Isabel the Invisible

by Christine Bush

  Danny hooted in agreement. The bike was stashed in the house, and the two took off in the van, talking excitedly.

  I had done a good thing, and I was very proud. I put my hand in my pocket, and my fingers curled around the little blue bottle. Talk about awesome!

  The van pulled out of sight, destination: ice cream. Of course, I was not included. There are some drawbacks to being invisible, I decided.

  Chapter 6

  When I woke up the next morning, my insides were tingling with excitement. Even thought it was a Monday, which signified a whole new week of school, I was in a good mood. I was actually looking forward to going to school, which was definitely a first for me.

  I got dressed quickly, and came down to the kitchen to eat some breakfast. Mom had already left for work, as usual. She left two muffins on the counter for me, next to my lunch bag. When she has time, she makes my sandwich and adds an apple and some cookies for me. Mom's nice like that.

  Grabbing the newspaper off the porch, I read about what was happening in the world. Nothing particularly new. Certainly nothing as earth shattering as Isabel Robbins turning invisible. I patted the pocket of my jeans where the blue bottle was hidden. This was going to be quite a day. I had an unbelievable secret.

  Class, of course, was boring. In math, we learned about inverting fractions, which, in my opinion, is very stupid. I mean, if you wanted the numbers upside down, why not put them that way in the first place? Sometimes adults loved to make things incredibly complicated. But I did the best I could.

  I made myself pay attention, especially since I had seen Gram's report cards. If she could do her math, so could I! So I inverted fractions like crazy.

  Gym class was a disaster. We played soccer, of course. Somebody got the bright idea to have the boys play against the girls. Naturally, they were killing us. And they were not exactly gracious about it.

  The good news was that since there were more girls than boys in my class, somebody had to sit out as a sub. I volunteered. Believe me, nobody disagreed. So I sat and watched as the girls got blown away. The score was something humiliating like 6-0.

  The bad news was that a very nice girl named Elizabeth was chosen to play goalie. Tending the goal (especially against the boys) was not exactly a choice position. When the girls began the game, they all ran out onto the field and grabbed a position, leaving Elizabeth standing by the goal line. Instant goalie, like it or not!

  Elizabeth is, I think, the only one in the class who is even more shy than me. I like her, though I never really talked to her. So I felt really bad, when the ball was whizzing around her head, or darting between her legs, as the boys racked up the score.

  Being goalie is tough. Even though the ball has gotten through the whole team by the time the goalie has to deal with it, it still always seems like it's the goalie's fault when it goes into the goal. No matter what nice things people might say to make the goalie feel better, in their hearts they think the goalie should have done something to stop it.

  So with everyone glaring at Elizabeth, and the score getting higher and higher, I felt really bad for her. In fact, she looked like she was going to cry. That feeling was very familiar to me.

  To make matters worse, at the other end of the field, playing goalie for the boys, was Alex. To give him credit, Alex was a pretty good athlete. The problem was, he knew it. He loved to make fun of people who weren't as good as he was. But playing goalie for the boys was not exactly a challenge, in this case.

  The ball didn’t even get to his end of the field. But while his feet and hands were not too active in the game, his mouth definitely was. He was getting a real charge out of making fun of Elizabeth.

  That was when I got my brilliant idea.

  No one was looking at me. No one paid any attention (of course) to old Isabel who sat on the sidelines. I sauntered over to a big tree that stood at the corner of the field, down by the boy's goal. I took out the blue bottle, and put the drops on my wrist. With one rub, the tingling began. I was invisible, but the magic would last only three minutes.

  One of the girls broke away with the ball, and she charged down the field, desperate to make a goal. She ditched the defense players who were covering her, but she still had old Alex to deal with.

  He was laughing openly at the girl with the ball, evidence that there was not a single doubt in his mind that he could stop her.

  "Girls are stupid," he said, his face screwed up in a fierce grimace . "Girls don't belong in a soccer uniform!"

  Now, I'm sure that Alex was trying to shake Mary up, but that wasn't what happened. Mary got mad. So did I.

