Invisible Kiss

“See, it’s invisible!” Maria held out her hand with her fingers pinching the air.

“An invisible pencil? What kind of trick is that?” Dale teased. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Turn yourself invisible!”

Maria blushed as the wooden pencil slowly materialized in her hand. First the graphite core, then the fibrous layers of wood, finally the paint and eraser. She looked around the library and unconsciously brushed her auburn hair behind her ear. “I can’t. Not… right away.”

There was a pause and then Dale snorted with laughter. “Wait, do you mean you can see your guts and stuff?” He held his breath with a big smile as he waited for an answer. Maria’ silence was enough and he burst into a fit of muffled snorts and restrained giggles.

“Come on, Dale, I don’t want to get kicked out.”

“No, Maria, it’s OK, I’m good.” He said with short breaths and a toothy smile. “But you got to show me sometime, OK?” He pushed his small, circular glasses up to his narrow face. A patch of curly chestnut hair fell on his frames and he combed it back with his hand.

“I didn't make fun of you, don’t make fun of me. I think my gift can be useful. Think of what I could do for the medical field, or in the military.” She pinched Dale in the arm and smiled playfully. She could see his deep green eyes looking back at her and she wondered how long they were going to keep fooling around before they take their friendship to the next level.

“No, seriously, I think your gift is amazing. I can’t wait to see your liver.” He bit his lip and shielded his arm from another attack. Instead Maria placed her hand on his and leaned forward.

“Dale, you are the only one to know about this. I want to keep it between us for now, OK?” She said softly. The warmth of his hand made her want to say more, but she just smiled.

Dale rolled his hand over and took her fingers into his grip. “As you wish, m’lady.” He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers like a storybook knight. He did not let go as he lowered his hand.

Maria pulled her chair toward him until their knees touched and she put her other hand into his grip. She wanted him to hold her hands so bad, she worried that it was too flirty. “My hands are cold,” she lied, “how come yours feel so warm?” His eyes saw it too. His face softened and his thick lips parted gently. She wanted to kiss those lips since she first saw him at the college cafeteria, but she didn't have many boyfriends in high school and it didn't seem like the good girl thing to do. She pulled her hands back and looked down at the table.

“Maria, I asked you to come to the library with me because I wanted to tell you something important.”

“What is it?” Maria’s excitement paraded through her heart and filled her body with adrenaline. She smiled and bit her lip in anticipation. She knew Dale felt the same about her. With graduation so close, they couldn't put off their feelings any longer. She thought back to the time he touched her shoulder when they went out to the pub with some classmates. And the way his face so comfortably moved close to hers when they packed their party of seven into that one cab. The driver only allowed it because the girls wore their clubbing clothes. But not Maria; she was always the one in the shadows. Invisible.

“I have a meeting with a Doctor tomorrow, at the army base.” He spoke with his head down, but raised it shyly already expecting an argument.

Maria fell silent.

“Maria, I saw an ad; this Dr. Linden deals with people of extraordinary ability.” He seemed to recite the words as if he was reading the ad from memory.

Two quick tears raced down her cheeks and landed on her empty hands. She wished she could have made them invisible, but they came too fast.

Dale reached out for her, but she pulled back sharply. His face wrinkled and he lowered his head again.

“When will you see this doctor?” Maria spoke to her lap while another tear ran across her quivering chin. The memory of her father filled her with grief and she couldn't find the strength to look at Dale.

“I know how you feel about these guys, Maria. But not everyone wants to hurt us.”

“Dale,” she whispered, “you know they killed my dad when they found out he had a gift.” Maria sniffed and reached into her book bag for something to wipe her nose. “He served his country like a good soldier for twenty years, and they shot him for being different.” She sobbed as she dabbed her cheeks with the tissue and held it to her nose. She could feel her heart breaking. She knew then she loved Dale and hated him as well. “Why?”

The question seemed to stun him as stared at the crying girl. “Maria, I’m sorry, I’ll cancel if it means that much to you. I’ll call …”

“Dale, you can’t just cancel the military! They already know who you are, they tracked…” She looked around the library. A few other students played solitaire on the computers or napped on the reading chairs. “They watch you, Dale.” Maria remembered the black SUVs that used to drive around the block and the same men that shopped at the grocery store every time they did.

“They don’t know me, Maria. They probably get a hundred prank calls a day. I just won’t go and they will chalk it up as another weirdo.” His smile was warm and comforting. “The thing with your dad made you a bit paranoid.”

Maria raised her head and let his smile fill her with confidence. She leaned in and let his big arms wrap around her. She wanted to stay in his embrace until she knew that everything would be fine. Perhaps this scare would bring them together as a couple and they could both begin to share their feelings.

As she pressed her face into his neck, a sharp edge scratched her face. “Ow, your pin.” She said and leaned back.

He rubbed his hand along his color. “What pin?” he found something bumpy and rolled his collar around. The little circuit board fell down his shirt and landed between them. “What is that?”

“FREEZE!” shouted a student from the computer section. Another student joined him and they both moved forward with tasers in their hands. Their buzz-cut hair and posture revealed their true military nature.

“RUN!” Maria cried out, but Dale was stunned. She pulled on him and he was quick to respond. Books flipped into the air and they dived into the closest aisle.

“Dale, do it!” Maria pleaded. “You have to use your ability!”

“No, I can’t control it, it could hurt you!” He helped her to her feet and led her down the rows of books. He poked his head around the corner and pulled back. “No way out, you've got to turn invisible. I will distract them!”

Maria shook her head. “No, they will kill you. We have to get out, together. I trust you… I love you. You have to use your power.” She held him as tight as possible. “Do it!”

Dale hugged Maria and closed his eyes. The ground started to shake as a high pitched scream started to fill the aisle. Books vibrated off the shelves showering the students and soldiers. The large glass windows cracked. And then, Maria felt electricity. The snapping sound of a taser and she felt like her body was thrown to the floor. The shelves started to fall, leaning on each other like dominoes. Dale fell to the ground as another jolt passed through the wires in his arm and side. Dale’s powers were interrupted by 50,000 volts. In the deaf silence of the sonic wave, everyone looked around in confusion.

“Run!” Dale called, but he could barely move.

She cried out as another shot jerked his body with violent spasms. While they could not see him under the books and shelving lean-to, the wires still ran from their weapons to his body. To Maria, he looked like a discarded marionette. A puppet for the military to play with and cast away.

Time seemed to slow as she crouched beside him and yanked the wires from his body. She couldn't see the soldiers from inside their nest of fallen shelves, but she knew they would be there soon. She leaned in and kissed his lips. His face slowly disappeared as she drew back. First his skin, then his bones, and finally he was gone.

Strong hands grabbed her arms and dragged her from the wreckage. She kicked and screamed as they put a hood on her and shoved her into an SUV. Fear gripped her so tightly she could barely breathe. It was not a fear for her own life, but for the boy she loved with the power of an atomic bomb. She remembered the day they killed her father. He fought back too, and he could crush tanks with a thought.

The soldiers got in the SUV and squealed out of the parking lot. There was a long quiet before the radio crackled with a commanding voice. “Alpha team, did you neutralize the target?” Maria waited forever for the response. She couldn't handle loosing Dale like her father.

“Negative commander. The primary target evaded us.”