Being Invisible (2 page)

Like everything in my relationship
with Colin, meeting him was unexpected.

It was an early morning in
October. I remember that it was chilly, because I was looking forward to
grabbing a cup of coffee to reward myself after a long run.

I loved to run the streets of the
large campus then watch the sun come up. Not only was the view of the sunrise
against the hundred-year-old buildings amazing, but it was also pretty deserted
at that time. In fact, the only people I seemed to come across were the few
drunken pedestrians that hadn’t managed to go to sleep yet.

Running was always one of my
favorite pastimes, second only to making playlists.

That particular morning, I was
listening to my angry mix that I made after breaking up with my cheating
ex-boyfriend. The original name was ‘The Jerk-Doesn’t-Deserve-A-Playlist’ Playlist.
But once I realized that there were some pretty kick-ass running songs on it, I
changed it to my ‘Dodged-a-Bullet’ Mix. I’m nothing if not optimistic.

I was just beginning to enjoy the
cool breeze, along with the sounds of “Combat Baby,” while I pounded the
pavement slightly faster than my usual pace.

I was almost sprinting when I
decided to slow down to take a turn at the end of the block.

You know how in romance novels
they say “I felt him before I saw him?” Well, that’s exactly what happened when
I met Colin. Not because there was so much passion between us that I could feel
the electricity, but because he was coming from the opposite direction and
slammed into me hard enough that I was on the ground before I even knew he was
there.

“Oh shit. Are you okay?” the man
hovering over me asked, sounding as freaked out as I felt.

At his questioning I jumped up
with a quick, “I’m fine,” while holding back the tears threatening to erupt. I
wasn’t about to admit that my butt felt like it had been hit with a bat then
rubbed with sandpaper. Embarrassment trumps pain one hundred percent of the
time.

“I am so sorry. I was kind of in
the zone and I didn’t think anyone else was around. How are you standing? And
how did you not break your tailbone?”

“I’m not sure that I didn’t,” I
admitted, the shakiness in my voice giving away more than I wanted about the
state I was in. Even though avoiding embarrassment was still high on my list of
priorities, the pain radiating to my butt was becoming a very close second.

“Damn, that did hurt, didn’t it?
Of course it hurt. I don’t know why you are trying to act all badass. No need
to be a hero. If you are really hurt, I need to...you know...do something.” He
paused, with a look conveying that he wasn’t sure what he would actually do.
“Do you need an ambulance? I can call 911. Shoot, I don’t have my phone. I need
to find a phone.”

I shook my head, and started to
speak, but he kept his rant going, apparently certain he must have paralyzed me.

“Ice. That’s what I need to get
for you. I’m sure there’s a bruise. Is there a bruise? Are you bleeding? I can
find you a Band-Aid.

“Oh, no. That’s okay. I can get
that stuff at my place. I’ll have my roommate check it out when I get home.

“Home? How are you getting
home?
 
You can’t keep running. You probably
shouldn’t even be walking. Do you need someone to carry you? I should carry you
somewhere. Where should I carry you?”

His concern was beginning to amuse
me. He was lean, and seemed fit enough, but definitely not what you would call
muscular. The combination of his do-no-wrong smile and his dark, messy hair
gave him the appearance of the guy who would pull your braids in school to get
your attention- definitely not the scoop you up and carry you across campus
kind of guy.

So, of course, I had to give him a
hard time. It was too much fun watching him flustered.

“It does hurt to walk. My place is
only a mile-and-a-half-ish away. I would really love it if you could carry me
there,” I asked, giving him my most hopeful smile.

Slowly, his eyes widened, and
concern etched his face. “A mile-and-a-half-
ish
?
Um, yeah, I can’t do that. I could probably give you a piggyback ride to the
end of this block, and then call someone to pick us both up.

“Oh.” I paused. “Okay. I guess I
will...try to walk.”

“Oh, no. I can’t let you walk. I
can find a phone. There are a few shops around here that are open all night.
I’ll go find one, ask to use their phone and....”

I cut him off with a smile that
turned into a laugh at his confused expression.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I don’t need you to carry me, or find
a phone. It was very sweet of you to offer but I’m fine. I can walk. Plus, I
have this.” I pull out my phone from my bra.

“I thought you could barely walk.”

“I was just kidding.”

“Well, that was mean.” He managed
to look wounded by my words.

“It was a joke.”

“Oh, so she’s funny. Okay, funny
girl. What’s your name?”

“It’s Lucy.”

“Well, Lucy, I’m Colin. Where you
headed?”

“I was planning on getting coffee at
my usual spot, but I think I might just go to someplace near here, and sit for
a while.”

“Perfect,” Colin said with a wide
grin. “There’s a place called Insomnia right down the block. As an apology, I
will take you there and buy you whatever you want.”

