I've always been invisible. To my parents, because who has time for five kids, much less one? And to my schoolmates, who are so absorbed in their small lives, they don't care about the silent boy in the corner.

I enjoy it though.

The real world has real problems, and they take unexpected turns. Those turns are exactly what I'm terrified of.

It's easier to hide from the world most of the time than be a part of it.

Right?

•••

My real invisibility began in middle school.

The swirling, intimidating hallways made me wish I was tucked back in my bedroom, safe and sound, reading. But this was the real world. Raw and scary.

I treaded lightly down the hallway on my first day of seventh grade. It had been years since I'd been at this prison of a school.

I knew I would not get any, "How was your summer!"s or any welcoming smiles when I entered the gym that morning. Everyone would continue ignoring me, just as always.

I slipped through the gym doors, annoying a couple people hugging, reunited after three torturous months of being separated, but other than that, I didn't even get a glance.

I found a quiet corner next to the bleachers, away from the first day madness. I wrestled out a well worn "The Hobbit" from my backpack when I feel a pair of eyes on me.

It left me with the strangest feeling, as of I was not quite my own. My eyes darted over the room, trying to find the starer.

Then I saw her.

She sat on the wall opposite to me, surrounded by a chattering group of girls. But despite the animated conversation obviously going on, her deep brown, almond shaped eyes were fixed on me, a curious look written across her face. I stared back, startled. She brushed her silky black hair off of her forehead and did something quite unexpected.

She gave me a small smile.

That smile, so small, so fleeting, gave me a strange feeling. A flutter of hope in my chest. This feeling was so alien I barely recognized it. I always faded away into the background, at home and school.

But that smile made me feel... different. Noticed

I do a double take, making sure she was real, and she is still there when my eyes open.

Then the bell rang and she gave me one last smile then left, her messenger bag slung over one shoulder, her hair swishing around her head.

And that smile catapulted me out of obscurity, out of quiet corners, and into a life of excitement and happiness.