The Invisible Day Read Free

it’s the smallest country in the world and it has a population that is way smaller than New York City and I thought I could use that for a comparison.”
    “Hey, and mine has the biggest population in the world! That’s cool!”
    Everybody knew that Hubert was going to do China.
    Mr. Belenky strode into the music room and immediately tapped his baton against a music stand.
    “Places, please.”
    I had one second to decide.
    “Come along, sopranos, tidy up that row.”
    “Hubert,” I whispered, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
    I dashed for the door while Mr. Belenky fumbled with the song sheets. I suddenly felt hot all over my head. I went straight to the girls’ room at the end of the lower hallway.
    One tap was dripping, a steady
plink, plink, plink
. Otherwise, it was completely quiet.
    I stood between the two sinks and took the little bag out of my pack. The zipper stuck again but I teased it open. I unscrewed the lid of the first pearly pot. Inside was a pale green cream that smelled like cucumbers too long in the sun. The next jar held a buttery-colored lotion that smelled like pudding. The compact sprang open when I touched the gold clasp. The mirror inside the lid was shaped like a heart. The powder in the shallow dish was loose and shimmery.

    I stirred it a bit with my fingertip and patted some onto my nose. It was soft and thick, like crushed chalk or cocoa powder. I rubbed more on my cheeks and arms. It had the faint smell of stale toffee. I felt, not exactly a tingle, but a warming. For a moment, it made my skin gleam.
    Then, even though it’s impossible, I seemed to get fuzzy, like a photograph out of focus. And then, before my very own eyes, I began to disappear!
    It was the strangest feeling I’ve ever had, watching myself fade away to nothing. Even when I was gone, I could see. I mean, my eyes still worked so I could look in the mirror, but it was the toilet stalls I was looking at. The ugly green painted doors, the gray tiled walls, and the paper towel dispenser. I was just not there anymore!
    “This,” I said aloud, “is really weird.” I could talk and I could hear!
    “This is as weird as it can be.” My voice sounded hollow, but maybe it always sounds that way in the bathroom and had nothing to do with my body disappearing.
    I stared into the mirror. I tried to swallow. What was I supposed to do now? Walk into chorus practice and start singing? Go out and confess? “Uh, yeah, I found this bag and kept it for myself. I used the stuff inside and now, well, now I’m gone!” I imagined the look on my mother’s face. I decided to keep thinking.
    Maybe if I washed it off?
    It was a relief that I could grasp and turn the tap without visible fingers. I could feel the water splashing over my hands and face, but nothing happened. Except that now I had drippy hands and a wet face.
    Suddenly I heard voices outside the door. And a giggle that could only be Alyssa’s. I scooped up the powder and the other jars in half a second and nearly screamed when they vanished at my touch. I dropped them into my pack like burning matches. They reappeared instantly.
    The bathroom door swung open. Without thinking, I dove for cover in one of the toilet stalls, just as Alyssa burst in with Sarah right behind her.
    I had left my backpack on the floor beside the sink.

5 • Telling Hubert
    I know she’s in here,” said Alyssa in her bossy way. “I saw her go in. Billie! Billie? Aha!” She had spotted my pack.
    “Her pack is here,” said Sarah helpfully. “So she must be, too.”
    I was an ice statue, cold with fear and as still as a toilet. I clenched my hands and closed my eyes, waiting for Alyssa to see my feet.
    Then I almost choked, trying to hold in a laugh. I was invisible!
    Alyssa poked her nose under the stall door, trying to catch me balancing on the toilet seat, but she looked right through me. I stuck out my tongue at her upside-down face.
    “She’s not here.” I could hear her