Luna passed through the rest of the day unable to focus. Her mind was buzzing with excitement, her eyes were glued to the clock, and she was bouncing up and down in her seat.
The clock ticked quietly in the background as she stared intensely at it. Tick tock, tick tock, one minute until she could go home...and then an hour until she could hang out with Lily.
She bolted up as the bell rang loudly. Luckily, nobody paid any attention to her. She grabbed her books and darted out of the classroom. She dodged past students chatting in the halls and spotted her purple backpack lying in an empty hall, where she had left it.
Luna had tried to find her locker on the locker list hung up on a bulletin board, but there seemed to be a mistake or something, so her name wasn't on there. She'd decided that she would talk to somebody about it later, and put her backpack down where nobody would take it.
Luna unzipped her backpack and placed her books inside. She closed it again and swung it onto her shoulder, momentarily caught off guard from the heavy books inside. Luna walked into a bustling hallway full of students headed for the exit, eager to go home–and go hang out with Lily.
Luna breathed in the scent of new buds and spring, the cool air nipping her nose. She heard a familiar laugh, one that sounded like a tinkling bell. Lily. Luna turned and saw Lily casually leaning against a tree. She was chatting with a boy. The boy had spiky, dirty blond hair and dark brown eyes.
Luna noticed with a pang how close Lily and the boy were standing. Were they dating? She felt a surge of–was that jealousy? She didn't even like Lily as more than a friend...right?
Luna tried to wrench her eyes away from the laughing maybe-couple, but her eyes refused to cooperate. "Will! You're so silly!" Lily teased, elbowing the boy–Will–playfully. "That's why they call me Silly Willy!" Will joked.
Luna watched as they joked around for a bit, teasing in between fits of laughter. A strange feeling in her hands made her look down. Luna realized that she had been clenching her fists so hard that her already pale hands were white.
Luna narrowed her eyes as she watched them, until her blue eyes were tiny slits and she could barely see. She knew she was being creepy, but her legs were like heavy bricks, refusing to move.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Lily waved goodbye to Will and grabbed her colorful backpack, which was propped against the tree.
She realized with a shiver of happiness that Lily was making her way to where Luna was standing. Her heart fluttered wildly, but that changed from joy to nervousness as she realized that Lily might be demanding why Luna was spying on her and Will.
Luna looked down and focused on a blade of grass, her palms sweating. "Hey Luna!" Lily said, making Luna's stomach fill with butterflies–both scared and happy ones. "See you at 4:30!"
Luna relaxed as she realized that Lily wasn't mad. She probably hadn't even realized Luna was stalking her and Will! She greeted Lily and looked up. Luna sucked in a breath as she took her in.
Lily's red hair caught the light, glinting in the rays of bright afternoon sun, and her eyes sparkled, green mixed with violet, blue, and gold. Her neat white teeth nearly blinded Luna as she flashed a crooked but somehow perfect smile. Lily's whole face seemed to light up.
Luna hurriedly stopped gaping. "Yeah, see you then!" Lily handed her a folded piece of paper, and Luna hesitated, unsure what to do with it. "By the way, here are the instructions on where the park is and where to meet me! Bye!" Luna nodded and slipped it into her pocket.
Her eyes followed Lily as she turned and skipped off the lawn, onto the sidewalk. Luna felt like skipping herself. Her anger slash whatever she had felt after seeing Lily and Will maybe flirting had disappeared.
She was hanging out with Lily Everett after school! Luna hid her face behind her long black hair, covering her madly blushing cheeks and wild grin. She sauntered across the sidewalk with a bounce in her step. She didn't care if she got any weird looks! Nothing could disrupt her happy mood!
********************
Luna felt her joy dampen slightly as she saw the broken shingles of her house peeking through the scraggly trees and houses. Her home looked especially old in comparison to the brand new practically gleaming mansions surrounding it. Luna sighed.
Her already dirty sneakers squished against brown mud as she walked alongside the street. There used to be pavement there, but the sidewalk was being rebuilt. Luna dodged a neon orange cone and continued trotting across the dirt, her feet squelching with every step.
Luna turned onto her overgrown yard and kicked her sneakers off before she entered. Her old sneakers were splashed with mud from her trek, and she didn't want to add to the dust on the floorboards of her house.
"Hi Mom and Dad!" she greeted her parents, who were lounging on the couch doing work. "Hey my little moonbeam!" Her dad joked, flashing a crooked, weary grin. Luna's mom looked up from her computer, managing a strained smile. Her exhaustion was apparent on her face even as the corners of her green eyes crinkled. Luna yearned to be able to brush her fingers lightly across her parent's faces and erase the creases between their eyebrows.
Luna started up the stairs, then paused. "What time is it?" she asked her dad. "It is..." Her dad glanced at his computer. "3:50." Luna thanked him and then continued climbing up the stairs. Her back was aching from her heavy backpack, and when she got to her room, she collapsed onto her bed and shrugged her purple bag off.
Luna fished her book out of her bag. She had barely read at all today, but she was determined to finish her book.
***************
"Bye Mom and Dad!" Luna exclaimed, skipping out of the door. "See you later, Luna!" Her mom's voice had much more energy now. Luna had informed her that she was hanging out with a friend, and her parents had squealed and filled up with excitement.
Luna recalled the instructions Lily had scribbled on a piece of paper and thrust into her back. "Turn right onto Lauren Street," she murmured quietly. She walked at a steady but fast pace, determined not to be late. As she hurried along, she fell into a steady rhythm. Her black sneakers pattering on the sidewalk, in sync with her quiet yet audible breathing.
A sign ahead of her announced "Enchanted Eden Park!" Luna giggled internally at the name, and she walked past the sign. A colorful gate wrapped around the park, shades of red shifting to hues of orange and the other colors, all the way down the rainbow.
Luna pushed open the gates, securing it behind her. The grass tickled her ankles where her socks ended, resulting in a sensation that was not unpleasant, just slightly itchy. Luna took a few steps forward, looking for a lake. Lily had said to meet there.
As she wandered through the grassy fields, she reached down to tug her socks higher on her foot. The grass had become a nuisance. A gleam of something shiny caught her eye, and she looked to her left to see a shimmering lake ahead of her.
A redhead stood out, her bright hair giving her away. Lily waved to Luna, and Luna couldn't stop a small grin from spreading across her face. She jogged up to the lake where Lily was relaxing on the soft grass.
"Hey," she said, her heart fluttering as Lily smiled again. "Hi, Luna." Lily gazed out at the lake as Luna settled down in the grass. Fortunately, this grass wasn't as itchy. It felt like a soft blanket.
"Um..." Luna began, unsure where to start. She had never hung out with a friend before. "So do you have any siblings?"
She immediately regretted her words when Lily's face flashed with a mix of emotions she couldn't read. However, Luna was certain they were negative feelings. "It's okay! You don't have to answer if you don't want to! I don't want to pry!" she babbled, hurriedly attempting to fix her mistake.
Lily shook her head. "No, it's okay. It's just...hard for me to talk about. But I have a feeling that I can trust you." Luna fell silent, unsure what to say and what to expect. She watched Lily carefully as the beautiful redhead took a deep breath, biting her lip.
"My brother is dead."
YOU ARE READING
Invisible
ParanormalLuna has been homeschooled ever since she was six, and all the friends she's ever needed have been in her books. But one day, her parents send her to regular school. Luna is nervous at first, and battles a flood of worries, but her parents assure he...
