Invisible

I pick Corrie up at six. She isn't dressed up, but neither am I. She is wearing an orange shirt that says 'This is my Halloween costume' in those slimy green letters.

"I like your shirt," I say.

"Thanks. It used to be my mom's."

I head back towards my house. "Lorrie's at the party, so we don't have to deal with her."

"She's not so bad..."

"We can eat something at my house. I told Mom not to cook, but knowing her she's got something for us." Then my phone rings. I answer it. "Yeah?"

"WHY AREN'T YOU GOING TO THE PARTY?!" Jake screams into my ear.

I put it on speaker. "I'm hanging with Corrie, I told you that when we left your house earlier."

"Bring her with you!"

"I don't want too," Corrie said into the phone.

"You know she's shy. Its just not her thing." I smile at her to let her know I'm fine with that not being her thing.

"Corrie, everyone wants to go to a Halloween party. And this is the Halloween party! Come on, girly! You've got a free pass with Aaron! Your popularity will sky rocket, just because you're there!" Jake says loudly. "I mean, who the hell is supposed to drive me home? You're the only person on the face of the planet that doesn't drink, dude!"

"Drinking is bad," Corrie says shortly.

"I only do it at parties," he says in an exasperated voice.

"And that's where it all starts."

"You can't get plastered anyway," I say. "We have to finish the project tomorrow morning."

"You suck, both of you. Enjoy your date."

"Aw Jake, don't me like that," I whine.

"Bros before hoes!"

"I am not a hoe!" Corrie says angrily.

"First you kick me out of the cabin for two days in a row, now you're ditching the best party of the year?"

"Would you calm down. Call me when you're ready to go, and I'll drive you home, you drunk bastard."

"Thanks, man." Jake hangs up.

Corrie is staring out the window, silent. After a few minutes of this, I say, "Whats wrong?"

She shakes her head.

"Lovely, I guarantee you you'll feel better if you tell me something."

"Did you just call me lovely?"

"You are," I say, smiling at her.

I can tell she's blushing, even though she's still facing the window. I reach across the seat and brush her hair over her shoulder so I can see the side of her face.

"Can't we pretend were a normal couple again?"

"A normal couple would be at that party right now. Normal is overrated."

"If its unpleasant, why do you want to know?"

"Because I want to know every little thing about you. I want you to be able to smile all the time, not just when were on a date small-talking. I want you to know that you can trust me."

"Dad had a problem with alcohol... For a long time after Mom died," Corrie sighs. "I don't want Jake to go through that."

"So tell him that. I think you can count him as a friend now. At least you can keep a conversation going with him."

I pull into my driveway. Corrie tries to get out but I shake my head. "One more question."

"Shoot," she sighs.

"You knew people would notice my jacket."

"That's not a question."

"I think you want to be in the spotlight."

"That's still not a question, and you're wrong."

"Then why'd you where it?"

"Because it was yours." She opens her door and gets out, and I'm smiling like an idiot at the steering wheel.

Mom cooked.

"Its just a little something for the two of you to eat," she promises when she sees the look on my face. "I thought you'd get hungry, and we don't need you eating all the candy."

"Thank you so much Mrs. Maccero," Corrie says.

"I'm happy to, dear, really. You're much better than the last tramp he dated."

"See?" I say to Corrie. "She loves you." I pull her by the elbow into the kitchen where two bowls of cream of wheat are waiting.

"Whats that?" Corrie asks.

"Cream of wheat. Its like a British breakfast food. Its good, you'll like it."

We sit across from each other at the kitchen table and Corrie takes an experimental bite. Her eyes widen. "This is good!"

"See, told you so."

We eat in silence for a minute.

"You look cute," I say.

She blushes and smiles into her bowl. "I didn't do anything different. I'm not even wearing any make up."

"You look cute everyday."

I can see Mom staring around the doorway, smirking. Thankfully, Corrie can't see her, otherwise she'd probably clam up. I scowl at Mom and mouth go away. She does, but I think she's still listening.

"When do the trick-or-treaters start coming?" Corrie asks.

"We've got about another hour or so. I really like how our play thing turned out, don't you?"

"I'm dreading trying to present it."

"Well, that's why were rehearsing tomorrow."

"That's not the problem. I'm fine with you and Jake. I've thrown up before, wet my pants, and fainted," she says quietly. "You don't even know embarresment."

"Awww. Well, you'll have Jake and me up there with you. Just focus on us. Think you're just back in Jake's or my room."

"Not as easy as you think, Mr. Self Confidence."

"Just let me rub off on you."

We head upstairs after I put our bowls in the sink. Corrie goes to the bathroom and glances at herself in the mirror. I follow her in and stand behind her, snapping a picture of the two of us in the mirror before she can object.

"Aaron!" She exclaims.

"Its cute, now smile this time." I wrap my arm around her waist, tugging her closer to me, and smile. She hesitantly follows.

