Invisible

Chapter 3

"Mom, I'm back!" I announced. No answer came.

I placed my bag on the bed and looked around the small room. "Mom?"

I knocked on the bathroom door.

"You in there?" I asked. Still no answer. I opened the door slowly, panic taking over.

I jumped when I heard the sound of the front door opening.

They're here for me.

I slowly turned around only to see my mother with a few bags of groceries.

I relaxed and flopped onto the bed. "Oh thank goodness."

"Christina, your entire face is invisible." My mother sighed, placing the groceries on the small counter by the sink.

"Sorry, I didn't know where you were," I muttered, walking over to the mirror to inspect my face. It was slowly starting to turn visible again.

"So we have a slight problem," my mother huffed. I turned to her, waiting for an explanation.

She sat down on the bed, staring at me intently. "I was watching the news today. There was a very interesting story about a girl claiming there was a ghost in a school bathroom in Oregon," she said pointedly, giving me a look. "They're officially reopening your case, which means my picture was on the news. Already a few people at the store seemed to recognize me."

My stomach dropped to the floor. "What? What are we gonna do?"

"First, you need to calm down. I'd like to see you when I'm talking to you." I looked down to see that I was completely invisible. "Second, you're going to keep going to school. This is why I always have you skip picture day. No one has any idea what you look like. I'm going to dye my hair and change my look. We should be fine. I did it when you were a baby, I can do it again."

"I'm sorry mom, I really messed up," I mumbled.

"Christina, these things happen. It's not the end of the world," she insisted, taking a box of hair dye out of a grocery bag. "How was school?"

I threw my hands in the air in frustration. "Mom, we can't just act like nothing's wrong!"

"But nothing is wrong. I've been dealing with this for years, Christina. You're just too young to remember. I can handle it. Now, how was school?" She asked again. I sighed, giving up.

"It wasn't bad. I think I made a friend... or an acquaintance at least." I ventured, remembering Liam.

She poured some bright red hair dye into a little cup, making me cringe. "That's great! What's her name?"

"You're really gonna go full red?" I asked, ignoring her question.

She nodded, then pulled a pair of scissors out of the drawer. "Yep. I'm sick of the blonde anyway." She shrugged and chopped off six inches of hair without a second thought.

"Mom!" I cried, watching her beautiful blonde hair fall to the floor.

"Honey, it had to be done. Plus, I used to have my hair short like this when I was a teenager. I like it." She smiled at me reassuringly.

I watched her for another moment, concerned, then answered her question. "Well anyway, his name is Liam. He's really weird and kinda rude, but he decided to show me around the school and I think we're friends now." I told her.

"A boy? No. Nope. I won't have you dating and telling some boy all of our secrets after we've worked so hard." She snapped, turning to look at me.

I took a step back in surprise. "Woah mom, I said friend. Trust me I'm not dating anyone. Ever."

She studied my face to determine if I was telling the truth, then turned back around to the mirror.

"Fine. But if you do date him, I don't care what he says to you. You can't trust him or anyone else."

"I got it, mom." I sighed.