The Opposite of Invisible Read Online Free

had to guess, I’d say a vampire or a werewolf. Something that preys on the innocent. Too bad you got stuck in a conversation group with him.”
    That’s harsh, but I nod. Jewel is clearly antipopular, and so am I. Aren’t I? Simon’s pretty nice. But Jewel would probably never see him that way.
      We head for Green Bean, the organic coffee shop where twelve of Jewel’s photos will be on the wall for the next two weeks.
    Jewel nods to the guy behind the counter, who says, “Nice to see you again, man.”
    I buy two orange juices while Jewel puts his backpack down and pulls out his photos and a box of thumbtacks.
    “High-tech.” I hand him a juice. “No frames?”
    “You know me,” Jewel says, and swigs juice. “I’m a purist. Just the photos.”
    I pick up the thumbtacks and a photo of Jewel’s cat, Grayfur. Grayfur is sleeping and he kind of looks like he’s dead, but it’s cool because you can tell he’s not, really. When we were little, Jewel and I used to dress Grayfur in a cape and pretend he could fly. We dropped him from Jewel’s first-floor window. He couldn’t fly, but he was good at landing.
    I pin the photo between two windows.
    “Good,” Jewel says.
    We keep going. Most of the photos are shots of our neighborhood’s quirks. There’s one of the rocket attached to the trendy shoe store Burnt Sugar, one of the arrow pointing up by a stop sign and labeled TO THE MILKY WAY. One of the sign reading WELCOME TO FREMONT, CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE: SET YOUR WATCH BACK FIVE MINUTES .
    When we’re done, we walk toward my house. Traffic zooms past.
    It’s one of those moments when life feels really … real. Like, this is who I am: a girl with a fun and talented best friend, walking through her cool neighborhood. It’s a nice thought, but something about it is also kind of unsettling.
    “What if you got hit by a bus and you were okay but you had to stay in the hospital for months? Then who would I hang out with?”
    He looks at me. “I’m glad your big concern would be loneliness if I got hit by a bus.”
    “You know what I mean.”
    “If I were in the hospital for months, you’d visit me and we’d hang out there.”
    “Yeah, but what if you were, like, catatonic?”
    We’re in front of my house now. He cocks his head at me.
    “So come by around six for dinner,” I say.
    Jewel just stands there, looking past the tree in my front yard.
    “Jewel? Six?” He keeps on standing there. Oh. “Are you being catatonic?”
    He comes out of it to laugh and I punch him in the shoulder.

Chapter Three
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    After lasagna at my house that night, Jewel and I ride the bus to Charm of Hummingbirds’ all-ages show. I can feel the promise of good music in the air like electricity. We wait in line in a crowd that’s mostly older than us, maybe University of Washington students. “We’re so good at finding teenage-zombie free zones,” I say.
    Jewel smirks and I know he’s anticipating a night of happy, loud music. “Remember when we saw Death Cab for Cutie here?”
    “Of course I do. Before they played stadium shows.”
    We enter the Showbox through its wide red hallway. We’re immediately part of the pond of bodies, but we stay in the back where there’s some breathing room. I look around and take in everything: the people drinking and laughing in the two bars, which are up a level and behind us on either side, the neon signs for the restrooms, the instruments set up for the opening act, the posters on the walls.
    The light is purple. I can feel Jewel standing next to me.
    The lights dim and the opening band takes the stage. The words are muffled and I can’t make them out, but it doesn’t matter.
    The band’s faces practically glow, as if all they ever want is this moment.
    There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
    Jewel points to the men’s room sign, heads that way.
    I’m alone for two songs, and the band finishes. For about three seconds, I feel awkward standing by myself. Then Simon