  We both charged toward the goal, she from the front, invisible me from the sideline. Alex took an aggressive stance, watching Mary’s every move. Alex was wearing a pair of black baggy soccer shorts, and a red tee shirt. His face was snarling.

  I moved into position right behind him. I was going to help Mary make her goal. I knew I couldn't do it by kicking, or even grabbing the ball. When I say I am not good at soccer, I am not exaggerating. But I could distract Alex, break his concentration on tiny Mary with the ball.

  So I tapped him on the shoulder. His head spun, but he saw no one there. His eyes went right back on that ball. I tapped again. This time he swung his arm, as if to deflect an insect that was buzzing around him. Still not enough distraction. This called for drastic measures.

  Right as Mary got into scoring position, I grabbed both sides of Alex's black shorts from behind. I closed my eyes tight, and gave them a quick jerk. The kids call it a "shank". The idea isn't really to pull off anyone's shorts, I wouldn't dare. You just want to startle them and scare them that you MIGHT. Now THIS was effective in distracting Alex.

  Alex felt that tug, and his athlete's reflexes shot into action. Both arms came down automatically, grabbing at his pants in desperation.

  "Yeow!" he screamed, startled practically to death, bending his head to be sure that his shorts were still in place. Which they were. Like I said, I had no intention of making a crisis.

  At the same instant, Mary booted the ball. It sailed through the air, like a well placed rocket. The black and white ball soared into the goal right over his head.

  "No fair," Alex whined, his usually smug face bright red. "Somebody shanked me." Now he looked around, but of course, no one was there.

  The whole boys team looked at him in disgust. "Really, Alex, don't be a such sore sport. No one is even near you. You just missed the ball."

  "I don't want to be goalie anymore. I want to score. George, change positions with me."

  Alex moved to the front line.

  The girls team giggled with glee as they lined up again on the field. At least they would not be shut out in the game. The ball was started once more in the middle of the field. This time I ran full speed down to the other end of the field. The boys, including Alex, I was sure, would be ready for vengeance. I was right.

  I stood on the side of the goal cage, watching Elizabeth. She had fear in her eyes. I was tempted to say something encouraging, but I was still invisible, so I knew I shouldn't.And the clock was ticking for me.

  I watched the ball coming down the field. It came down the right side, where the player kicked it directly to Alex, who was right in front of the goal. He got ready to kick. Alex wanted to score.

  Elizabeth took her stance, eye on the ball. I moved quickly, knowing I had little "invisible" time left. I got right behind her. I was trying to decide what I could do to help her, when the ball was suddenly flying in the air, going right over her head.

  Now, I'm pretty tall for my age, where Elizabeth is not. I have her by about six inches in height. Plus, with all my basketball shooting and rebounding, I'm a pretty good jumper. So that's what I did.

  As the ball when soaring up over Elizabeth's head, inches higher than she could even hope to reach, I jumped with all my might, my hand in a fist, pointing straight up.

  I punched the ball. It happened in a flash. The ball bounced off my fist,
straight up into the air, and lobbed over the goal post out of bounds. I had saved the goal.

  Elizabeth spun around, not understanding what had happened. When she saw no one, she turned back to the crowd, who were cheering for her.

  "Way to go Elizabeth! Good save! What a jump!"

  She scowled, a little dazed. "I didn't think I even touched it."

  Everyone laughed, thinking she was just being shy. They smiled at her and slapped her on the back, and her face was shining with happiness.

  Alex, on the other hand, looked miserable. "You girls are getting pretty good,” he conceded.

  The girls cheered again, and then the bell rang. Gym class was over, and the tingling had begun again. I stayed by the goal post, watching the backs of my classmates as they walked back toward the school building. My body tingled as I came back to normal. I felt really good for Elizabeth, who was still basking in the congratulations. I followed slowly, right behind the group.

  When we were almost at the door, Elizabeth turned around and saw me. "Isabel," she said softly. "Where did you come from? I didn't see you before.”

  "I was here. I was around." I was touched that she had missed me. Someone had noticed. "That was a good save, don't you think?" I asked, unable to help myself.

