Clara looked up at him. Really looked . He had kind, dark eyes that were currently wide with terror, and a smudge of charcoal on his chin. She’d never noticed the smudge before.
Clara scrambled to gather her posters, muttering, “Sorry, sorry, I’m a human disaster—” when her hand landed on the sketchbook. She froze.
Clara looked up at him, her eyes bright. She leaned in and kissed the smudge of charcoal on his chin.
“That one’s not done,” Theo mumbled. “I don’t know how to finish it.”
That was the beginning. Not with a grand promposal or a love letter slipped into a locker. It started with a spilled sketchbook, a charcoal smudge, and two hands finally closing the distance.
Clara Diaz was the opposite of invisible. She was the student council secretary, the lead in the school play, and had a laugh that could fill a silent library. She ran on espresso and good intentions, and was known for two things: her vintage headbands and her habit of tripping over air.
Theo’s face went pale, then scarlet. He snatched the book from her hands like it was on fire. “That’s… that’s not. I was practicing shadows. You were just there.”
From then on, Theo had a new subject. He drew Clara laughing during lunch, Clara with her headband askew after play rehearsal, Clara fast asleep on his shoulder during a bus ride to a debate tournament. And Clara, in turn, learned to see the invisible boy. She cheered the loudest at his small art gallery opening. She made him a mix tape of sad indie songs because “that’s clearly your vibe, Lin.” She stopped tripping as often, because Theo always seemed to have a steady hand reaching out to catch her elbow.