The early morning Spring sunshine peeped through the cracks of the blinds, and fell across Jenny’s unseen features as she slept. As the miniature sunbeams crept closer and closer to her eyes, their radiant light easily penetrated the transparent flesh of her eyelids, and for her, it was as though she had been suddenly thrust into broad daylight. She opened her eyes, looked around, and stretched, yawning widely.

She’d just had the strangest dream. It was weird, she had no idea what the heck it meant… but it was definitely strange! She dreamt that she had been awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry, and was in a huge auditorium to receive the award. Hundreds of well-known scientists and celebrities from all over the world were in attendance. Jenny waited in the wings of the stage for her name to be called, and when it was at last announced, she stepped forward to accept the award. As she approached the podium, the white lab-coat she wore began to transform into a long, shiny, strapless evening-gown, and her long blonde tresses, formerly pinned up in a bun, now fell loosely about her shoulders. The white gown sparkled dazzlingly under the bright lights, as hundreds of iridescent sequins suddenly appeared on its surface, accentuating the curves of her body underneath. Jenny stepped up to the podium, graciously accepted the award and spoke a few words of appreciation and gratitude, which resulted in a standing ovation from the entire audience. She took her bows, then graciously exited.

She then found herself riding in an enormously-long, white stretch limousine, surrounded by her best friends and other well-wishers, all offering her their congratulations and drinking toasts to her success with the finest champagne. As they rode, Jenny’s evening-gown began to transform again, this time turning into an elaborate white lace bridal-gown.

The next thing she knew, Jenny found herself marching down the aisle of an enormous cathedral, or church or something, filled, like the auditorium, with hundreds of people. She looked to her side, and was astonished to discover that her escort, as she made her way down the aisle, was not her father, as was customary, but rather was Robby the Robot, from the old science-fiction movie Forbidden Planet. And when she looked around and behind her, she discovered that most of the bridesmaids and even the little flower-girls were duplicate versions of the same, all whirring and chirping electronically along in their pastel-colored dresses. In the midst of this strange milieu, Jenny was relieved to discover the familiar faces of her best friends, Connie and Muriel, standing before her as maids-of-honor, respectively wearing glum and cheerful expressions, as usual. But when Jenny approached the altar and looked at the groom, she discovered…that he wasn’t there. Or, to be exact, his clothes were standing there, empty; but there was no sign of a groom to be seen anywhere.

It was as though the groom…was invisible.

As she approached, and continued to stare, stunned, at the empty space between the collar of the expensive tuxedo-shirt and the tall silk hat which hovered in space above it, a voice spoke eerily to her from the void:

"Jennifer, my Darling!" the empty tuxedo said to her, causing her to cringe (she hated being called "Jennifer.") "You look simply ravishing!" The tuxedo’s deep, rumbling voice sounded vaguely familiar…and yet Jenny couldn’t quite place it…

When it came time to place the ring on Jenny’s finger, the tuxedo reached out an empty sleeve to her. She reached out her hand to meet the hand that wasn’t there…and saw that her hand wasn’t there either. She watched in awe as a gold ring floated through space and slid itself onto her absent finger and hovered there. Moments later, the slightly-muffled sound of glass shattering made Jenny jump.

"You may now kiss the bride," said a voice from…somewhere nearby.

The empty space between the floating silk hat and the tuxedo shirt-collar approached Jenny, and she recoiled from it in horror. Still it approached, getting closer and closer… Jenny felt as though her heart were about to come pounding right out of her chest, and the cathedral, or whatever it was, seemed to grow brighter and brighter, as though illuminated by the most brilliant, radiant sunlight. The brightness increased, until at last, everything went stark white and Jenny woke up.

She rubbed the last of the sleepiness from her eyes with unseen knuckles (after first sliding the ends of the too-long pajama-sleeves out of the way, of course) and looked at the blinded window with the shafts of sunlight glimmering through the cracks. She crept groggily out of bed, walked over to the window, and raised the blinds. She looked out at the bright sunlit world of Saturday morning, raised the window sash and deeply breathed in the crisp, refreshing morning air. In the branches of the trees nearby, Birds chirped, and squirrels scampered up and down the trunks. Jenny smiled as she watched and listened.

It was Springtime, it was going to be a beautiful day, and Jenny felt wonderful. The long talk she’d had on the phone the night before with her friend had done wonders for her morale. She still hadn’t told her friend about her invisibility, of course, and wasn’t sure she ever would. Instead, they talked about other, more innocuous topics: Big things, small things, trivial things, silly things and fun things. They talked about everything, basically, during the two hours they’d spent on the phone together, and Jenny now felt in much better spirits than she had earlier in the day, when nothing seemed to be going right. Now, however, Jenny felt more like her old self, her usual high level enthusiasm and energy renewed. She felt more relaxed and at ease than she’d felt in days, ever since she’d first become invisible.

And after her talk on the phone, Jenny enjoyed the most relaxing, refreshing night’s sleep she’d had in over a week (even with her strange dream.) And for once, she had awakened with no worries or concerns about where she was, where she would have to run off to next, where her next meal would be coming from or where she would be sleeping that night. All her worries and concerns were taken care of and forgotten, and she now felt invigorated, re-energized and ready to take on the world again. The fatigue, worries and bad temper that had so troubled her only the day before were now forgotten. Already, her mind was brimming over with new ideas of things to do, new pleasures to experience and new adventures to embark upon, with her unique new power.

In a quick movement, she turned from the window and walked briskly across the room to retrieve Ted’s bathrobe, now hanging from a bed-post. She quickly slipped it on and tied the sash, the floppy ends of the too-long sleeves now no longer as much of a hindrance to her as they had once been; by now, she’d gotten used to them, just as she’d learned to get used to so many different aspects of invisibility. She felt proud of her ability to adjust to new and unexpected situations and challenges so easily. She was definitely getting the hang of this whole invisibility thing; maybe now she could start to enjoy it and have some fun with it for a change.

No longer content to enjoy her good humor in solitude, Jenny decided to share it with Ted who, she felt sure, would be happy to share in it. She opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the hallway to the kitchen.

* * *

Ted felt terrible. Rotten, simply rotten. He was tired, sore, achy and overall miserable. For two nights in a row, he’d had almost no sleep at all. And right when fatigue finally began to triumph over nervous tension early this morning and he had just started to doze off, the stupid alarm-clock had to go off, jolting him wide awake and reminding him that he had a stupid class to attend this morning. Wearily, irritably, he stretched his long, lanky—and now very cramped—body, as he struggled his way back to full-wakefulness. Between sleeping on the stupid lumpy, bumpy and obscenely-uncomfortable battered old sofa—which was far too short to accommodate his long legs—and the growing tensions and hassles involved with Jenny’s invisibility, Ted’s nerves were by now rubbed completely raw.