“Oh you don’t have to do that. I
know you didn’t mean to...what the hell?” In the middle of my thanks but no
thanks speech, he pulled me up to give me a piggyback ride. My arms reflexively
wrapped around his neck.

“So, it’s settled. Piggyback to
Insomnia, coffee drinks on me, then collapsing and calling for help in utter
humiliation. Possibly not in that order.” With that he started walking toward
the coffee shop. “Unless of course you want to trade up and give me the
piggyback ride,” he added.

“Tell you what,” I said, while
laughing, “Next time I drop you on your ass, piggyback ride is on me.

“And coffee?” Colin asked with
mock hopefulness.

“And coffee.” I agreed.

“So, let me get this straight. You
make an angry break up mix expressing all of your rage, which you then listen
to every morning while you run.”

Colin and I were on our second cup
of coffee, and in a totally deep discussion about music.

“Same music, different name,” I
said between bites. “Completely changes the meaning.” I added.

“You’re right. I get it now.”
Colin teased.

“But guess what? That very mix was
playing when I slammed into you, Now I can call it the ‘I never saw him coming’
mix.”

Colin cringed. “I’m not going to
live this down anytime soon am I?”

“Nope, probably not.” I smiled.

“I will be
that
guy to all of your friends. ‘The guy who tried to kill you on
the sidewalk between The Flying Hamburger and Burritos As Big As Your Head.’
Won’t I?”

“They will give you really
embarrassing nicknames.”

“Can you at least tell them that I
rescued you then took you for delicious coffee afterwards?”

“So you’re planning on taking me
sometime to get
delicious
coffee?” I
really needed to stop teasing him so much, but he was kind of adorable when he
was flustered.

“Come on. You don’t like the
coffee? Insomnia is known for having some of the tastiest coffee on the
campus...well you know, when you’re drunk.”

“What about for people who aren’t
drunk? How does it rate then?” I asked.

“I’m not sure that anyone other than
us has come here while sober.”

“Ah. That explains the weird looks
from the barista. I probably should have slurred my words a little. Might have
made more sense to her.”

“You could have at least talked
twice as loud as you thought you were. That probably would have helped."

Even though we joked about the
coffee, we stayed for over an hour and a half, nursing our drinks and taking
small bites of our food. Neither of us had a Friday class, so we were in no
hurry to leave.

“So what’s on your playlist? I
asked him, nodding toward his mp3 player.

“Um, you know...the usual.”

“What’s ‘the usual’?”

“I don’t know. Running music.”

“Why are you so weird about your
music?”

“I’m not weird about my music.
It’s just not interesting.”

I glanced at him briefly with a
look of uncertainty, then grabbed his mp3 player from the table before he had a
chance to register that I was taking it. Just as I snapped it up, his hand came
down a second too late.

“What’s wrong? You don’t want me
to see your playlist?
 
I mean, if
it’s just ‘the usual’ there’s no reason to hide it, right?"

Colin rolled his eyes in defeat,
then waved his hand in my direction, giving me permission to check it out.

“Ok, let’s see, what do we have?
The Greatest American Hero theme. Weird. But okay. The theme to...” I paused to
make sure I was reading it correctly. “Knight Rider? Um, oh-kay?” I raised an
eyebrow in question before going back to his list.

“Wait. What? You have The Greatest
Love of All?” I couldn’t help but cringe as I continued because, impossibly, it
got worse.

“Let’s Get Physical?” My voice was
lowering with each song title in embarrassment on his behalf. Colin buried his
face with his hands.

 
I just shook my head. “Really, Colin?
‘What a Feeling?’ The one from Flashdance? This is ‘the usual?’"

“Okay. That’s it. This day is not
going down like this.” Colin started. “I am not knocking down a hot girl, only
to woo her with coffee that tastes like vanilla mixed with feet, just so you
can leave at the end of it all thinking that I get off on listening to shitty
eighties theme songs.”

His rant completely caught me off
guard. For such a laid back looking guy, he was getting pretty worked up. I
guess everyone has their breaking point. I just didn’t realize that Irene Cara
was his.

“This is what’s happening. After
you let me use your phone, I’m calling my boy Drew to pick us up, because you
are not walking home. When Drew picks us up, he is going to explain to you how
he thought it would be fun to delete all of my music from my player and create
a mix to fit the ‘new-and-improved exercise bullshit’ that apparently I have
been ‘spewing’ over the last week.”

“Wait. You think I’m hot?” I
asked, smiling. I was trying to tease him, but I think I came off sounding
embarrassed.

 
Colin was momentarily startled by my
question, but quickly recovered.

“Hell yeah, you’re hot. You have
those adorable green eyes that make you look like you're always laughing. Of
course, that's probably because you keep laughing at me."

I couldn’t help but smile, while
my blushing cheeks gave away my embarrassment.

“I’m kind of partial to blondes
too. Plus, you have that messy bun thing that makes you look like a hot
librarian.”

