Free Being Invisible by Penny Baldwin

I was sick,
and it stopped working. I randomly disappeared and reappeared. Something about
having a virus caused it not to work. I guess I have to be careful and try not
to get sick again. I didn’t know what to tell you. Then it seemed like it had
been too long. When you texted me, my mom was at my door. Drew was trying to
give her excuses not to come in. My mom would flip her shit if she knew. She’s
a worrier.”
    I laughed, thinking about how my
own mom might react.
    “In the meantime, I was hiding in
my bathroom, playing a zombie game on my cell phone, while flipping like a
light switch, disappearing, reappearing, all this time trying not to cough to
give away that I was there.”
    I laughed at the image.
    “She kept telling Drew that she
didn’t mind waiting for me, despite the fact that he told her I would be gone
most of the day. Finally, Drew said that he had a girl in his bedroom to get
her to leave. She was appalled. He was mortified, and I never heard the end of
it from either of them.”
    “So what you’re saying is that it
really wasn’t a good time?” I laughed, most of my anger gone. I couldn’t
imagine what it must have been like for him.
    “You could say that.”   Colin laughed too, relieved that I was
listening to him.
    “I was afraid that I would never
be able to go outside again. Drew kept trying to figure out how to help me. We
were about to give up and ask someone for help. But then, my virus went away,
and everything went back to normal. Or as normal as a guy who turns invisible
can be. When I saw you at the gym, I...”
    “Wait.” I interrupted. Were you
invisible at the gym?”
    “Not at first. But then I heard
something. I, like you, wasn’t expecting anyone. I wanted to have the element
of surprise against my attacker. As soon as I saw it was you, I made myself
appear, just in time for you to freak out and trip over me.   I was so happy to see you. I thought
about you all the time. But I knew there was no way I could explain not
contacting you. I didn’t want to keep making excuses to not see you, so I just
didn’t do anything.”
    “Wow. This is...a lot to take in.”
I answered honestly. “I don’t know what to say.”
    “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know. I wish I
could have told you sooner. It’s just...it’s a lot.”
    “Yeah.” We sat on the couch
together, silent, for a long time, when something occurred to me, and the
stress of everything finally got to me. I started laughing. And I couldn’t
stop.
    “What?” Colin asked, concerned
with my breakdown.
    “I’m sorry. It’s really not funny.
I don’t even know why I’m laughing. It’s just that now I get why you put The
Greatest American Hero on your mp3. You were trying to be like him.” I said
through tears. I knew that he didn’t really do it, but he had put me through
enough. It was his turn.
    “That wasn’t me! It was Drew!” That
just made me laugh more.
      “It’s true. The greatest love of all
really is inside yourself.”
    For some reason he didn’t think it
was as funny as I did. “That’s it. You’re done.” Then he grabbed me, flipped me
on my back and tickled me. “Might as well give you a real reason to laugh.”
    I was done for. I couldn’t breathe
I was laughing so hard. And just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, he
leaned down and kissed me. And I shut up.
    That’s the kiss I remember.
    Up until that point, I wasn’t
fully aware of the perks of Colin getting into superhero shape. Sure, I knew he
could save people and all, but the benefit of his superhero six pack was a new
finding.
      After pulling away from the kiss, Colin
lifted me up easily, another talent I hadn’t taken into consideration: Ability to carry me to a more conducive
environment for making-out.
      He walked into his bedroom, and
practically threw me down on the bed. I drew him in, not wanting his lips off
of mine. He pulled his shirt off in one quick motion before