He rose from the sofa, tried to straighten out as best he could the rumpled, wrinkled clothes in which he’d slept, then lumbered blearily into the tiny kitchenette for a quick morning snack. He retrieved from the refrigerator a nearly-empty carton of milk and from the cabinet, an equally-nearly-empty box of cereal. He regarded both with annoyance. Jeeeeezzzz… he thought. On top of everything else, she’s eating me out of house & home! Grumpily, he banged the box and the carton onto the surface of the battered little kitchen-table, produced a chipped plastic bowl from a nearby cupboard, then sat down and gloomily proceeded to eat, finishing off the last of the cereal and milk.

No doubt about it, he thought grimly, as he munched the cereal. We’re definitely going to have to come to some kind of understanding about the living-arrangements here…

Although Ted had initially been enthusiastic about letting Jenny stay at his place, he soon realized that she was definitely beginning to wear out her welcome as a house-guest. His initial enthusiasm was now…waning somewhat, and his patience was beginning to run out. Although he still liked Jenny, he wasn’t sure just how much longer he was willing to put up with her or the kind of nonsense associated with actually living with her for any length of time. Living with an invisible person wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to begin with, of course; living with one as flaky as Jenny could be, was downright maddening.

For one thing, Ted was beginning to get the uneasy feeling…that Jenny was merely taking advantage of him all this time, playing him for a sucker. And he didn’t like it. After all, he’d helped Jenny with her lab-assignment, did all the number-crunching on the equations for her, and without so much as a thank-you, she went & took the invisibility formula herself and disappeared! Took off! Just like that, without so much as a thought of the possible consequences! Or of all the work that still needed to be done on the project! What did she expect him to do, finish it himself? Yet even after her abrupt disappearance, Ted nevertheless took it upon himself to care for her personal belongings and clothing in her absence. And finally, he even ended up sharing his living-quarters, his clothes, his food and even gave up his bed to her! But did he receive a word of thanks from her for any of this? No! Not a single word. But he did it anyway, in the hopes that, eventually, he could persuade her to stop wasting time, return to the lab and start work immediately on finishing the project. That was his hope anyway; but now, that hope seemed to be in vain. Jenny apparently had no more desire to return to visibility than she had when she’d first started her whole crazy escapade.

Ted shuddered as he recalled all the things he’d had to deal with as a result of Jenny’s silly antics: The growing number of news media types on campus, the increased numbers of cops in the area, all the profs & other people asking about Jenny, what had happened to her, where was she, etc. There was no telling where it would all end, and Ted wasn’t sure how much longer he could go on covering for Jenny. He didn’t want to see her get in trouble, but the longer things went on as they were, the more unavoidable trouble seemed to be, for both of them. And then there was that nightmare at the coffee-shop last night! Oy, my god…! Ted thought, as shut his eyes tightly at the recollection.

Ted really didn’t want to have to throw Jenny out, but on the other hand, he didn’t seem to have much choice, either. Although he resisted the idea of an ultimatum, he realized that he may have to give one to Jenny and soon: Either return to the lab and start working on a reagent immediately, or find someplace else to eat and sleep. Because things simply couldn’t go on the way they were. On top of everything else, there was also the matter of simple economics: Ted simply didn’t have the money to pay for food for two people; he was barely making ends meet as it was. And with Jenny now cutting those provisions in half… (or, it seemed to Ted, cutting them by two-thirds.) And then there were the laundry bills, the water-usage; everything was now doubled. He sighed, shaking his head as he stared gloomily into the cereal-bowl.

So…like it or not, Ted was going to have to give Jenny an ultimatum: Come back to the lab with him immediately and start working on the reagent…or move out, and that’s final…

This afternoon, he thought with a final swallow of cereal. We’ll have a good, long talk this afternoon and settle it once and for all… And this time, I’ll really put my foot down about it…!

His tiny breakfast now finished, Ted tossed out the empty cereal-box and milk-carton, washed out the bowl and spoon and was just putting them away when a sudden, unexpectedly-loud, bouncy—and obscenely-cheerful voice sounded from behind him, causing him to jump:

"Good morning, good morning, gooooooood morning!" the voice called. Ted turned and—not altogether unexpectedly—was greeted by the eerie sight of his own empty pajamas and bathrobe drifting over to the table, where they pulled out a chair and sat down. It was, of course, Jenny. The floppy, empty pajama-sleeves raised themselves up high as their unseen wearer stretched herself and yawned loudly. "Mmmmmmm, I slept just great last night!" she said. "Just great! Mmmmmm, I feel wonderful! Well-rested & ready to go!" The empty sleeves gently drifted down and flopped themselves onto the table’s surface. "Well, I’m starved! What’s for breakfast?"

Ted stared blankly at the empty pajamas for a moment, then turned away and shrugged. "Nothing," he said. "Nothing left, that is. There was only a little bit of cereal and milk left this morning, and I finished them off just now."

"You ate it all?" Jenny said, in a hurt voice. "And you didn’t leave any for me? Boy, some host you are!" The robe and pajamas folded their sleeves in front, Jenny’s usual pose when she was displeased about something.

"Hey, don’t blame me," Ted replied, without turning. "Yesterday morning, that box of cereal was nearly half-full. How the heck much of it did you eat yesterday, anyway?"

The empty robe and pajamas shrugged. "I don’t know, a couple of bowls, something like that… What’s the difference?"

"That box was supposed to last ‘til next Wednesday."

"So? Go buy another box, that’s all." Jenny’s tone contained a slightly derisive tone, as though she were explaining the obvious to a particularly-slow child.

Ted chuckled, a bitter sound which contained not one element of humor. "I hate to tell you this, but I don’t have the money."

"What do you mean, ‘you don’t have the money?’"

"Just what I said, I—" Ted began, then stopped himself. He took a deep breath, slowly turned to face the empty robe and pajamas, and said, quietly: "Well…the fact is, I really don’t have that much money. I sure don’t live off Cheerios and moldy old bananas seven days a week because I like ‘em. I eat ‘em ‘cause that’s all I can afford. Tutoring math part-time doesn’t really pay that much, you know, and what little I do get from it is…well, it’s…" he hesitated.

"It’s what?" Jenny prompted.

Still, Ted hesitated.

"Well???"

Ted sighed. "Well…it’s…it’s budgeted for one person, not two…" he trailed off.

After a long pause, Jenny’s response came in a tiny, subdued voice. "Oh…" she said, after which she fell silent.

Ted quickly hastened to add: "Not that I’m complaining or anything, you understand, it’s just that—"

"I know, I know," a floppy pajama sleeve waved, as though brushing aside the additional comment.

A silence followed; then Jenny asked: "Well…can’t you…you know, call your parents and ask them to send you some more money?"

Ted’s back stiffened and at the same time, it seemed to Jenny that Ted had somehow curled up inside himself, like a potato-bug. "NO," he said crisply. "No, I—I don’t want to do that. I…I don’t want to have to ask them for anything; I want to make it on my own."

