Invisible Emmie

Emmie wakes up on Monday dreading going to school. Her hair curls above her head, and at breakfast, her dad jokes that it “set a new deflating record” (21). An illustration shows Emmie’s father sitting with his newspaper at the table as her mother hollers from out of the scene about her keys and purse. Emmie misses her siblings, Brandon and Trina, who are both away at college. Her dad drives her to school, and she gets “the knots,” worrying about all the things that might happen. Emmie takes deep breaths to relax herself. An illustration shows Emmie walking to her locker, passing the other students with her head down. She sees two boys standing in front of her locker and instantly feels nervous, deciding to pretend to text Brianna. Emmie has an old flip phone because her parents think she’s too young for a smartphone. With blush lines covering her cheeks, she hesitantly taps one of the boys and asks him to move. He moves ever so slightly, and Emmie feels like it’s a victory because “people tend to get annoyed” or don’t notice her at all (28).