Chapter 1
"HARPER!" Mom yells at me from the bottom of the stairs.
"I'M COMING!" I yell back from my bedroom, where I am getting ready for school. She does not understand not to rush me when I'm getting ready. I roll my eyes. When will she ever learn?
"Hurry up! You can't be late again!" She yells back to me again.
I sigh and finish brushing my long brown hair in front of the mirror. I look behind me in the mirror to see a young girl behind. She looks like a younger version of me with brown hair, bright green eyes, and olive skin. I know she is not real, and I can only see her, which makes our friendship special. I smile at her.
She smiles back and says, "You wouldn't have to deal with her if we just got rid of her."
The young girl has been telling me that a lot lately. She always tries to get these bad ideas in my head, which chills me. I never listen to her. I can't.
" I can't do that," I replied, looking at her through the mirror.
"Fine. The last thing you can do is teach her a lesson. She needs to stop bossing you around."
I glance at her again and don't say anything. I sigh as I hear Mom yell at me to hurry up again. I put my hairbrush down on the desk and my pink Jansport bookbag. I run out of the room, down the white painted hallway with family pictures placed on the walls, and towards the steps.
Running down the wooden steps of my family's two-story house, I can hear my mom sigh from the bottom of the steps.
"Finally. Harper, can't you be on time for once? Your siblings are in the car already," she says with keys in her hands, halfway out the door.
I ignore the comment and walk through the door that is being held open for me. My parents bought our house in Little Mountain, Colorado, six years ago when they had the triplets. I was only 10 and devastated to leave my friends. That was the first time I saw the invisible girl.
Sitting in the front passenger seat of the silver minivan my parents bought after having my younger brother Lucas, I can see through the overhead mirror that all four younger siblings are sitting in the back seats. We all wear the same school uniform: a white button-up shirt and a blue vest. The girls wear matching blue skirts, and the boys wear blue slacks. I wish we didn't have to wear uniforms.
As we start driving to school, my mind wanders while my mom talks to my slightly younger brother, Lucas. He is only two years younger than me, but I'm the oldest, at 16.
I tried telling them about the girl whom only I could see, but they wouldn't listen. They never do, and one day they might regret it. What am I thinking? I could never do anything to them, or could I?
Finally, we reached Little Mountain High School. I left the car, ignoring my mom's goodbye as she drove off. I looked at the invisible girl who had shown up by my side and walked into the brick building.
