Invisible

True story that happened to me this week. I needed to write about it to get it off my chest, and I thought, "Why not entertain a couple of people while I'm at it?" Writing is therapeutic.

     I squinted my eyes shut as his shadow passed over me. I had been pretending that he didn't exist for at least half of the day, and he had been doing everything to make me acknowledge him; even tackled me to the ground once. Water gushed over my neck and he took off running around the circle. I looked over at my friend.

     "Wow, the wind's really bad today isn't it? It just launched a water balloon into the back of my neck."

     He came running at me and tackled me to the ground once more, wrapping his arms around me.

     "WOW, CASSANDRA. THE WIND IS REALLY STRONG TODAY," I yelled over his speaking in my ear.

     "Faaaaaith," he whined. "Notice meeeee!"

     "Wow, the wind is howling so loud today, isn't it, Cassandra?"

     "Faith, you're way too good at this game," Cassandra shook her head. "You're making me start to believe that Mason doesn't exist, and I can see him clearly."

     "Who is Mason?! Why do you keep mentioning this 'Mason' guy?" I threw my hands up.

     Mason got up off of me and I sat up.

     "Class time!" a shout came from the edge of the field. Mason held out his hand to help me up as he normally did and I placed my hands against the grassy bottom, pushing myself up off of the ground. A wounded look passed over his face as I passed by, bumping his shoulder.

     "All the teen girls to the tween room!" I heard as I made my way towards the front doors of the building. As soon as I made my way into the room, I was attacked with a blindfold. Small children reached for me.

     "Who is this?" many of them asked, to which I announced my name. So they were blindfolded as well.

     We went through a whole play, listening to what was supposedly the crucifixion of Christ.

     I cried through most of it, and then we had choir as our next activity. I was getting anxious now, the last time that I spoke to Mason having been almost 6 hours earlier at breakfast.

     I sat anxiously on the bleachers, watching the doorway with my heart tight in my chest. I perked up as each person came through the doors, only to deflate when I realized that they weren't Mason.

     Finally, he came through the door, and I shot to my feet. I started out at a brisk walk, and then a jog, before breaking out into a full sprint. I catapulted myself into his arms and he rocked back slightly before his arms snaked their way around my waist.

     Tears were streaming down my face by now as I forgot the world around us. I was unaware of anything other than Mason's arms around me, forgetting my anxiety and the fact that everyone in the room was probably staring at the two people holding each other close in the middle of the room.

     That was the moment I realized it. I was 14, and I had fallen for an 18 year old.

---

     I saw him go out the door, finally alone. He was often pursued by young children whom he had showed kindness to, and 9 year olds that had crushes on him.

     I took a step towards the door and my heart skipped a beat. Maybe I shouldn't tell him. I spun around, striding down the hallway before spinning back around and running the door, pushing it open. I rounded the corner and saw him standing there. My heart lurched and my stomach fluttered. I had second thoughts and began to walk away as if I were just passing by. I mentally chided myself and whirled back around, waltzing up behind him.

     "Mason, I need to talk to you," the words came out quickly, as if my body were ahead of my mind.

     He whirled around with this deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. "Yeah?" his chest rose and fell rapidly.

     "Well..." I fiddled with my ring. "You've probably already guessed this by now, but... Mason, I really like you." I took a deep breath, my eyes searching his. I went on, "and I know what it's like for someone to like me and for me to not have the same feelings for them, so... I completely understand if that's the case, and I just thought that you should know."

     He stared at me with those light blue eyes for a second before pulling me into a hug, closer than I would've let anyone else hold me.

     "It took guts to tell me that," he murmured in my ear and the tears welled up in my eyes.

     I went to pull away, but his arms tightened around me. I stood there for a second longer before pushing away from him and striding away, down the asphalt road and to my mom's car. I got into the drivers' seat, moving my long legs into a comfortable position and pulling my high-heels off. The tears hadn't spilled over yet, lingering in my eyes. My lip quivered. I had imagined that moment throughout the whole day, wondering how he would react, carefully articulating the words in my mind. Now it was over and it just seemed like some dream I had had. Assuming he didn't feel for me the way that I did for him, I buried my face in my hands and, finally, cried.

---

     It was a day short of being a week since I told him how I felt. I was a mess. I seemed fine, but he contaminated my thoughts every hour of the day. My dreams, my harmless daydreams, my thoughts about food. I couldn’t think without him appearing somewhere.

    There was no possible way he could love me the way I loved him. It was just my luck. Every boy in school chased after me, while the boy who I wanted was too busy being older.

    I sat outside, staring blankly at the wind blowing the grass to the side when I heard it.

    The crunch of car tires on a gravel road, accelerating and spinning into the driveway. I frowned. Who did I know that drove a white truck. I paled as he stepped out of the driver’s seat and came dashing up the porch steps.

    I stood abruptly. “Mason? What are youㅡ”

    I didn’t finish my sentence before he grabbed me by the shoulders, pulling me close, and pressing his lips to mine. I melted in his arms and he pulled away. I looked into those same eyes that I had seen almost a week before, but somehow they seemed… different. They burned with a fiery intensity.

    “You confided in me. You told me that unrequited love hurt more than anything,” he said softly, his eyes flicking back and forth between both of mine. “I love you. You don’t have to hurt anymore.”

    Tears welled up in my eyes and I threw my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and planted a kiss against my temple.

    “I love you, too, Mason,” I squinted my eyes shut.

    And then, I woke up.