HELEN, The Invisible

[Here I am! Back to you with my story of how I found out that I am special too.😉😜 Let's go!!!]

(The Same) Few years ago

I realized that I too was special one Friday evening, after so many attempts. We were at the beach having our day off at the part-time jobs we work at. After spending a few hours gossiping and giggling about random stuffs, we decided to leave after having some ice-cream.

I went to the restroom behind the ice-cream truck. Once I checked in all the stalls, I turned invisible, sniffling my laughter. Steph and Lisa were having their ice-creams, sitting on a bench. They had turned away from me because I would grab theirs since I had finished mine already. 

I then walked back up to them and licked Lisa's ice-cream first and next Steph's and kept on repeating  my actions. They noticed the levels of their snack disappearing with wide eyes and screamed in unison. "HELENA!"

I shushed them and turned around to see if anyone had heard these idiots screaming. Fortunately the place we were resting at was not populated with crowds and none of the few remaining people had noticed us. 

"I'm gonna see if there's anyone invisible here," I whispered.

"How would you see them if they're invisible?" Steph asked looking at Lisa. They pretended to talk to each other, so any prying eyes would not sense the weirdness of my weird friends.

"If they're invisible how would you know?" Lisa questioned.

"I guess I would get a hunch." I presumed. "Maybe I'll find it out today."

They nodded and we started walking together, the two licking their fingers.

We walked in silence for a while and my brain came up with a superb idea. 

[I shouldn't say that but it goes without saying, right? That I'm superb. Steph and Lisa are rolling their eyes. Hope it gets stuck in their heads. Just kidding. Don't glare at me now.😅😁]

[Hey, Helen. Give me a minute! I forgot to mention something. Lisa here, guys. I remembered that I forgot to  mention about Max. 

After a few weeks of meeting him,  James showed me a text from him addressed to me. He stated that he needs to stop 'IT' and that he wants to be himself as a normal boy. So I spoke to James about Max and explained everything. He asked me to reply to Max asking him to come over to our place. 

That evening, he was dropped at our place by Alfred who requested us to be kind to him and explain all calculations without shouting at him. We stared at Max who just winked at us and dropped the books which he had in his hands on the couch. James smiled at his father who left only after we agreed to him.

Max walked to me and said that he didn't want to be a Form Shifter or Shape Changer or whatever it was. He said that it might bring problems to him or his family. And he also smiled telling us that he got ice-creams that day, not one, but two. One from each parent. And also that his parents find it endearing when he calls them Mom and Dad and urged him to continue calling them like he wanted.

Back to the topic. James asked about his family and after surfing the database and network we hacked into, we discovered that Maxwell's maternal grandmother and aunt were Shape Shifters too and had passed away two decades ago. 

Once we confirmed for 100000% that he didn't want to be one, James brought a syringe from his room. Max nodded at James and the latter injected the silvery white liquid from the needle at Max's nape.

Max extended his hands touching our hair one at a time, his smile became broader when he didn't feel any jolts or change in height. And I didn't see the gold aura around him to which had disappeared as soon as he was injected. He shook hands with James, Steph and Helen, and hugged me with a huge grin on his lips.

So, readers, if you were curious about Max, hope your curiosity vanished. And Helen, thank you for your 'one' minute. 😁😆]

[Helen here. I'm burning holes on Lisa's forehead, through my gaze for stealing my time. Anyways, I'm back! Let's get to my story. Where was I? I forget things quickly. This girl. Oh okay, I remembered.]

My idea. Yes. So, my superb idea was to tell them the appearance of the people whom they can see. We continued doing this until all of us were fed up. I was unable to find anyone invisible. I wondered if I was the only Invisible, at that time. 

James assured me later that day, that there weren't many super-specials lurking openly around the city. They all were secretive.

With a deep sigh, I said, "I'll go to a hiding place and turn visible. I don't think I can identify fellow Invisibles. Mission Failed." 

"Hey." I whispered and pointed towards a woman. "Do you both see that brunette with the braids?"

"Helen, we can't see you pointing."

"Can you tell us where she is?"

"Right ahead of us under the baby coconut tree?"

"The one with the red tee?" Lisa asked.

"What about the girl beside her? With a purple frock?"

"Yes. I see both the strawberry and the grape." Steph replied.

"What?" We asked her together.

"Can you see inside the basket?" I gaped.

"No, you idiots. Strawberry is the red lady and grape for the purple clothed girl you mentioned." She deciphered her code words. 

"Please talk English, Steph," I riposted. "How about the men seated on the uprooted tree?"

"Yes. I see them scrolling their phones." 

"Why are they coming to the beach if they are drowned in their phones? They can do it at their homes, can't they? They are just polluting the beauty of the nature." Steph murmured.

We ignored her. "Let's just leave, Helen. I'm hungry." Lisa rubbed her tummy.

"Anyways there aren't anyone in this clearing beside The Strawberry, The Grape and the Phone-Drowned-Men." Steph walked forward quickly.

I stopped in my steps. "Wait! What?"

Lisa turned towards me and Steph walked back towards us. "What's wrong, Helen? You okay?"

"Don't you guys see the man beside them with a straw hat?" I was shocked.

"There's no one like that, Helen." Lisa stated.

"Let me check if I'm dreaming." I pinched myself. "Ouch! That hurt!" I wasn't dreaming. I stepped forward but ended up stumbling into Steph who fell on the ground.

She yelped. We helped her up. I turned to look at the man who was looking right at us.

I moved to the other side. He was only watching my friends. I walked between Steph, in front of them, beside them and walked closer to him. But he didn't seem to notice me. I observed his black hair having a blacky-glow.

To make myself sure, I went right in front of him. He still didn't look at me. I then tipped his hat a bit backwards. He straightened it. I gave it a harder tug and it fell backwards. The men beside him didn't even see the hat falling at their feet. They were so absorbed in their devices.

The hat man minus the hat, stood up and took his phone from his pocket and walked away only stopping to take his hat, losing interest on my squabbling friends. 

I ran to my friends. "He failed to see me. I am as special as I thought. I can see the other Invisibles when they are invisible but they won't see me when I am invisible. And their hair will definitely have a glow." I danced a jig before we walked to our car.

"I hope you guys find yourselves special too. I would be sad if I'm the only one." I lamented.

"Let's try it another day. I'm so tired today. I think Lisa would be able to identify them but I don't know what to expect to find." Steph stated.

"When are you not tired, Lazy Bag?" 

"Let's go to the Pizza Palace. I'm hungry." Lisa suggested.

"I'm not tired now. Let's go." Steph jumped into the backseat after me. 

"Oh Active Bag now, aren't you?" I laughed at her.

[And, that's the end of my flashback. Here comes Steph with her boring story. 😁😆 Bye, guys. See you soon. Don't let her bore you out. 😜]