"But couldn’t you—"

"NO." Ted said firmly. "And I don’t want to talk about it anymore." He turned away abruptly to face the cupboard, and that was the end of that.

Geez! Jenny thought. Somebody sure got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning! He sure is crabby today! I wonder what the heck his problem is?

But Jenny was in too good a mood to let Ted’s grumpiness get to her, so she decided to try again. "Oh well, no matter. Maybe I can sneak us both some food later on…somehow."

His face still turned away from Jenny, Ted rolled his eyes and sighed. Geez, he thought. That’s all I need: stolen food! But when he spoke, his tone was more conciliatory: "I’d—I’d really rather you didn’t, if that’s all right." He closed the cupboard door, turned and left the kitchen.

Unseen, Jenny glared at Ted as he walked past her. What the heck is with him today? she wondered. What’s he so grouchy for? Why’s he so hostile to me all of a sudden? Is he angry at me or something? Is it because of last night? Sheesh! I thought he’d be over that by now!

When Ted emerged from the bedroom moments later, wearing his jacket and carrying his backpack, Jenny spoke up:

"You going out?" she asked, casually.

"Yes, I’m going out!" Ted snapped, irritably. "I told you yesterday: I have a class this morning."

"Okay, okay…" Jenny replied, raising her empty sleeves, as if in surrender. "I’m just asking, that’s all; you don’t have to take my head off. Anways, I thought you were kidding yesterday. I didn’t think you serious about having a class on a Saturday morning."

"Well, I do. I told you: It’s for extra credit."

Jenny shook her head and rolled her eyes—then realized how foolish it was to make the gesture when Ted couldn’t see it—and said simply: "Well, it sounds boring to me. Wouldn’t you rather be doing something fun? It is a weekend, you know, and that’s what weekends are for."

For a moment, there appeared a fleeting look on Ted’s face that almost suggested that he would rather be doing anything besides sitting through another boring class—especially a philosophy class. But just as quickly, the look faded. "Well…there’s more to life than having fun, you know," he said quietly, as he turned away. "Anyhow, I gotta get going now, or I’ll be late."

"Well, umm…in that case, before you go," Jenny rose from the table and drifted over to Ted, who eyed the living pajamas and robe narrowly, unsure of what to expect next. "As long as you’re going out anyway," Jenny’s voice suddenly sounded unnaturally-sweet. "Could you stop by my dorm room and pick up some stuff for me?"

"What stuff?" Ted asked, guardedly.

"Oh…just some…stuff of mine. I asked a friend of mine to pack a bag of some…essentials that I need. And if you could stop by & pick it up for me—"

"Oh, geez!" Ted interrupted, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, as if wincing in physical pain. A mental picture of an enormous steamer-trunk, capable of sustaining several round-the-world trips, suddenly popped into his mind. Just how long is she planning on staying here, anyway? he wondered. A week? A month? Several months?

"Oh come on, Ted; it’s just a little bag," Jenny said, as if reading his thoughts. "Come on. It’ll only take five minutes…it’s just a little favor—"

"A little favor!" Ted exploded, causing Jenny to step back, so unexpected and so different was his reaction from his usually calm, quiet demeanor. "It’s always another ‘little favor!’ So far, it’s been nothing but ‘little favors,’ one right after the other! Jeez, do the favors ever stop?"

Jenny fell into stunned silence for a moment; she’d never seen Ted like this before. She’d seen him mildly peeved, she’d even seen him annoyed, but never anything like this; now he seemed almost …angry. Her silence lasted for only a moment however, as she then placed her hands on her hips, her manner immediately challenging. "Geez, what is with you today?!?" she demanded. "Why do you have to be so crabby? All I asked was, could you pick up a little bag of some of my stuff—some fresh underwear, if you must know!—along with a fresh change of clothes, toothpaste, and—if you really wanna know—female hygiene products, all right? All that kind of junk! You don’t have to get so ticked-off about it! It’s not like I’m asking you to go rob a bank or something!"

Ted recoiled slightly, taken aback by the angry pajamas before him. "I—I just mean that…" he paused. "It’s just that it seems like I’m always doing favors for you, and getting nothing in return. And I’m just wondering, do the favors ever stop? I mean, I take you into my apartment, I feed you, I give you my pajamas and bathrobe and I even gave you my bed, while I have to sleep on the stupid sofa! And what do I get? Nothing! Nothing except a bad back from sleeping on that stupid thing two nights in a row!" He flung an angry finger in the direction of the dilapidated piece of furniture.

Jenny fell silent. So that’s it! she thought. He’s not really angry at me; he’s angry at his stupid sofa! Well, his stupid sofa isn’t my problem…!

"And besides, it—" Ted hesitated, then forged ahead. "This isn’t easy for me, you know: living with an invisible person, I mean."

Jenny sighed loudly in annoyance. "Oh, geez!" she said. "Here we go again! Brother, are you ever going to get over that? Are you ever going to quit whining about it? ‘Oooh, poor me, poor me… Jenny gets to be invisible but I don’t, ohhh, poor me, poor me, mopey-mopey, sulky-sulky, wahh-wahhh-wahhhhh…!’" Jenny’s voice went up several octaves in pitch, and she raised her unseen hands to her eyes, imitating the sound and motions of a toddler crying and rubbing its eyes. Even though the effect was diminished somewhat by Jenny’s lack of head and hands, its message was clear, and Ted bristled at it.

"Well okay, fine!" Jenny went on, reverting to her normal voice & body-language. "So I’m invisible! So what? Do you have to keep making a big deal out of it & keep bringing it up into every conversation? Can’t you just—you know, shut up about it once in a while & quit whining about it?"

"Because it still creeps me out, that’s why!" Ted shot back. "I mean, I never know if or when you’re around, I never know if you—if you’ve got clothes on or if you’re just…you know, there, watching me! Or what! Sometimes, I feel like you’re always around, watching me, even when I know you’re not! It’s making me paranoid! Sometimes, I feel like my apartment is haunted! And when you’re—" he hesitated, then dropped almost to a whisper. "Even when you’re…wearing something, it still—" Ted shuddered, unable to complete the sentence, before forcing himself to look away, shaking his head. "I mean, it’s just so darn confusing! I mean, I know a little about the biochemical process involved, but still…" He returned his gaze to the empty pajamas and shook his head, as though denying the sight to himself. "I still have trouble believing it sometimes… It’s like you’re here…but you’re not here at the same time…" Ted’s mouth hung open for another moment or two, then closed up tight again. Already, he’d spoken more than he usually did in an average week; the effort involved was strange to him, and it wearied him.