“You think I look like a
librarian?” I asked, not all that thrilled with the image.

“No, a
hot
librarian,” he corrected me. “Totally different. Are you even
listening to me?” His eye roll made me laugh.

At that point I thought he was
starting to regret being so forward, because he suddenly changed focus.

 
“So anyway,” he trailed off. “Now that I
have had a chance to look like a complete jackass, why don’t I finish the
morning by stealing a kid’s bike, or making fun of your mom or something.”

“My mom left me when I was a
child. I haven’t seen her since I was eight,” I remarked quietly.

His mouth dropped open, and he was
silent for a good ten seconds before he finally spoke.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” He
seemed like he needed something to do because he grabbed our cups and napkins
and tossed them into the trash can behind us, before returning to me. “I mean
seriously. What the hell is wrong with me?” With that he got up to leave, and I
followed him, guessing that was his way of saying it was time to go.

I started to talk, but he spoke
again before I could get a word out. “I am so sorry, Lucy. I am usually much
more awesome than this. I know it’s hard to believe, but I have never knocked a
girl over before.”

“That is hard to believe. You were
so efficient.”

His glare made me feign an
apologetic look. I don’t think he bought it.

“I’m so sorry.” I said. I could
tell he was a good guy, and I was starting to feel bad that he was so worried
about his general awesomeness being on the line.

“
You’re
sorry? Why would
you
be
sorry?” he asked, genuinely bemused.

“I think I might have given you a
little bit of a hard time.”

“Little bit?” he smiled.

“Little bit.” I held my thumb and
index finger up to reinforce just how insignificant it was.

“Right.”

I ignored his sarcastic tone and
continued. “And despite everything, I had a nice time.”

“A nice time, huh?”

“Sure. I mean, of course I could
have done without the fall, but it wasn’t as bad as it looked- nothing a bit of
Ibuprofen won’t help. In fact, I think we can end up being friends.” I smiled
to emphasize my point.

“Friends?” he asked while adding
air quotes.

“No. Not air quote friends. Real
friends. In fact, the next time coffee is on me, but at Harvest Moon,
my
coffee shop. Nothing there tastes
like feet.”

“Oh no. We can go to your ‘Harvest
Moon’, but the coffee between non-air quote friends is on me. It’s the least I
can do for, you know, today. Next time, you will be blown away by my
awesomeness.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I held my
hand out to make it official.

“A plan.” he repeated while
shaking my hand.
 
We both held our
handshake a little longer than what would be considered protocol for non-air
quote friends. But that was only because...well I don’t know why he did it, but
I just did it because he did.

“I better have my buddy Drew pick
us up.” Colin interrupted my thoughts by holding out his hand for my phone.
“I’m sure you’re still in pain. You should get home and rest.”

He used my phone to dial his
friend. “Dude, it’s Col. What’s up?” He looked at me and rolled his eyes at
whatever Drew said. “Well then you won’t mind picking me and a friend up? We're
at the corner of Pearl Avenue and First Street.” He nodded at me indicating
that Drew was fine with that. “Long story, man. I’ll tell you later. Uh, hold
on. Where do you live, Lucy?”

“Norwich. Near 9th.”

Colin nodded then turned back to
the phone. “Norwich and 9th. Cool? Yeah, I figured she would be with you.” That
statement was followed by another eye roll, but this time he added a headshake.
"Thanks, man.” He hung up the phone and passed it back to me.

“Everything Ok?” I asked.

“What? Oh yeah, everything’s fine.
We get to be graced with the presence of Drew’s girlfriend Mia."

“Let me guess. You two are BFFs,
right?" His answering look made me laugh.

We walked over to a bench where
his roommate could see us, and sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
Colin spoke up first.

“Hey, Lucy, I’m really sorry about
everything. I know I said it before, but...you know. I just feel bad.”

Oh no.
His
sincerity reminded me of our earlier conversation, and I felt like the worst
kind of person.

“Um, Colin. Remember when I
forgave you for running into me?”

“Sure. I remember it like it was
yesterday.”

“Ha, ha. Anyway, on a completely
different note, I was just thinking about how I am going to meet my mom for
lunch tomorrow and…” I mumbled the last part.

“I’m sorry, what?”

I was just saying that I’m
meeting...my uh mom...for lunch.”

“Your mom? Didn’t she leave you
when you were eight?”

“Um, yeah. That was a joke.”

“What the hell, Lucy? I thought I
broke your heart.”

“I was kidding. I thought it would
be funny. It was a little funny, right?”

Apparently, not that funny.

Colin stood up and walked to a
bench next to the one we were sitting on; presumably to avoid the space I was
in. I followed him anyway.

“I’m sorry.” I said bumping his
arm. Do you
forgive
me
?”

He let out a breath, knowing that
I got him.

He was silent for a moment before
replying. “You’re buying the coffee next time.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured.”