I have to share a bathroom with Lorrie, despite our humongous house, and her make up is scattered all over the counter. I notice this as we take another picture with silly faces. I grab Lorrie's eyeliner. "Hold still," I say to Corrie and color in a black triangle on her nose, and three long whiskers off to either side. "There's your Halloween costume."

She laughs when she sees herself in the mirror, and I take another picture of her midlaugh. The next one is of her trying to cover the camera on my phone. She takes the eyeliner and draws one of those little french mustaches on my lip.

We take thirty other pictures until Corrie's laughing so hard she's crying and I am too, just because I'm so happy she's this happy. I sweep her off her feet and toss her over my shoulder, taking her thrashing form and tossing her onto my bed. I shut the door. "You know, you're never allowed to leave now, lovely."

"That wouldn't be so bad," she giggles. "In fact, I think I might prefer it here."

"Oh really?" I ask, jumping on top of her on the bed. She shrieks and I began to tickle her. She spazzes out, and its the cutest thing ever.

"I hate to interrupt," Mom says, opening the door. "But kids are starting to show up."

Corrie wriggles out from underneath me, flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and lack of breath. I sit up beside her, smirking. "Thanks Mom."

We head downstairs, both of us still with our eyeliner costumes, and Corrie sees the candy bowl. Its full with full-size Snickers, Hershey bars, Twix, Reeses' cups, 3 Musketeers, Kit-kats, and packs of M&Ms and Skittles. The bowl easily weighs as much as Corrie.

"Holy crap," she says in awe. "Mind?" Then she takes a 3 Musketeers bar and begins to eat it. I take a Twix.

The doorbell rings. Corrie skips over to it while I lug out the bowl, setting it on the table right by the door. "Trick-or-treat!" Choruses a lady bug, flower, and bumble bee.

Over the next half hour she happily hands out candy and I'm content just to watch her. Then I plug up my iPod, which has every song bought by my family on there, so I've got more seventies music and Taylor Swift than I think is healthy, but I normally just skip over it. I put on Fall Out Boy and soon enough Corrie's singing along to it. Did I even realize how amazing her voice was the other night? She's got the type of voice like Adele or Christina Aguilera, with really just a really strong voice.

I cheer after the song and she blushes red and rushes off to deliver more candy.

I'm sprawled out on the living room couch, eating a Snickers, listening to My Chemical Romance, when Corrie comes walking back in and skips it to Nicki Minaj that Lorrie bought. I don't bother to complain, because Corrie's so much bolder around me and I don't want to ruin it. But Nicki Minaj isn't to bad.

"You're really pretty," I say when she comes back and she blushes scarlet again.

"You two are so cute!" We both jump, and Corrie screams, darting back into the entry hallway.

"Mom!" I yell. "I thought you and Dad were going to go do something."

Corrie inches back into the room, her hair in her face and her back against the wall. Oh Corrie.

"We are. And remember, your cousins are coming tonight."

I sit up. "Since when?" Cousins+Corrie=Corrie's unavoidable shut down.

"Since forever. I can't believe you forgot. They wont get her until about eleven, though."

Eleven. That's enough time.

Mom goes back upstairs to get Dad probably and Corrie retreats to my side. "Cousins?"

"I swear, I didn't remember," I say, pulling her into my lap as some Taylor Swift song comes on. Ugh.

"Who are they?" She asks, tucking her head under my chin, to my great surprise.

"Um, Alec and Ashton. They're twins, seventeen, and would be identical except for the fact Ashton got mad at getting confused with Alec, died his hair black, and got snakebites. Alec thought it would be hilarious, so he bleached his hair, but his parents caught him before her could get the studded version of snakebites. They're two of the funniest people on the planet."

"Did they use to have red hair?"

"No, blonde."

"That would've been funny. Like Fred and George Weasley."

"Harry Potter is epic."

The doorbell rings and Corrie skips off.

"You're in such a good mood," I say when she comes back, looking through all the pictures I actually have of her laughing. "And you're so pretty, expecially when you laugh." I look up and see she's blushing again.

"Its easy being with you," she says shyly, quietly, standing in the center of the living room. I get up and push her hair out of her face and wrap one arm around her waist. She's still to shy to look directly at my face, so I tip her chin up.

"I really like you, Corrie."

Her heart is beating erratically, I can feel it.

The doorbell rings and we stand in place for a few seconds, the Taylor Swift song still playing, but the mood completely broken. I make an exasperated noise and roll my eyes, trying not to show how shaky I am on the inside.

"I should probably go get that," Corrie says, her voice constricted and she rushes off.

I run my hand through my hair and turn the song. Love Drunk, by Boys Like Girls. I turn it again to Green Day so I can feel better without having to kick a wall.

Corrie hasn't come back, so I go and look in the entry hall. Corrie is sitting with her back against the wall and her head on her knees. I retreat, thinking it best not to disturb her, and thuroughly hating myself. Should've waited, dammit.