Although Jenny’s first impulse was to argue the issue of her invisibility all over again for the umpteenth time, for the moment, she held herself in check. Maybe…maybe Ted did have a point, she thought. She still thought he was overreacting and making too big a deal out of the whole thing, but on the other hand, maybe it was a little difficult for him to accept being around someone he couldn’t see. Besides, she really, really wanted Ted to do this favor for her. So she decided to simply drop the matter for now, and instead, merely said, in a quiet, even voice: "All right." She had intended to sound conciliatory and deferential, but her words, when spoken by an invisible person, came across to Ted as eerily ambiguous instead, and he visibly shuddered.

"All right, suppose we compromise?" Jenny went on. "I’ll make a deal with you. If you do this little favor for me, you can have your own bed back again, and starting tonight, I’ll sleep on the sofa from now on. Okay? All right? Fair enough?"

Ted said nothing but merely eyed the empty pajama-collar warily. Is this some kind of trick? he wondered. He tried to think of what kind of game Jenny might be running on him this time. But, try as he might, he just couldn’t think of one. Perhaps…perhaps she was sincere…maybe…she really was willing to compromise for a change. Maybe…she might even be willing to listen to reason…eventually…

"Well…" he said at last, his heated temper cooling off. "In that case…I—I guess it’ll be all right. But this is the last time! No more favors after this! All right?"

"All right," Jenny replied, relieved. "Now, it’s all set. I talked to my friend last night, asked her to pack a light bag of my stuff. I told her what I needed & everything, and I told her that maybe you’d be by sometime this morning to pick it up, okay? So here’s all you do: just go to my old dorm room—you remember where it is, right? Yeah, just knock on the door, ask for Connie and say you’re there for Jenny’s junk. That’s all; just that. Okay? Okay? And see, this way, it’ll make things easier for you too in the long run, ‘cuz then that way I won’t have to keep borrowing your stuff all the time." As she said this, the floppy sleeve-cuffs reached down and plucked at the folds of the bathrobe, lifting its hem from the floor upon which it dragged.

Hmm, she’s got a point there… Ted thought. "All right…" he said at last, with a simple nod as he turned to the door.

"What are you going to do later?" Jenny asked, just as Ted’s hand almost touched the doorknob.

"Later?" his back stiffened, and he slowly turned to face Jenny again.

"Yeah…you know, after your dumb class."

"Well, I…I don’t know; probably come back here & get in some more study-time. Why?"

"Well, I just thought… Well, you know, it looks like it’s going to be a nice, warm day today, so I thought that maybe—maybe we could take a trip up to the lake."

"The lake?" Ted echoed with a laugh. "What, are you kidding? What are we gonna do up there? I mean with…well, you know…with you…like that?" Ted gestured with his hands at the robe and pajamas, silently indicating Jenny’s unseen state.

"Well, it’s a nice place up there…and since it will be nice and warm today…I thought maybe we could go swimming or something."

"Go swimming?!?" Ted repeated, now laughing in spite of himself. "Jenny, are you kidding? That water’s gotta be only a couple of degrees above freezing this time of year! And anyway, how’re you going to go swimming when you’re… I mean, won’t the…won’t the water…you know… show on you? Make you visible?"

"I don’t know…maybe! Let’s try it! See, then it’ll be an experiment! We should be doing more ‘field tests’ on this invisibility thing anyway, and this way, we’ll be like testing the refractive characteristics of sunlight and water on an invisible body!"

Ted was silent, his mouth hanging open, the corners of which threatened to turn upward in anticipation of an expected joke. Is she kidding? he wondered. She’s gotta be! She can’t be serious! It’s gotta be a put-on! Although…now that I think about it…it would be an interesting experiment to conduct, I have to admit…

Jenny pressed further, reaching out an empty sleeve and gently nudging Ted with unseen fingertips. "Come on," she said. "Why don’t we go?"

Ted’s jaw clenched as he finally reached a decision. "I—I don’t think so," he said at last, and turned to the door again. "Anyway, I gotta get going."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." The empty sleeve reached out again, and this time, the unseen fingertips clutched Ted’s arm; he froze at the touch. He turned to see the robe making a few quick motions with its sleeves as its sash untied itself. The robe then slipped itself off the shoulders of the pajamas underneath, and collapsed to the floor.

"What—what are you doing?" Ted asked.

"Duh, what’s it look like I’m doing?" Jenny replied, as the pajama-sleeves repeated their earlier motions, only now running down the row of buttons along the front of the pajama-top, unfastening each button as they went. The sleeves then opened the top up as it pulled itself away from empty space underneath. "I’m making myself presentable, so you can take me with you. Not to your dumb class, of course; I mean just to give me a ride, that’s all. You can drop me off at a restaurant or…something."

The now-limp and lifeless pajama-top dropped to the floor to join the bathrobe, leaving the empty pajama-trousers standing alone before Ted. But only momentarily. The drawstring of the trousers quickly untied itself, and the trousers themselves quickly slithered down to the floor, marking the contours of the full, wide hips and long, shapely legs of their unseen wearer, as they descended. In a wink, it was all over, yet the image remained in Ted’s mind to haunt his thoughts for a considerable period of time afterward.

Nothing visible now remained to mark Jenny’s presence in the room; nothing but empty air where, only moments before, animated clothing had been standing and speaking. The rumpled pile of clothing on the floor then shot up and flew across the room to the sofa, where it scattered all over the cushions. "Come on, come on, let’s go!" Jenny’s ghostly voice said from somewhere in front of Ted, as an unseen hand clutched at his sleeve. "I gotta get something to eat! I’m starving!" The ghostly hand tugged at Ted’s sleeve, dragging him out the door. He closed his eyes and slowly released a long, resigned sigh, as he followed the lead of his unseen guest.

* * *

The little VW chugged down the quiet morning streets of the little college-town, Ted gripping the steering-wheel in grim silence. He glanced over at the ghostly impressions in the car-seat beside him, the many holes and punctures in its cushions now thoroughly patched up with duct-tape, a last-minute hasty repair-job that Jenny insisted upon before getting into the vehicle again. There was a lot that needed to be said, Ted knew, and yet, he also knew that now was not the time. He merely sighed and returned his eyes to the road ahead.

After a short drive, they reached Jenny’s dormitory-building. Ted pulled the VW over to the curb in front of the building, parked, and stepped outside. A voice called to him from inside the car: "It’ll only take a couple of seconds," Jenny’s disembodied voice said, as if to reassure him. "She should be there, waiting for you."

Ted hopped up the steps of the building entrance and stepped inside the dormitory, which, fortunately, was open at that early hour. He climbed two flights of stairs, turned and walked down the hall, checking the numbers on the doors as he went. He soon found the door of Jenny’s dorm room and rapped his knuckles hollowly on its surface. After a moment, the door opened part-way, held secure by a firm chain, and Ted was faced with an exceptionally-pale young woman with very large, dark, deep-set eyes, long, straight, raven-black hair, and wearing the most grim, somber expression Ted had ever seen on anyone under the age of 30 in his life. He felt a distinct chill run down his spine as she stared hard at him with her piercing dark eyes, and he immediately felt intimidated by them. This must be her, Ted thought. I bet her last name must be "Addams…"

"Well?" the young woman asked, in a vaguely-challenging tone.

