How to Disappear Completely

How to Disappear Completely - Chapter 2

How to Disappear Completely

By Annika Howells

Cover art: Annika Howells

Cover design: Derek Murphy

Copyright © 2012 Annika Howells. All rights reserved worldwide.

www.htdcnovel.com

2

 Lycia did not want to return to the school the next day, but she wanted answers. She was determined to find the person who had waved at her from the window. Maybe they would help her understand what was going on.

Lycia tried to look as confident as possible as she entered the school. The other students stared at her with even more disgust than the day before. Lycia did her best to ignore them.

The morning bell rang, and Lycia still didn’t know where her classroom was. She was going to have to swallow her pride and ask someone. She looked for a teacher, someone with authority, but all she saw were students.

“Excuse me,” she said to a boy who was loping past.

His eyes darted in her direction but he didn’t stop.

“Hey!” Lycia called, refusing to be ignored.

The boy turned to her, rolling his eyes and slouching his shoulders.

“Do you know where I can go to find out what class I’m in?” she asked.

The boy stared blankly at her and made a snorting noise. Lycia waited patiently for an answer, but when he finally opened his mouth it was only to spit at her feet before continuing down the corridor.

Lycia stepped back from the repulsive foam as two girls ran past, their ponytails swinging wildly behind their heads.

“Wait up, Amy!” One girl said to the other.

“Come on, Chelsea,” Amy called as she entered one of the classrooms. As soon as Chelsea caught up, their identities mingled once more.

Lycia followed them. She didn’t know what else to do. If she wasn’t meant to be in their class, maybe Chelsea and Amy would have the courtesy to point her in the right direction. Maybe.

The classroom was a drab, windowless box. There were no posters or charts on the walls, and the blackboard was blank. Wooden desks and plastic chairs were scattered around without any apparent arrangement. A mound of broken chairs was piled up against the back wall. The other students chose the desks that were furthest from the mound, leaving Lycia to sit alone at the back of the room.

The students took out their notebooks. They began to work diligently, even though no teacher had arrived yet. Lycia didn’t have a notebook, or even a pen, and she wasn’t about to ask to borrow from anyone. Chelsea and Amy had sat among the other girls and Lycia could no longer distinguish them. Lycia kept her head down, pretending to be engrossed in examining her wristband. She struggled to maintain the confident demeanor she had started the day with.

Something small hit her in the back of the head. She resisted the urge to look around and see what it was or where it had come from. A second projectile bounced off the top of her head and landed on her desk. At first she thought it was just a piece of scrunched up paper. When she picked it up, she saw that the paper was tightly folded into the shape of a star. She focused stubbornly on her desk as the stars continued to rain down on her. The throws became more frequent and more erratic. Half of them sailed right past her. Behind her, she heard a sigh and the shuffling of feet. Lycia stiffened as a long, thin hand curled over her shoulder.

“Honestly,” said a bored, drawling voice next to her ear. “Isn’t throwing paper the universal sign for ‘turn around and look at me I’m trying to get your attention’?”