their gossiping, collecting their things and leaving their desks. She crouched down to the floor and looked over Rhiannon's body, a knowledgeable eye looking for injury. Rhiannon groaned again with a weaker tone and looked up towards Mrs Neill.

"I'm sorry, Miss" Rhiannon half-lied "I didn't mean to, I was fine and then I just-"

"It's fine, my dear" she replied, holding out a hand that Rhiannon accepted graciously "It happened sometimes. Are you hurt at all?"

"My head hurts and I feel really nauseous" Rhiannon replied, placing her fingertips to her head tentatively though she didn't actually hurt her head. Her stomach, on the other hand, was very much ready to jump out of her throat and onto the floor. The transition always made her feel a little nauseous.

"I think you better go to the infirmary, young lady" Mrs Neill advised, pulling Rhiannon up from the floor and back into another chair. Rhiannon only now remembered how weak phasing made her, her legs having a hard time pushing her into the chair. The idea sparked an old fear in her.

"Yes, that sounds like a great idea" Rhiannon nodded in agreement before attempting to stand up from her seat. It was a weak effort as she dropped back down almost immediately. Her teacher leaned forward in concern.

"Don't rush yourself, dear. You don't want to hurt yourself" she comforted Rhiannon with a soothing tone.

"I can take her to the infirmary, Miss Neill" the familiar shrill voice caused Rhiannon to shudder. Jessica was still standing near her desk with her satchel firmly sat on her hip and her face smiling with fake cheer.

"Ah, Miss Bryant" Mrs Neill sighed, relieved by the idea of Jessica's presence even though Rhiannon was just as nervous as she was moments ago "Yes, that would be excellent."

Rhiannon didn't want to deal with the situation at hand. Rhiannon didn't want to deal with any of this. She didn't care about the stupid watch anymore. It didn't matter when Jun had literally seen her disappear off the face of the Earth for half the year and all she cared about was that stupid watch.

Some people didn't need to know. 

And she was so afraid that her secret was out.