"Well, I—er, um—I’m Ted…" he mumbled, pathetically.

"So?!?" Her tone sharpened, and her eyebrows drew together slightly.

"Well, I—I came to pick up Jenny’s stuff and…" he trailed off.

The young woman glared silently at Ted for several long seconds, as though trying to determine his veracity, before finally deciding that maybe…just maybe… he might be telling the truth. "Just a moment." she said coldly, as she closed the door in Ted’s face, unhooked the chain, then opened the door wide.

Now Ted was able to get a better look at this strange, sepulchral young woman. Looking her up and down, he saw that, in addition to being unusually-pale, she was also rather small, exceptionally-thin, with a very fine, almost delicate, bone structure. She was dressed entirely in black, which seemed to accentuate her petite, bony physique, as well as her gloomy countenance.

She held in her hands a small (Thank God it’s small! Ted thought, idly) pink nylon gym-bag. She started to hand it to him, then hesitated.

"What did you say your name was?" she asked.

"Ted. Ted Rosenthal," he replied.

Another long, hard stare. "I see," she said at last; then: "I’m Connie. Connie Devereaux." Her voice contained not the tiniest trace of a friendly greeting, and instead merely came across as the coldest statement of fact.

"Nice to meet you," Ted said, smiling (a little nervously), and reaching out his hand for a handshake, hoping the young woman would respond in kind. No dice. Instead, she continued to gaze at him in chilly silence for several more long seconds, her dark piercing eyes seeming to bore holes in him clear down to his spinal-column.

Finally, Ted spoke again. "Could I—could I have the bag now? I’m on my way to a class, and I’m—" he glanced at his watch. "I’m going to be late for it."

The young woman made a move, as though about to hand the bag to Ted, but again, she hesitated.

"What’s the matter?" Ted asked.

Finally, after several ice-ages had come and gone, the young woman finally spoke. "Okay…so what’s going on with you two anyway?"

"Huh?!?" Ted asked, taken aback. "’Going on?’ What do you—"

"You heard me. What’s going on with you two? I know something sure as hell is, so don’t tell me there isn’t! I’m not stupid, you know!"

"What are you talking about?" Ted asked, though not sounding very sincere. "Nothing’s going on."

"Look, I told you: I’m not stupid! I’ve got eyes! So I’m just asking you a simple question and I want a straight answer: What’s going on with you two? Are two planning to elope or something? Is that it? Is that what’s going on here?" Her eyes narrowed sharply.

"What?!?" Ted half-cried, half-laughed, so completely was he stunned by the question; it was literally the last thing he expected to hear. "Of course not! Are you crazy? I told you: I’m just doing Jenny a favor, that’s all. She asked—I mean, she called me up this morning & asked me to stop by and pick up some stuff for her, that’s all."

"That’s all, huh? Well then, why didn’t she ask me to bring it to her? Huh? Huh?" Connie challenged. "I am her best friend, after all! Why didn’t she ask me?"

"Well—well, I don’t know," Ted answered, helplessly. "Maybe—maybe she thought you’d be busy today or something! Hell, I don’t know!"

"And if it comes to that," The grim young woman went on, now positive that she was onto something. "Where is she? Nobody’s seen her or heard from her for over a week now! One day she just suddenly disappears, without a trace, without a word to anyone, and nobody’s seen her since! And now, all of a sudden, out of the clear blue sky, she sends you, of all people, to pick up her personal belongings and take them to her, wherever she is!" She paused for a brief moment, to take a breath, then continued, relentlessly. "You seem to be the only one who’s heard from her since last week! You seem to be the only one who knows where she is! None of the profs, none of her classmates, none of her friends know where she is! But you do, apparently! Only you! So all I want to know is this: What is going on?!?"

Ohhhhhhh shhh… Ted silently cursed. I wasn’t counting on this! ‘Just pick up the bag,’ she says! ‘It’ll only take a couple of seconds,’ she says! ‘That’s all. She’ll be there waiting for you,’ she says! Simple… Easy… Jeez!! She didn’t say I was gonna go through the friggin’ third degree!!

Ted drew a deep breath. "Look," he began. "All—all I know is this: Jenny asked me to pick up her stuff & send it to her; that’s all. That’s all I know. I don’t know why she asked me to do it and not you. You’d have to ask her."

"I did."

"Huh?" Ted blinked. "You—you—"

"I did ask her." Connie clarified. "Last night, when we talked on the phone. I asked her again and again, what happened to her, what she’s up to, where she is, why she took off so sudden, but she won’t tell me!" The look on Connie’s face suggested that she expected an answer from Ted, and darned soon.

"Well, I—I guess she’s back with her folks, then." Ted ad-libbed. "Or her relatives, maybe. Or—something. Maybe there’s some kind of family thing going on. Hell, how should I know?" Beads of perspiration began to appear on his forehead.

Another long, icy silence passed. "Well," the young woman finally said, in a tone that indicated she wasn’t buying a word of Ted’s ‘explanation.’ "As I said before: Jenny and I are best friends. We’ve been best friends ever since we were kids. We know each other. Whenever one of us is in trouble, the other knows." She paused. "And I don’t care what you say; I just know there’s something wrong about this whole setup, I just know it; I feel it." She paused, then spoke, in a near-whisper, as though to herself: "I—I think Jenny’s in some kind of trouble." Her eyes narrowed, her glare intensified at Ted, and it seemed to him that, despite his perspiration, the room-temperature was dropping rapidly.

"No, no, she’s not in any kind of trouble," Ted quickly spoke up, trying to set the young woman’s mind at ease. "Really, everything’s fine."

"Then how come she told you about—whatever she’s up to—and not me?" she asked quietly.

"She didn’t! I told you: she didn’t tell me anything! I don’t know anything! How many times do I have to say it?"

Connie continued to glare at Ted in icy silence for several more long seconds, until at last, she apparently accepted his answer. Finally, with a tiny, disapproving shake of her head, she said: "Well…I’m still not sure I believe you… I still think you know more about—whatever’s going on—than you’re letting on… And I don’t like it…"

As if I care! Ted thought bitterly.

Connie paused, and for a moment, her demeanor almost seemed to soften somewhat. Almost. She went on: "But…since Jenny asked me to do this for her with no questions asked, I guess I’ve got no choice but to trust her. So here! Take it!" She flung the bag at Ted, who, taken by surprise, barely caught it in his hands before it fell to the floor.

"Now, beat it, I have things to do." she said, slamming the door loudly in Ted’s face. He stared at the closed door in seething silence for several more long seconds, before the lateness of the hour finally stirred him to movement.

Sheeeeeesh! Ted thought, still trembling and sweating profusely from the rigorous grilling he’d just received, as he turned and walked away from the door. Jenny sure knows some real flakes!!

