Being Invisible (16 page)

“You ever think about what it
would be like to hook up with the Vapor? I mean, I know you have some kind of
doctrine against canoodling with heroes, but there’s no way that guy isn’t hot.
I mean, right?”

Ruth’s constant inquiry into the
mind of The Vapor would be humorous, if it wasn’t so frustrating. The poor girl
is trying, and failing to find out about her mystery superhero, while Colin sat
less than two feet away from her at a bar.

Most of the time I wish I could
help her come up with a bigger, better story that might actually help her
career, while other times, like today, I just want to wring her neck.

It’s been over a week since that night
at the bar, and from what Liz says he’s been going on with his life like he
never poured his heart out to me. At least that’s what she can gather from
Drew. He’s texted me a couple times, telling me he misses me, but beyond that,
he’s been pretty quiet.

The good thing is that I’m now
onto my second round of the second stage of grief. It can only get better from
here right?

I realize that Ruth has asked me a
question, but since I stopped listening around the time she started rambling
about Vapor’s concealed weapon, I really don’t know how to answer.

“Sorry, what?”

“I asked you if you want to go
with me to the library?”

“Oh, sure. Why? You have research
you need help with?”

 
I
hope she didn’t already tell me this.

“No… Have you been listening to
anything I have been saying?”

Yep. She already told me this.

“Oh. Uh…”

“I am going to go ahead and
forgive you, because I know you’re going through a lot, but I’m gonna need your
attention this time.” I smile at her ribbing.

“I said that I am heading to the
library because I heard there might be something going on there, and I figure
that seems like the perfect place to find Vapor.”

“The library? You think he’s going
to show up because people aren’t returning their books?”

“Very funny, Luce. I’m thinking
underground gun smuggling.”

“In the library? I separate each
word, to help her realize how ridiculous she sounds. “Come for the books, stay
for the black market weapons? Sounds a little off.”

“Maybe, but it couldn’t hurt to
check it out. It did come from a reliable source.”

“Okay then.” I really don’t want
to go on a wild goose chase through the library. Not to mention, I have some
late fees with my name on them, so I can’t even use the trip to pick out a new
mystery for when this whole thing leads to a dead end.

“Oh, wait. I just realized what
time it is. I have a deadline I have to meet by four o’clock today. If I don’t
make it, Alex is going to be on my ass the rest of the week.” I hate to lie,
but I really don’t want to go.

“Then do
not
come with me. When he’s mad, we all pay for it. I’ll just give
you the details later.”

“Great. Can’t wait.”

The rest of the day goes pretty
uneventfully, except for the fact that by the time I get off at the bus stop by
my house, I have gone from dipping my toe into the anger phase all the way to
deep sea diving into it. As soon as I open the door, Liz can tell something is
wrong.

“What’s with the mood?” Liz looks
up from painting her toes to focus on me.

“Just the same thing it always is.
Colin. I can’t believe I almost fell for it again. Every time I start to get
fed up, he pulls some shit about how things are going to be great, then he
bails on me.”

“You mean because I told you that
Colin has been on superhero detail practically every night since karaoke?”

“Yes. And that the one night he
was free he went out for beers with ‘friends’ who just happen to be female.

Annie, who had been in the kitchen
making popcorn, comes out to see what we’re talking about.

“Lucy, I don’t know what’s going
on with him, but I do know that he really misses you. Maybe just give him some
time.”

At that, Annie jumps in. “Nope. No
way. If I have learned anything from my break-up with James, it’s that there is
a wide world of men out there. You don’t know what could be waiting for you on
the other side if you keep hanging on to this roller coaster you called a
relationship.”

“You think I should start dating
again?”

“I think you should at least give
it a try. Even if it’s a total bust, you can chalk it up to lesson learned.”

“I don’t know. It might not be
fair to the next guy I go out with, since I can’t seem to stop thinking about
Colin.”

“Well you don’t have to marry the
guy. I don’t think after one date the guy’s gonna profess his undying love for
you.”

“I guess.” The idea of actually
going on a date makes me kinda want to break out in a cold sweat. Even though I
wouldn’t be cheating on Colin, since we broke up and all, I would feel like I
was being unfaithful to my own feelings, pretending that I’m not in love with
him when I am.

But I need to do something to get
out of this continual loop of anguish.

“You don’t have to do this, Lu.”
Liz looks torn. “You may not be ready yet.”

“Who’s ready to jump back into
dating after a big breakup? I mean, unless you’re James the Giant Ass, it’s a
big leap from being with someone you know everything about, to starting from
scratch with someone new. It’s one of those things you just gotta do. Once you
see that it’s not all that bad, you’ll be happy that you did it. It’s like a Band-Aid.
You just gotta rip it off.”

Liz thinks about it for a second. “Yeah,
I see your point. It might do you some good, Luce.”

“I guess. I don’t know. You think
I should?” I’m freaking out a little. The thought of dating another guy makes
me think of Colin dating another girl, which makes me think of having to gouge
some other girl’s eyes out. And I’m all about women supporting each other, so I
really don’t want to have to do that.

“I think it might be worth it to
give it a try.” Annie says.

“I guess it’s not that big of a
deal. One date’s not going to kill me.” I’m still trying to talk myself into
it, while Annie is already coming up with prospects.

 
“Should I try to think of someone?” I
wouldn’t even know where to start, but since it’s my date, I figure I should
offer.

