She didn't lookup up from the cracks in the sidewalk, nor did she turn down the street to go home. Instead, she just kept walking.

"Inivisible," Jamie repeated to herself. "Be invisible."

She walked briskly, but not too fast. She didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than she already had. If she was lucky, nobody would notice her.

"Jamie?" she heard from behind her. "Hey Jamie, wait up!"

Jamie stopped and looked up at the sky before closing her eyes in exasperation. When she opened them, she was still visible.

Franklin was her best friend since forever. She couldn't ignore him. Besides, maybe he didn't know yet.

"Tough break," he said when he caught up to her. "I just read it on the socials."

Of course it was on the socials. She had a better shot at vanishing than hiding anything from the socials.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. It came out rougher than she wanted. She started walking again with her head down.

"It isn't the end of the world," he said as he tried to keep up. She was no longer trying to keep a measured pace. She was walking much quicker hoping he wouldn't see the tears that were now leaking from her eyes.

"Where are we going, anyway," he asked.

"We aren't going anywhere," she said. "I need to be alone." Her voice revealed more than she wanted. It was shaky as the tears started streaming.

"Hey," he placed his hand on her shoulder. "I am not going anywhere."

She stopped and crouched down curling herself into a ball. Everything came out as she sobbed uncontrollably. He crouched along side her with his arms around her. He didn't say anthing. He just hugged her.

"She was my friend," Jamie said after the first wave of tears passed. Her voice was muffled by her arms that covered her face.

"What happened?" he asked.

She looked at him. Her eyes were red with makeup streaking her cheeks. "You read it on the socials," she yelled.

"They only said that you asked Barb on date," he replied. He pulled out his phone for her to see. "Barb said that she didn't like girls like that, and that you ran off."

"I told her that I had a crush," Jamie said. "She asked if it was Alex, and I said no. She said that I should be braver and tell my crush how I felt."

Jamie wiped her nose the back of her sleeve and gulped for some air.

"She looked at me in the eyes," Jamie continued. "I thought she knew. I thought she was telling me to let her know, so I told her how I felt about her."

"And then what happened," Franklin asked.

"She didn't say anything," Jamie said after a long pause. "Then somebody behind me, Julie I think, said that I was queer and had the hots for Barb. Everybody started laughing."

"Julie has her own problems," Franklin said trying to be as supportive as he could.

"Barb laughed with them," Jamie said. "And then said that she didn't like girls like that. She said that she didn't know those types of girls."

"Well," he said, "she probably didn't. This is a small town."

"SHE KNOWS ME!"

"People say and do stupid things when they are scared," he said calmly.

"I just want to disappear," she said with her head back in her arms.

"You may have more support than you think," he said.

"Thank you," she said. "You are the bestest of all best friends. I will make sure that you can still me when I turn invisible."

He could hear the humor in her voice returning. He chuckled and squeezed her shoulder with one hand while shoving the phone under her arms with the other. The screen was still on the post.

"Thank you," he said with a smile. "I would hate to think I would never see you again, but I didn't mean me. Look."

He swiped through the comments with his thumb. She saw several mean comments about her sexuality, but they stopped when a growing number of other comments that called out the bullies. The rest of the comments were overwhelmingly supportive and kind.

She looked up at him bewildered. It didn't make any sense.

Her phone rang. It was Barb. She looked back at Franklin paniked.

"Give her a chance," he said. "You did something that required a lot of strength. Maybe she will, too."

Her finger trembled as she reached for the answer button, and the entire phone shook as she put it up against her ear. She didn't know what to expect, but it was not what she heard Barb say.

"I am so sorry. That wasn't fair of me, and I feel horrible. I was too shocked to say what I was thinking. I should have taken my own advise and been braver." Barb paused. "I was too scared to say what I wanted to say. Yes, Jamie, I would love to go on a date with you."