* * *

"Did you get it?" a disembodied voice asked from inside the beat-up Volkswagen.

"Yeah, I got it…" Ted replied irritably, as he tossed the nylon bag into the already-too-cluttered back seat, and eased into the driver’s seat.

"What’s wrong?" Jenny asked, immediately picking up on Ted’s mood. "You look a little shaken."

"Nothing, nothing," he said, starting the engine and pulling away from the curb.

"Well your hands are shaking a mile a minute and you’re sweating like crazy. Just like last night—"

Reflexively, Ted glanced at his hands, and gripped the wheel tighter, until his knuckles appeared white.

"—and you’re all red in the face—"

He turned his face away from the empty passenger-seat, while still trying to keep his eyes on the road. It wasn’t easy.

"Did something happen? Did Connie give you any crap or anything?"

"No, no, nothing like that… Just…"

"What?"

"It’s nothing, nothing… It’s just that…" He hesitated, then went on. "Well, I don’t think your friend likes me very much, that’s all."

Jenny paused a moment, before answering. "Aww, don’t take it personally, Ted. Connie’s like that with everybody. That’s just the way she is."

Ted remained silent, and Jenny looked at him; she had the feeling there was something else he wasn’t telling her, and she was dying to know what it was.

"What did she say?" she persisted.

"Nothing, nothing… She—she was just wondering where you were, what happened to you and all that and she thought—" he trailed off, then went on. "Look, I don’t—I don’t want to make a big thing out of it. She’s your friend, so I don’t want to… Well, I… Nothing, nothing. Just forget it." This time, Ted clammed up for good.

Jenny silently stared at her private chauffeur, trying to understand what could possibly be bothering him on such a beautiful day as this, then finally gave up, shaking her head in bewilderment. I don’t get him, she thought, folding her arms. I don’t know what’s up with him today… First he starts out grouchy as hell, and now he looks like he’s gonna start crying or something! Every little thing seems to set him off lately… I think he’s cracking up…

They drove in silence for a couple of more blocks, before the silence was broken by an ugly, vicious sound that Ted couldn’t quite identify, nor could he quite detect its source. He knew that his old clunker of a car was constantly making all manner of creaks, squeaks, rattles and groans, but this sound was a new one. It sounded like an extremely large, irritable grizzly-bear waking up with a particularly nasty hangover after a very long, hard night of heavy drinking. Ted’s initial reaction was that something had gone wrong with the vehicle’s transmission, or that he’d burned out another clutch. But the sound seemed to be coming from a source too close to be either one of these; whatever it was, it sounded like it was inside the car with him!

"What the hell was that?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Oh…it, uh…" Jenny’s tiny voice spoke from the empty car-seat beside him, with an subdued chuckle. "That’s just…me. Or rather, it’s my stomach growling."

Ted turned and stared at the empty car-seat.

Jenny caught his look. "What?" she asked. "Well, what do you expect? I told you earlier, didn’t I? I’m starving! I gotta have something to eat!" At that point, the loud, growling, rumbling noise returned, now joined by one that sounded like an elephant breaking wind after eating a heavy bowl of lima-beans.

Ted rolled his eyes at the growing gastronomic cacophony inside the little car. "Oh, for—"

"Well, I can’t help it!" Jenny interrupted, and right on cue, the growling/gurgling noise sounded another salvo, this time accompanied by an equally-loud, bubbling, gurgling noise like that of an outlet-valve of a toxic-waste dump suddenly being turned wide-open. Ted glanced at the empty car-seat with a mixture of annoyance and disgust on his face. "Will you please stop that?!?" he said.

"I’m trying!" Jenny protested. "I’m not doing it on purpose, you know!"

The timing of the next growl-gurgle-bubble noise did, however, suggest precisely that.

Ted said nothing, but merely clenched his jaw and sighed. Loudly, through flared nostrils.

"All right, all right," Jenny said. "Look, don’t panic. Now just up ahead, is a 24-hour diner. You can let me off there and I can get something to eat, okay? Then you won’t have to listen to it anymore, all right?"

"Oh, all right," Ted agreed, grudgingly.

"This is good, you can pull up to the curb and drop me off right here." Jenny said as the tiny vehicle approached the restaurant.

Yes, Miss Daisy… Ted thought sourly, as he pulled the car over. The passenger-side door opened by itself, and Jenny’s voice called out: "Catch you later." The ghostly impressions in the car-seat cushions suddenly vanished (funny, Ted thought, it somehow looks eerier when I see it in broad daylight!) and the door slammed itself shut.

Despite his ill mood, a funny thought occurred to Ted just then and he couldn’t resist a parting shot. "Won’t you need your purse?" he asked, with a forced grin.

"Nope, don’t need any money," Jenny replied dryly, refusing to take the bait. "I can find other ways of getting what I want, you know."

Yeah, I’ll bet! Ted shot back in his thoughts. He waited for another few moments, unsure whether Jenny had stepped away from the car or not. When he saw the door to the restaurant open and close by itself, he knew it was safe to drive away. He put the little car into the gear and pulled away from the curb.

* * *

Jenny carefully wove her way through the crowd inside the small diner, an odd-mixture of truckers, bus-drivers, cab-drivers, college-students and assorted slackers. Shoot, she thought. It’s more crowded in here than I thought it’d be. This is gonna be tricky… On the other hand, with this much activity going on, maybe people will be less likely to notice anything... Gingerly, she threaded her way through the tables, the passing waitresses and scurrying busboys, to the food-service area behind the counter. By now somewhat practiced at making her way through crowds, Jenny managed to make it the entire way without accidentally bumping into or brushing against anyone. Man, I’m really getting good at this! she thought with an unseen smile.

Her initial plan was to wait until no one was looking—or until everyone seemed to be distracted with something else—and try to grab a miniature box of cereal from the rack behind the counter and quickly sneak it away into the ladies’ room, where she could eat it in privacy at her leisure. Hmmm…I need a good sugar rush… she thought, as she looked over the tiny boxes lined up on the rack. I wonder if they have Fruit-Loops? Ahh, there it is! She spotted the distinctive, brightly-colored little box. Okay… Now…as soon as no one’s looking, I’ll just grab it, make a fast break for the bathroom & just pound it down fast… If I time it right, nobody’ll ever see it, nobody’ll ever know… Just then, Jenny realized she’d be eating the cereal dry, without milk. For a brief moment, she tried to think of a way to sneak away a carton of milk while she was at it, before abandoning the idea. One thing at a time, she decided. I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it…

However, the longer Jenny lingered by the food-service area, the more aware her senses became of the rich aroma of hot breakfast food all around her. Of scrambled eggs…bacon…hot buttered toast…hash browns—strange, her mouth seemed to be watering like crazy all of a sudden—sausages…pancakes…and—gulp—hot, steaming coffee…blueberry muffins…waffles with maple syrup…she licked her lips and swallowed hard several times, causing her stomach to repeat its earlier virtuoso performance of growls and gurgles. The growling/gurgling noises grew in both volume and intensity, as Jenny looked hungrily at the steaming plates of food passing before her, just out of her reach. Fortunately, the sounds of her obstreperous tummy were well-concealed by the ambient noise inside the restaurant. Even so, a few passing waitresses heard the gastrosymphonous sounds, but simply assumed it was only the sink-drains backing up again. They made mental notes to themselves to report the problem to management once they got the chance.

