Invisible

Invisible Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Meltdown

(Mason)

The weird vibe between Robin and Olivia, when I find them standing together at Olivia’s locker after school, doesn’t make sense with the polite way they’re treating each other. I suspect something happened between them earlier. Neither one seems interested in explaining, though, so I leave it alone for now.

Olivia announces that Robin is coming over to hang out, and we head for the Jeep. Evie is already waiting for us there, with Aaron making a hasty retreat. He’s well aware that Olivia thinks he’s an idiot and tries to make himself scarce when she’s around. Since I don’t like him either, I’m glad to see him go.

Evie stops staring after Aaron in time to turn and hear Robin say she’ll meet us at the house. Evie’s hands snap to her hips as she fixes a glare on Olivia. “Am I the only one who remembers what happened last time she came over?”

“We need her help,” Olivia admits.

Now, I am more curious than ever to know what she and Robin talked about.

The drive home is quiet and sullen. For some reason, Olivia keeps looking over at me with a sad expression I don’t understand. As we approach the house, everyone’s eyes are scanning the streets for suspicious cars, but everything seems perfectly average. Evie is hardly appeased.

As soon as Olivia puts the Jeep in park, Evie jumps out, slamming the door behind her. I’m shocked Evie is being so dramatic about this. When I turn to Olivia, she puts a hand on my arm and says, “This has more to do with her not being able to see Aaron than with you or Robin. I’ll go talk to her.”

Olivia gets out and holds the door open long enough for me to slide out after her. I want to ask her what’s going on between her and Robin, but she walks away before I get the chance. Sighing, I head for the house, hoping Robin will have some answers.

As my body flops onto the couch next to Robin, she looks over at me and smiles. It’s the first pleasant expression I’ve seen all afternoon. There is something infectious about Robin’s grin. I can’t help smiling back.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” she says. Robin sets the notebook she was flipping through down on the coffee table and turns sideways to look at me. She tries to maintain her smile, but it falters and slips away. “Olivia said you told her about Eliana.”

I nod, hoping she doesn’t expect me to apologize. Olivia was struggling to trust Robin. She needed to know that what happened to Eliana was the mistake of a naïve little girl and not a vicious betrayal.

“She said you don’t keep secrets from each other.”

“No, we don’t.”

Robin fidgets with one of her dangly earrings. “You didn’t tell her everything.”

She doesn’t have to explain for me to know what she’s talking about. I look away, not sure whether I’m embarrassed when I think about Robin kissing me, or glad she did it. “No,” I admit, “I didn’t tell her.”

“Why not?”

I shrug. I don’t want to admit that I didn’t know how to tell Olivia, because I couldn’t figure out how she would react. Would she be glad I had found someone that I might have a real chance at a relationship with? Would she be angry? Jealous? Would it affect her at all? Without knowing the consequences, I couldn’t tell her.

A thought suddenly occurs to me. I turn to Robin, hoping I didn’t just figure out why Olivia seemed so down on the way home. “Did you tell her?”