  "Yes, I guess it was." She smiled a little smile, and looked at me strangely, as if trying to figure something out.

  I whistled as we went back into the classroom, patting the little blue bottle in my pocket.

  Chapter 7

  Monday was a pretty happy day. Hearing all the kids praising Mary for her goal felt, and when they congratulated Elizabeth for her "amazing save" I had to hide a grin. You would have thought the girls won the game for all the hoopla about it.

  I enjoyed watching it all. I caught Elizabeth looking at me a couple of times during the day, like she was curious or something. But she didn't say anything, she just smiled. So I smiled back. It felt great.

  The only person who didn't feel great was Alex the Smart Alec. A couple of boys made fun of him for letting the ball in the cage, another said he was a bad kicker, since Elizabeth had blocked his goal. His face was bright red, and he looked a little like he was going to cry. I mean, this boy is usually the “teaser”, not the “tease”. Alex wasn't used to it, like some of us are.

  Maybe it wasn't a terrible thing for him to get a taste of his own medicine, but I have to admit I felt pretty bad seeing him feel so uncomfortable. Especially because he truly was an excellent soccer player, and I like the truth.

  When I went to put the reading books back on the shelf, I tripped over Alex’s foot. He sat at the back of the room. Alex didn't trip me on purpose (I'm very excellent at telling when that's the case), and I didn't do it on purpose, but it came out to be a good thing.

  "Ugh," he said, pulling his foot back. "I'm sorry, Isabel." His face was still bright red. "I'm really a clod today. I can't do anything right."

  I stopped, shuffling the books in my arms. I was glad I hadn't dropped the books when I tripped.

  "That's all right, Alex," I said to him, looking at his red face. "You didn't do it on purpose."

  "Well, I'll help you with the books, I guess." He stood up and took half the wobbling stack. We walked to the back book shelf together. My heart was hammering in my chest. I mean, I wasn't even sure Alex knew my name, and here he was helping me with the books.

  It only took a second or two to unload the books.

  “Thanks," I said. Stacking the reading books was my classroom job for the month. It had been nice of him to help, especially since Alex’s job was the pencil sharpener. That was the messiest job in the classroom. I had never seen Alex be nice before.

  "And by the way," I added with a courage that seemed to spring up from nowhere and jump out of my mouth, "You shouldn't feel too bad about this afternoon. The truth is, you are a most awesome soccer player. I think you're the best in the class. You just had a bad day."

  "Yeah, sure. I couldn't even keep the ball away from girls." His eyes were filled up with tears, and he looked like he was going to cry. Now that would be embarrassing, especially with Milton in the room.

  "Turn around," I gasped, grabbing his arm. "Wipe your eyes and get a grip. Milton will see you."

  "Jeez." He turned and coughed and wiped his eyes with his fists. "Thanks, Isabel. You're OK for a girl."

  "Girls or boys have nothing to do with it. Don't be such a male chauvinist pig." I had read about MCP's in my mom's magazines. It was a term used for men who thought they were better than women just because.

  His eyes opened wide. "Who say's I'm a pig?"

  "I said, don't be one. Boys might be stronger or taller, but girls have their good characteristics too. They can be fast and agile and smart. Why don't you just let people be? You ought to be happy, being so good at soccer. I sure wish I was."

  "Hey, Isabel," he said suddenly, "How about if I teach you how to play soccer sometime? I mean, since you didn't play it at your old school?" "Sure," I said, totally amazed, and feeling my face get hot. "And I'm sorry I called you a pig."

  "That's OK, Isabel. You stopped me from crying and saved me from Milton's torture. Thanks."

  Mrs. Perkins was tapping with chalk on the blackboard, writing vocabulary words and getting ready to start a science lesson. It was time to go back to our desks.

  I had trouble paying attention to the facts about the solar system. You might say my mind was out in deep space, like on a field trip. Every once in a while, I saw Elizabeth looking sideways at me from across the aisle. Then, when I turned around and took a peek behind me, Alex was staring at me too. How do you like that? Two people knew I existed. The thought made me giddy with happiness.

