Alice only dated from a distance. Not long distance, they were all girls who lived in town, or at least close enough to frequent the local cafes. She was drawn to the girls who were second in their crowd. They were slightly plain and probably brighter than the leaders, but they were closest to the leader. And they were also very aware of all the other girls in the group.
Alice was quiet and unnoticeable, completely and literally invisible. Even though her mother told her, warned her it might take her longer than the others to come into view, she was anxious to get there, to be seen by one of those girls.
Other than her family, no one noticed her. Though she had gotten good at dodging other pedestrians, some still bumped into her and tried to pretend they hadn’t run into anything. Not even her brother would tell her how to make herself seen. He just shook his head and said, No Way, Alice, No one gets to be seen just because they’re here. We all have to earn it.