“Leave that to us.” Liz is already
grabbing a pen and paper.

After a long list of prospects,
Liz and Annie narrow the list to a few, and then discuss the potential of each
guy.

Finally, we find a winner. Or at
least Liz and Annie find a winner. I apparently have very little say in who
rips off my Band-Aid.

Based on what Liz tells me, the
guy I am going on a date with was in her photography class. Now he works as a
copywriter for an advertising agency. Also, he is “totally hot” and “super laid
back,” which equates to “easy to look at, and easy to let go if necessary.” I
guess that’s all I could ever want in a rebound date.

Lucy texts him my info, and within
a few days, we have planned our date. After passing ideas back and forth, we
decide to try our hand at miniature golf. Nothing like showing off my horrific
putting skills while trying to rein in my competitive nature. I hesitated when
he came up with the idea, but ultimately I agreed because miniature golf seemed
like a pretty harmless place to have a first date.

I meet him at the front of
Wilderness Golf. I recognize him from his Facebook photo, but that picture did
not even come close to the live and in person version.

Holy understatement, Liz.

He is one of those guys who you
can’t look at directly, for fear your retinas might be burned by his hotness.

“Hi, you must be Lucy.” He holds
out his hand in greeting.

“Yes. And you must be…”
Shit. I forget his name.

“David, yes. That’s me.” He gives
me a wide smile, letting me off the hook for my slip up.

He places his hand on my back to
lead me to the practice green, then hands me a ball. “I bought the games before
you got here so that I could have plenty of time to kick your ass.”

“Those are some big words coming
from a guy with one pink ball.” I laugh good naturedly, and he shrugs.

“I am man enough to take my one
pink ball and lead it to victory.”

Okay, so to be completely honest
I’m a little worried. Colin tried to take me mini golfing once, but he gave up
after I almost hit him with my club at least four times by accident. Three
because I swung way too far to the left, and once because the club completely
slipped out of my hands and flew behind me. Good thing he had been working on
his reflexes, or we might still be pulling golf club shrapnel out of his head.

So, no pressure.

We arrive at the first hole, where
he graciously lets me choose whether or not I want to go first. I motion for
him to go, then watch while he lines up his shot. His dark hair falls over his
eyes, and he bites his lip in concentration. I’d like to say that it makes me
want to bite his lip. But mostly it makes me want to find a way to cheat
because he seems like he knows what he’s doing.

He hits the ball and it lands
about a centimeter from the hole.

Of course it does
.

“You’re not going to make me look
bad are you?” I try for teasing to lighten my mood.

“I’m sure you will do great. Just
give it a try.” He gives me a crooked smile and winks.

I remember what Liz said about him
being laid back, and it calms me.

I line up my shot and try to
concentrate like he did. I take a deep breath, hit the ball, and watch while it
immediately lands in the water.

“In the water already? That’s not
a good sign.” I’m pretty sure he’s teasing me, so I smile back at him, then go
looking for my ball.

I’m not going to wade around in
water, so when I don’t find it right away, I give up. “Hey, David, can I use
your ball?”

“Uh, sure. If you can’t find
yours.” He seems uncomfortable with lending me his ball, so I look around to see
if I can find another one somewhere else. Luckily, I find a ball in some
bushes.

”Never mind.
 
I found one. Should I start over?”

“Sure. You just get a one stroke
penalty.”

Seriously? I am on hole one.

Four strokes later, I get it in.

“Good job, babe.” David puts his
hand up for a high five, which I begrudgingly return.

Don’t patronize me buddy.

As he lines up his next shot, I
decide to try to get to know him better.

“So, are you originally from here
or did you come here for school?”

His ball slips past the hole,
narrowly missing it. “Oh, so close. Sorry. I was born and raised in Zanesville,
so coming here for school wasn’t much of a stretch. You?”

This time I gently bump my ball
with my club, because I don’t want to have to go looking for it again. Since
this hole slopes upward, my ball comes back to me.

“Can I take a mulligan?” I ask,
hoping he will throw me this one bone.

“Okay. But only because you’re
cute. In fact, let me help you.” He walks behind me and puts his arms around my
waist, ready to help me with my swing.

I take a deep breath and let it
out, hoping to curb my anxiety over his touch. This is what people do on dates,
so there’s no reason for me to be uneasy.

Right as I am about to swing, I
hear a loud thump, followed by, “What the hell?”

I turn and see David hunched over,
his hands covering his head.

“What happened?”

“Flying ball hit me in the head.”
He slowly stands up and pulls his hand away. “Must have been the teenagers a
couple holes behind us.”

“Do you need some ice?” I ask, not
sure what to do to help him.

“No I’m fine. Just took my by
surprise, that’s all.”

“Okay. Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Why don’t you go
ahead and swing, and I’ll just stay over here. Away from the other golfers.” He
sits on the bench and watches me.

I hit the ball, and I am excited
when I get a hole in one.

“Did you see that? Hole in one.”

“Technically, it’s a two since you
started over.”

“But you gave me the mulligan.”
 

“Yeah. We won’t count it, but I’m
just saying.”

“Oh, Okay. Well, Go ahead.”

His club makes contact with his
ball, and it looks like it’s going to go in, but at the last second it veers to
the right.

“I don’t get it. I had that lined
up.” Dave leans down low to eye the hole.

“Guess the hole is sloped.”