I hate it,” I told Auden as we walked to class. The hal way was mostly empty, but not empty enough. “What?” “The way they al stare at me.” “No one’s—” “Spare me,” I said. “Okay. They’re staring. But at least they notice you,” he said. “Would you rather be invisible?” I didn’t want to tel him that he wasn’t invisible, that al those people he hated were perfectly aware of his existence. They just chose to ignore it. “Let’s blow this off,” I suggested. Auden looked doubtful. “And go where?” “Who cares? Anywhere but here.” “We only have a couple more hours to get through…” Since when did a couple hours of hel qualify as only? “Whatever. You stay. I’m going.” I turned on my heel and headed quickly down the hal , but not so quickly that he couldn’t catch up, which he did after a couple steps. He always did. “You win,” he said. “Where to?” “Out.” I pushed through the door at the end of the hal , wishing I could smel the March air.
