Invisibility

Hi, my name is Mathias Jones. I just turned 13 years old. And boy, have I messed up big time. For you to understand, I’ll have to go back to a week before it all started.

It was the first day of the 8th grade. I wore a black Ac/Dc shirt and blue jeans. I thought I looked decent enough to blend in with everyone else. Obviously, I was wrong. Jack Branscum singled me out in the cafeteria, and threw my lunch tray on my head. Forcing me to change into my gym clothes and wear them for the rest of the day. Of course, when the gym class rolled around, I was docked on my grade for not dressing out, even though I had my gym clothes on. Jack

was then waiting for me in the halls after each and every class. I heard geek, nerd and other not so nice words so much my mind pretty well ignored them. (Pickle lover was because I did an experiment in the 5th grade with pickles and a light bulb.)

The second day was even worse. Jack added shoving me in the halls to his list of things he would do to me. I’d be walking along and he’d be calling me names, then he’d shove me hard enough I’d drop my books. He’d walk off laughing. I’d of course be late for my next class.

By the third day, I learned to carry a change of clothes besides just my gym clothes. Coach Motts was a hard man to please, and I hated to start off on the wrong foot with him already. It was going to take me all year to get him off my back about being the slowest in the class as it was.

Things continued in this manner until a week had passed. That’s when Jack added laying in wait in the bathroom to the list. I got my first swirly that day. Plus my backpack was dumped into the next stall’s commode and everything was completely soaked. The school office allowed me to go home early that day.

The next day was a Saturday, and the day I finally got to celebrate my birthday. My Gramma, Aunt Bet, and Uncle Stan could finally make it in. Mom baked me one of her awesome 3 layer cakes in the shape of a guitar. They all wished me happy birthday, gave me gifts, and hugged me. I remember the hugs the most since they were the last ones I got. I blew out the candles and made a wish that I could be more invisible and avoid bullying more. If I’d known then what I know now, I would have definitely worded it differently.

Everything seemed fine over the weekend, but then I went to school on Monday. Several people just ran right into me, like they couldn’t see me at all. They looked around confused, shrugged, and went on their way. Teachers called my name but marked me absent when they said my seat was empty. One even got onto my best friend Jason telling him he could not answer the roll call for me. When the lunch lady fainted after I grabbed a tray and moved down the line toward her, I knew something was up.

Running to the bathroom, I looked in the mirror. There was nothing there. This morning, I’d thought I’d looked a little faded, but the mirror had condensation on it from the shower, so I wasn't sure. Well, now I am. I was not there. No one, not even me could see me. I was now completely invisible.

I knew I wasn’t imagining that I was invisible when Jack came into the bathroom. He looked different when no one was around for him to bully. He was crying, his eyes were red. Jack lifted his shirt. There were welts all over his back, with some old and new bruises. Someone was beating Jack on a regular schedule. His bullying started making sense to me.

I hurried and left the bathroom. I didn’t care to see my bully so vulnerable. So human. But I also knew what needed to be done, the right thing to do. Pulling out my phone, I connected to the school wifi and made an anonymous report about Jack being beaten at home. I knew Jack would hate me more, but that eventually, Jack would be happier somewhere other than home.

With that being done, I continued on my way. The rest of the day went the same as the first part of the day. No one saw me, so I was marked absent from all my classes. People who ran into me just looked around confused.

A couple of times, I had seen that someone had left something behind in class, so I grabbed it and ran it to them, slipping it into their open backpacks. Or in one case, a girl left her lipstick in class, so I followed all the way into the girls' bathroom. Just to slip her lipstick back into her purse.

When I got home, my Mom was waiting on me. But she couldn’t see me either. But she could hear me, and after a moment of shock, she believed me. For she was one to believe what she could see, or in this instance, what she couldn’t see.

They discuss me being invisible. She asked me if I knew how it happened. I told her about my wish. We both agreed until I could be seen again, that it might be better for me if I stayed home from school, and took home courses. She told me she would arrange everything in the morning.

So for the next school year, I homeschooled. I didn’t go anywhere, except to sneak into the movies to see the new Ghostbusters 5 and the new Serenity 4: The Return of Wash movies. I was extremely bored.

I'd already put together 6 full-size Lego models of Star Wars ships. Uploaded 50 cartoons I made to YouTube. I learned 10 new card tricks and 6 magic tricks. I even made an exact replica of the Taj Mahal with toothpicks. The boredom was killing me.

My birthday came back around. Mom told Gramma, Aunt Bet, and Uncle Stan that we were going out of town to Orlando this year and wouldn’t be celebrating until we came back. This is what Gramma had done to us last year on my birthday, and begged us to wait for her and that was why I had to celebrate after school started.

So, Mom and I drove down to Orlando. Mom rented us a room in a nice hotel, which was actually a suite. 2 bedrooms and a sitting room just for us. Seemed to be a royal vacation this way. Mom usually just rented 1 room with double beds.

On the day of my birthday, Mom pulled out a cake she had made a couple of days before. This one was also a 3 layer cake. It was in the shape of a dirt bike, though. Mom was the best cake maker in the world, I thought.

When I blew out his candles, I made my wish again. I wished with all my heart to be visible again. To be seen again.

Of course, the wish didn’t work right then. And the next day when we got up, I was still invisible. We really thought the wish didn’t work and were really disappointed because we had put so much hope into this.

So we got up, showered, and got ready to leave the next morning. Going out to the car and getting inside it, my Mom glanced in my direction out of habit and went to tell me to buckle up, Buddy, like she always did. Instead, what came out was a high-pitched squeal, You’re all here!!!!!

Sitting beside her was me, her son, and she could see me!!!

So remember: Be careful what you wish for.....