Jenny stared at all the food just sitting there, seemingly-ignored, under the infrared heating-lamps, and tried very hard to convince herself that she really wasn’t that hungry, and that a little midget box of Fruit-Loops—dry, without milk—would be more than adequate to satisfy her now-ravenous hunger, and that all that nice, hot food just sitting there, so close, with no one paying attention to it, didn’t really smell all that good anyway, wasn’t that tempting, and certainly wasn’t worth the risk of discovery by trying to snag a little morsel or two, even though it would be so easy to do, since, after all, no one could see her now, and obviously no one was watching the food anyway, or it wouldn’t still be sitting there after—how many minutes was it now? And even so, who’d miss a little tiny sausage from a plate here or slice of toast from a plate there, and even if they did notice it, who’d really care anyway, and…and… Jenny’s mouth continued to water, to the point where it nearly overflowed onto the floor…

Oh, to hell with it! she finally decided. To hell with the Fruit-Loops!

Jenny’s nose and tongue now seemed to guide her closer to the hot food, almost independently of her own conscious will. Yet the memories of her experience in Marie Callender’s earlier that week remained fresh in her mind as well, and she had no desire to go through that again. She winced as she recalled the way the newspaper had blown the incident all out of proportion. ‘A food fight,’ they called it! she thought in annoyance. Jeez, gimme a break! So a little bit of food ended up on the floor…and the walls…and the ceiling… AND the stupid cops were called out…! So what? Big deal! It’s not the end of the world! Besides, what was I supposed to do? I had to eat, didn’t I? Well…I just got careless that night, that’s all… But I’ll be more careful this time…

So…this time, things would be different, she decided. This time, she would wait until she was sure no one was watching, no one to see anything like a waffle or a piece of toast float up from a plate by itself and disappear into thin air. And as soon as she was sure, then she would make her move…

Okay…okay…come on, you guys! Jenny silently pleaded with the passing waiters, waitresses and busboys. Come on already! Get out of here so’s I can get something to eat! Come on, come on, come on…! Several more long seconds, and then minutes, ticked by, as Jenny waited impatiently near the counter, out of the way of passing foot-traffic. Brother, who do you have to know to get a bite to eat in this place? she thought, grumpily.

At last, the coast was clear: the cooks, waiters, waitresses and busboys were all out of the way, and seemed to be looking the other way or were otherwise occupied for a few brief seconds, and, quick as a wink, Jenny’s hand shot out to a plate of scrambled eggs and sausages. The plate was hot underneath the infrared warmer-lamps, however—which Jenny hadn’t anticipated—and eye-hand coordination was still difficult for her when she couldn’t see her hands—both of which factors almost caused her to accidentally knock the plate onto the floor in her haste. Fortunately, she managed to catch the plate just in time and, after another moment or two of frantic groping, she managed to snag a tiny pork-sausage, which she promptly popped into her mouth whole . The sausage, like the plate on which it rested, was also quite hot, and it was all Jenny could do to restrain herself from cursing out loud, as it scalded the inside of her mouth. Still, in spite of all, she was eternally-grateful to finally have some solid food in her mouth again. It tasted wonderful as she chewed and swallowed it, savoring its taste, and at that moment, that was all she cared about.

For the next half-hour, Jenny repeated the same routine: waiting until all eyes were turned away, then quickly snagging a piece of toast here, a waffle there, a tiny bit of egg from this plate, a small bite out of a muffin from that plate, never taking enough from any one plate to be immediately-noticeable to anyone, but just enough to, little by little, slake her appetite. And, unlike the last time she’d tried this in a restaurant, so far, no one seemed to have noticed anything. In a short while, Jenny had become something of an expert at sneaking food off of plates, and even felt bold enough to sneak a few quick sips from coffee-cups when no one was looking. This was an extremely tricky and risky maneuver, but she had pulled it off successfully. In time, she had accumulated enough food to form a complete meal, and her stomach now felt comfortably-full and satisfied.

There was, of course, the occasional near-collision, in which one of the passing waitresses or busboys nearly bumped her arm just as she reached out her hand for more food. Fortunately, however, she’d glimpsed their approach out of the corner of her eye, and was able to pull her hand back and duck out of the way just in time to avoid them. Even so, however, sneaking food was much easier this time than it had been that other night. On this occasion, things were going much more smoothly, and she’d managed to satisfy her appetite completely—almost leisurely, in fact— on purloined food, without one cook, waitress or busboy catching on that anything out of the ordinary was going on.

As for the customers, however, that was another story. Had Jenny not been so preoccupied in satisfying her appetite, she might have been observant enough to notice an increasing number of rather loud complaints from the restaurant’s patrons, who all suddenly began registering the exact same complaint: there appeared to be some food somehow missing from each plate. Each patron, regardless of what order they had received, complained to a waitress that the order contained only two hash-browns or sausages instead of the ordered three, or the toast consisted of three slices instead of four. At first, only one or two customers complained, but after a short while, that number increased to three, to four, and eventually, to more than a dozen dissatisfied customers, all now growing increasingly loud and discordant in their protests. The waitresses, characteristically, were either apologetic or surly to each of the complainants, but in no case were they able to offer a satisfactory explanation for the apparent shortages.

Yet Jenny remained completely oblivious to all of this. All she had noticed, as she leisurely munched on her pilfered meal, was that the restaurant seemed to have gotten awfully noisy in the last few minutes, with an awful lot of angry, argumentative customers all of a sudden. She gave the matter no further thought, however, and merely dismissed the customers as a bunch of cranky, irritable people, with apparently nothing better to do on a Saturday morning than gripe about the silliest, most trivial things. Oh well, she thought, as she quickly swallowed a tiny bit of a hash-brown and washed it down with a sip of coffee. It doesn’t concern me…and if it doesn’t concern me, I’m not interested…

After snagging a final slice of toast & cramming it into her mouth, Jenny ducked her head down to hide any crumbs or other food-residue that might remain on her transparent lips, and quickly slipped past some busboys and waitresses. She made her way out of the food-service area, and headed for the hallway leading to the women’s restroom. On the way, she stepped aside just in time to avoid another collision, this time with two women exiting the restroom. Once they’d passed, Jenny caught the door just before it swung shut, and slipped inside.