  But then the giddiness passed. It seems that three people knew I existed. The third was Mrs. Perkins. She had called on me, and I didn't even have my book open to the right page.

  "Name the planets, Isabel," she said in a demanding voice.

  I swallowed. "Uh, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.." The first four were easy. "Saturn, Jupiter..." I was in trouble.

  Mrs. Perkins stood patiently at the front of the room, giving me all the time in the world to make a fool of myself. Sometimes teacher are like that. They give you practically no time at all when you are taking a quiz, and know all the answers, but when you are stuck...patience, plus."

  I could hear the clock ticking. I could hear my heart banging in my chest. I thought hard. "Neptune!" I gasped. "and--Krypton."

  The class burst into laughter. Mrs. Perkins did not.

  "I didn't know you were such a comedian, Isabel. You may write the planets in order for homework tonight, Isabel, twenty times. Then by tomorrow you'll remember."

  By tomorrow, I'd also have writer's cramp. I wrote the assignment in my homework book, right before the bell rang.

  A couple of people snickered at me, and then Brenda the Braniac made her inevitable crack, "My, my Isabel. When we do our planet reports, make sure you choose Krypton. Maybe you can get Superman to come in for your presentation."

  Maybe I could get Superman to shoot her to the moon.

  "It's OK, Isabel," I heard Alex behind me. "Just a bad day."

  He smiled at me, and I smiled back. The heck with Brenda and Mrs. Perkins. As far as friends go, it had been a good day.

  ****

  I felt very grown up after school. Mrs. Clancy, Danny's babysitter, had asked if I could watch Danny while she drove to the drug store to pick up her medicine. She said Mr. Davis had said it was fine, since I was such a "nice girl."

  My first baby sitting job! Of course, Danny wasn't a baby, and we didn't sit at all, but it still qualified as babysitting to me. He had his bike out, and this time, I ran along beside him (visible) and cheered him on. Danny was doing a great job, keeping his balance, and now learning how to turn. It was a lot of fun seeing him learn new things. When Mrs. Clancy came home, and offered me two dollars, I didn't think that I should take it. I mean, it seemed wrong to take money when I had been ha
ving such a good time. I told her that.

  But she insisted, in her soft voice. "Nonsense, Isabel, dear. You took on a great responsibility, and you did it well. The fact that you liked your work is just an added bonus. You are a wonderful girl." She handed me the money, and patted my hand.

  I took it, filled with a feeling of amazement. I felt-- grown up.

  Danny and Mrs. Clancy went into the house for dinner, and I parked myself on the swing on the porch, waiting for Mom to come home, and writing the planets for Mrs. Perkins. I didn't even mind the writing. Like I said, it had been a pretty good day.

  Chapter 8

  Tuesday was the day for our big math test. I cannot put into words how very much I hate math tests. They are so absolutely unfair. I mean, you can spend days and days doing problems in class, and even more for homework. You might even get them all right (fat chance). But then on the test, they give you a different problem, and if you happen to mess up on that one, you are a dead duck.

  Many times, I've been a dead duck. This week, I was determined to stay out of the duck category. I had been doing ALL my homework. I even halfway understood it. Mom quizzed me, and gave me extra problems at night. Now, when Isabel Robbins asks for extra problems at night in math, you know that it's important. I don't look for extra work for anything.

  But I kept remembering Gram's report cards in the attic, and if I looked so VERY much like her on the outside, I thought at least part of the brain must match, too. If I ended up with a bad math grade, it wasn't going to be for lack of trying. For once, I was trying hard. I was doing it for Gram.

  So I sat in class, nervous when they passed out the test, and I stuck my hand in my pocket of my jeans and touched the blue bottle for luck. (New jeans, same bottle. I don't want you to think I'm a slob. I'm basically a very clean person, except for my room).

  I wrote my name on the test without even looking at a single problem. I wanted to put off the panic as long as possible. But a miracle occurred. I looked down at the problems, and they didn't scare me a bit. I grabbed my pencil in excitement and started to write. "Show all work", the test stated. It felt good to actually be able to do this.