Being Invisible by Penny Baldwin Read Free Book Online Page A

downward dog. Liz and I thought
it was hilarious. Annie used words that Liz couldn’t.
    Finally, we heard the noise just
around the corner from us, near the free weights. There was no way that we
could get a good look at the perpetrator without the person seeing us.
    Our “plan” was for me to
nonchalantly walk by as if getting a drink of water, and if the perp tried
anything, I would ask, “Do you know where the bathrooms are?” This would signal
the girls to run out and use every move we have ever learned to take down the
accused. Since our experience with this kind of thing rested solely on watching
reruns of Law and Order , it was the
best that we could come up with.
    So, I took a deep breath and
walked out from behind the wall, trying to glance in the direction of the sound
without looking suspicious. I was sure that I saw something out of the corner
of my eye, but when I looked that way, nothing was there.
    Okay. I’m a little freaked out.
    I decided to stand still for a
second to take in my surroundings... or maybe it was because I was frozen in
place… hard to tell.
      After a few seconds of not hearing
anything, I decided to head back to the girls- safety in numbers and all. But
as I turned to walk back I felt someone behind me, coming from the direction of
the bathrooms.
    All of my instincts kicked in at
that moment, and I did what anyone with multiple self-defense classes under
their belt would do. I screamed at the top of my lungs and tripped over my own
foot, causing me to fall into the person who may or may not have been trying to
kill me. We both fell ungracefully onto the floor.  
    Thanks karma. I have to make a note never to laugh at my friends
again.
    Before I had a chance to look at
the perp, I caught my bearings and remembered the plan. "Bathroom!
Bathroom!” I managed to get out. Which, in hindsight, probably didn’t make much
sense since I was supposed to be casually asking the suspect that so as not to
attract attention.
    Terrible plan execution aside, I
was effective in getting two very pissed off roommates with self defense training
in front of me quickly. But before they jumped to my defense and attacked, they
stopped dead in their tracks.
    “What the...” Liz trailed
off.   I turned around to see what
caused her confused expression, when I saw him on the ground behind me .
    “You have got to be kidding me!” I
half yelled, partially from the adrenaline still coursing through my veins.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
    Colin took a second to answer, clearly
as disoriented as we were. “I…I was working out. Am I not supposed to do that
here?” he asked looking around in mock confusion.
    “Not at midnight. You scared the
shit out of us.” I was trying to sound calm, but my heart was still on Law and Order time, and I wasn’t sure my
brain had completely caught up with my eyes yet.
    “Yes, Colin, What brings you to
the free weights at midnight on Saturday night?” By her tone, it appeared that
Annie was taking on the role of bad cop.
    “Um...would it be weird for me to
state the obvious- that the three of you are, in fact, at the exact same gym.
At midnight. On Saturday night. Should I be asking you the same question?”
    “We come here all the time.” Liz
jumped in. “But we’ve never seen you here.”
    “I have been coming here almost
every night for the last two weeks. And I haven’t seen any of you three once
during that time.”
    “Well, that’s because we only come
this late at night on Saturdays…and only every once in awhile. So it’s been
like…what three weeks?” Annie turned to me for clarification.
    “Sounds about right.” I answered
her, looking everywhere but in his general direction.
    Since my body was finally coming
off my Nancy Drew Mysteries high, an acute reminder that I was standing in
front of the lying asshole himself was slowly replacing my panic.
    “So, can we agree that we all
scared the shit out of each other, and move on?” Colin