A quick visual check revealed the restroom to be empty. Good…Jenny silently thought. The last thing I need right now are prying eyes! She approached the mirror and checked her reflection—or rather, the lack of a reflection. It was still the creepiest feeling in the world to look into a mirror and not see yourself, Jenny thought. She looked closely, checking for any remaining visible trace of her meal. She’d gotten into the habit of doing this after every meal or drink, just to be on the safe, so that if any residue did remain, she could quickly clean it off before it was discovered by anyone. Close examination revealed a few tiny crumbs and equally-minute smudges of what Jenny assumed was either grease or butter. She turned on the faucets, ran some water into the sink, and proceeded to wash away the remaining residue from her hands and mouth.

When she had finished, Jenny paused for a few seconds before drying herself with a paper-towel. She marveled at her reflection in the mirror, of the faint, ghostly image of a mouth and cheeks, outlined by the gradually-evaporating water. Ohhhh, that is so creepy…! she thought, as the vaporous mouth turned up in a smile. She watched for a few moments more, and as the water dried, the crystalline half-face seemed to slowly vanish into thin air. If there were anyone else in the room to see it, it would no doubt be a frightening sight to behold. Ordinarily, Jenny herself might even be frightened when confronted with such a sight. Yet knowing that it was her behind the ghostly image in the mirror somehow gave her a sense of safety and security, as well as a curious thrill and delight.

With a few quick wipes of a paper-towel, the last of the water vanished, and nothing now remained in the mirror except the reflection of the empty bathroom. Good, Jenny thought. I’m completely gone again! With one final once-over in the mirror, she turned, exited the bathroom and, as she had done upon her entrance, silently wove through the crowd on her way to the exit. She paused for a moment at the cash-register, then turned away. Ahhh… she thought with a silent chuckle. I’ll pay the next time I come in! and with that, she turned and stepped through the doorway to the street outside. Just as the door swung shut behind her, Jenny thought she heard yet-another heated argument brewing, this one apparently between the waitresses and the cooks of the restaurant, something about "shortages" in the "short-orders" or something. Psh… Jenny thought idly. People fight about the dumbest things…

As Jenny stepped out into the midmorning Spring air, she felt wonderful. The air, after being inside the cozy restaurant for nearly an hour, felt a bit chilly on her bare skin, but the sensation was also somewhat bracing as well, and it held the promise of warmer temperatures to come later in the day. What to do, what to do now… Jenny pondered as she paused outside the restaurant. There’s got to be something more I can do with this invisibility stuff… Let’s see… What have I done so far…? Well, I got to play some tricks on Ted… I got to freak out some people at the mall… I played some pranks on the people on campus I don’t like … I got to scope out some hunks in locker rooms… And I finally got even with that…that… Jenny couldn’t even bear to think of the name of her hated enemy, mentally glossed right over it and went on in her thoughts. What else is there to do…?

After a few more moments’ thought, an idea came to her. The city! she thought, with a growing, unseen smile. Hey, yeah! I can take a day-trip up to the city and have some fun up there for a while! There’s a whole bunch of people up there I can play tricks on, mess with their heads and freak them out! OH! And all those upscale department-stores…! Not like in this poky little one-horse town! And all those new Spring fashions coming out this week, all the clothes to look at…and maybe try on…! And no stupid salespeople breathing down my neck! Ooooh yes, yes, yes, there’s a lot of stuff to do up there! A fresh tingle of excitement rushed through Jenny then, and she began to work out a plan to actually get there.

Let’s see…the 55 bus stop is only a couple of blocks from here…I can walk that easy. From there, I can take the 55 to the Greyhound station and sneak on an intercity bus…they gotta have at least a couple of buses going up to the city on a Saturday…or…at least I think they do! Well, I’ll find that out when I get there…

So, with a new goal and a new plan in mind, Jenny set out for the bus-stop. Even though the soles of her feet were still a bit tender from all the walking (and running) around barefoot she’d done all week long, they strangely didn’t hurt as much as they had earlier. Either they were healing, or they were toughening up with calluses. In any case, walking long distances barefoot no longer seemed as daunting a task as it once had been.

Jenny soon arrived at the bus-stop and sat down on the bench. The stop was deserted, and Jenny hoped that, when the bus arrived, it would be stopping to let off passengers; otherwise, the driver would have no clue she was there, waiting for it.

Ohhhh, this’s gonna be soooooo much fun! Jenny thought, in eager anticipation of the trip. I can’t wait to get there! I sure wish Connie or Muriel could come with me, though…and see all the cool stuff I can do now…! For a fleeting moment, the smile on Jenny’s unseen features faded slightly; but with a shake of her head, she quickly reminded herself that it was out of the question. If either Connie or Muriel even suspected anything about her invisibility… Jenny shuddered at the thought. If Muriel knew about this, the whole town would know about it too…inside of five minutes! And if Connie knew, she’d probably totally freak out & have nightmares about it for weeks afterward! Jenny’s unseen smile continued to fade, as she then became aware of an important truth: Being invisible wasn’t much fun if you couldn’t show it off and brag about it to your friends.

Jenny’s thoughts then drifted to Ted, and the little tiff they’d had earlier that morning. Well, fine! she thought, spitefully. Let him have his dumb old boring class! While he’s sitting & suffering through that stupid thing, I’ll be having fun! So fine! If he wants to blow a Saturday on a dumb, stupid, boring class, let him! See if I care!

But as Jenny thought about it and about Ted, sitting there, cooped up in a dry, dull, stuffy classroom, while she’d be out enjoying her new freedom…her mood began to change. It was strange…but for some reason, she didn’t seem to take quite as much pleasure from her intended trip as she had at first. And the more she thought about it…the less fun the idea seemed to be. She began to get the feeling that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the trip quite as much, knowing that Ted would be held a virtual prisoner of some pompous windbag professor for most of the day. And the more Jenny thought about it, the more she began to feel…almost sorry for Ted. She gave a quick toss of her head, as though to dismiss the thought, her thick, uncombed mane of now-invisible hair gently brushing her bare shoulders, and tried to think only about going to the city and how much fun it would be. But try as she might, Jenny couldn’t completely dismiss all thoughts of Ted from her silent musings.

After a few more moments of silent reflection, she turned her face heavenward, and silently thought: You gave me brains…you gave me beauty…you gave me a great bod…and you even gave me the smarts to make myself invisible… What did I need with a conscience???

Finally, as if reaching a decision about a particularly-unpleasant task she had no choice but to perform, Jenny grudgingly rose from the bench and started walking in the direction of the college-campus, two blocks away. Well… she thought. This is too good a day for anyone to waste cooped up in a boring old classroom…even Ted…! And if he’s too dumb to realize that, then maybe I’ll just have to change his mind! Let’s see… I wonder what time his stupid class lets out…? It’s still pretty early… Maybe I can still catch up with him & get him to go someplace fun with me after all… It’s worth a try…

And so, with yet-another new plan in mind, Jenny quickened her pace to the campus.

—To Be Continued