The Opposite Of Invisible Part 19

For just a second, it's like we've stepped back in time, to another day at the troll. Maybe even to our kiss day. The graffiti on the VW is gone now; the troll's back to normal.

I take three steps to cover the distance between us and sink into a Jewel-hug. I tingle. That old tingle. Should I act on it? Should I kiss Jewel?

No. I just want to be friends again, at least for a while. His hands feel strong. He smells so good, familiar. That's what I really need.

"It feels great to be friends again," I say. "I never stopped feeling like you're my best friend."

"You said the F-word."

Oh, no. Is he going to explode because I only want to be friends?

He narrows his eyes. "I'll accept that for now."

We climb up the troll's back and sit.

The news of me hooking up with Simon and Jewel hooking up with Vanessa was huge. My reunion with Jewel is nothing. Only, it's everything.

When Vanessa sees me in art workshop the next day, she kind of smiles, but her eyes look sad.

She doesn't roll her eyes anymore.

She closes them.

Jewel and I are halfway through root beer floats with chocolate syrup when I s.h.i.+ft on my kitchen chair and tell him what I think. "Vanessa really misses you."

It's not until then that I realize that Jewel and I have totally avoided the subject of Vanessa.

"I know," he says. "Because of the string."

I chew on my straw, waiting for him to explain.

"She wears strings around her wrist."

"Yeah," I say. "I've noticed that. Never really thought about it."

"It's a cool idea, actually." He sips his float. "They're color-coded depending on her mood."

"Oh, so like red might be 'happy.'"

"'Happy' is purple, but yeah."

"So, what? She's been wearing something bad?"

He sucks the dregs of his float before answering.

"Black."

"Bad."

"It's the worst."

That night, the phone rings. "Hi."

"Mandy?"

"Hey, chica." chica."

"Hey." I picture her sitting on her pink bed with fluffy covers.

"So you and Simon are over?"

It's nice of her to call.

"Yeah."

"I just wanted to say that, you know, you could still sit with us at lunch."

"Thanks," I say. "That's really sweet. But I don't think I want to be around Simon for a while."

"Oh!" She sounds surprised. "I didn't mean that us that us. I'm so over those boys, with all their macho-macho stuff. Do you know Corrigan expected me to let him go under my skirt at that party last Sat.u.r.day? We're not even dating. I'm just supposed to be in awe of his football-hero thing because I'm a cheerleader."

"Eew. Somehow I'm not surprised. But eew."

"Yeah, so I just mean me and my girls. For lunch."

"That sounds great."

In Spanish, I see Simon. "Hey." I smile at him.

"Hi." He nods. It's weird how so much can turn into so little.

Luckily Senora Rodriguez announces that we're switching conversation groups today.

My new group: two soph.o.m.ore friends of Molly's, and Vanessa.

She's sitting right in front of me, that black string tied around her wrist. Double-knotted.

In our books we've moved on from colors to foods.

The "yo quiero Taco Bell" "yo quiero Taco Bell" jokes are never-ending and Molly's two friends are two of the biggest perpetrators. jokes are never-ending and Molly's two friends are two of the biggest perpetrators.

"Taquito!"

Pink fingernails tapping on the desk.

"Gordito!"

Cackle.

"Muchos nachos!"

Vanessa winces.

"Um," I say. "Let's do breakfast. Yo quiero a comer huevos Yo quiero a comer huevos. I want to eat eggs."

Vanessa and I are both good in this cla.s.s. Really good.

So I get it when she tells me in Spanish that what she wants to do with the huevos huevos is crack them in the loud girls' pretty hair. is crack them in the loud girls' pretty hair.

My turn to cackle.

Vanessa approaches me at my locker, almost smiling. She's holding a paper lunch sack. The string around her wrist is blue.

She hands the sack to me. "Open that."

It's a white dove, clay.

"I hope you like it," she says. "Jewel told me a couple times about your poster."

"Wow," I say, holding it carefully. What a present!

I love it. She gets me. Vanessa is is someone I could be friends with. Who knew? someone I could be friends with. Who knew?

"You're not mad, are you?" she asks. "I know it's private, but Jewel only told me 'cause he thought it was cool. I think it is too."

"Mad? No way. This is ... lovely. Thanks."

Now that I'm out of my coc.o.o.n, and past being a girlfriend, I'm just me, finding my way through the halls. Eating lunch with Mandy and her friends. Talking about art with Vanessa. Doing what I do.

Friday at the end of la clase de espanol la clase de espanol, Simon's off to football practice without a glance in my direction. Vanessa's headed to put some finis.h.i.+ng touches on something in the art studio. Otherwise, maybe we'd hang out after school today. We're about at that point.

After she walks away down the hall, Jewel appears right behind me.

I turn around. "Let's go get a movie."

So my best friend and I head home.

On the way, I feel static between our bodies. Maybe we're just getting used to each other again. Maybe we're charged with some new feelings.

Does he still want to kiss me? The idea makes me smile. I might soon decide to attack him with my own kisses.

But for now, just walking to Rain City is enough.

I reach out and take Jewel's hand.

Acknowledgments.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to ...Wendy Lamb and her team at Random House: Ruth Homberg, Robert Warren, Kaitlin McCafferty, Andrew Bast, and Katie Harmon.Rosemary Stimola, Miracle Agent.My Vermont College advisors: Lisa Jahn-Clough, Ron Koertge, Tobin Anderson, and Cynthia Leitich-Smith. What a lineup. What a dream come true.The Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults faculty, and my VC friends-especially my lovely cla.s.smates.Anita Silvey, for the scholars.h.i.+p and for her enthusiasm.Lara Zeises, unofficial mentor in all things YA.The staff at All for Kids Books & Music, where YA literature is loved and understood.My family and friends, who have been eternally patient in waiting to read this novel. Glad it's finally in your hands.Thanks to Random House for helping me try to find a permissions source so that we could use an image of Alice's Dove Girl in this book. Sadly, it was not possible to obtain permission to reproduce that well-known image by Pica.s.so.

About the Author.

Liz Gallagher grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and was an English major at Penn State. She worked on the editorial staff of Highlights for Children Highlights for Children. She is a graduate of the University of Denver Publis.h.i.+ng Inst.i.tute and the Vermont College MFA program in writing for children and young adults. Her home in Seattle is within chomping distance of the Fremont Troll. This novel is her first, and her dream come true. Visit her online at www.lizgallagher.com.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fict.i.tiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.