She was in high school. She wasn’t bullied. Her parents weren’t together and her siblings weren’t the nicest. She felt so alone. She was going crazy. She had no one to talk to. She had no friends. She was an outcast. Nobody paid attention to her. She felt like a crack in the sidewalk. No one noticed her; sometimes not even her teachers. She could walk in five minutes late and no one would say anything. She had A’s in all of her classes except science class. She really hated that class. Her long black hair was always in her face. She wasn’t the prettiest or the skinniest, but she wasn’t displeasing to the eye and she wasn’t fat either. If people actually paid attention to her they would realize she was almost perfect. Almost. She had a crooked smile.
People didn’t notice her because she didn’t talk. She didn’t walk into groups of people. She didn’t raise her hand in class even though she knew almost every answer. People didn’t notice her because nobody knew her. Nobody had a problem with her. Nobody had a crush on her. Nobody tried to be her friend. They just didn’t see her. She felt she was literally just not there.
Every day when she got home the first thing she heard was her mom crying and her siblings yelling. She was use to this by now. Any stranger would be bothered but she wasn’t. She always goes into her room and zones everything out. She does her homework and doesn’t procrastinate like everyone else in her school does. She would be considered a teacher's pet that is if she was noticed. Her mom always made her cook the meals for the family and wash the dishes and all the laundry. And every night at dinner it was always the same. Her mother would try to eat without sipping on her alcohol but always failed about three minutes in. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw her mom sober or when her brother and sister weren’t yelling.
Some days she thinks it would be better if she was bullied at school instead of being ignored and not noticed. She thinks this because at least she would get attention. And people would actually just look at her. She is going crazy in this loneliness. She has no one to talk to but herself. She is getting sick of herself. She looks in the mirror and hates what is staring back. She tries so hard for people to just notice her. Some days she tries to “accidentally” run into people. But they always get away. She tries dropping her things to see if the loud noise of it will attract attention. But it never works, the halls and the murmur of her classmates are always louder. She is going crazy in this solitude.
On the way home Tuesday, she felt strange. She realized she was smiling. She was paying more attention to the wind blowing through her hair rather than the steps that she took. She felt happy, and she had no reason why. When she walked in the door to her house she didn’t hear yelling. She saw her mom cooking. She saw no flask or glass of wine anywhere. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
She looked over and saw there was a cake on the table.  A birthday cake.  She had actually counted all the candles before she realized that it was her own.
“Happy 17th,” her mother said from somewhere in the kitchen.
In a delayed reply she finally found the words to speak, “Thanks mom,” she said quietly. After the meal and after the cake she hid in her room. She forgot her own birthday. She forgot something so important and she didn’t understand how or why. She starting crying. She couldn’t stop. She couldn’t quit the tears from falling out of her eyes and onto her cheeks. She didn’t feel herself. She didn’t feel alive.
After her spill she thought about how she had homework. Chemistry. After two hours of struggling she told herself she would go talk to her teacher about it in the morning.
She made sure she was awake 30 minutes early so she would have time to get the rest of her chemistry done in the morning at school. When she got to her teacher’s classroom she recognized a few faces but they didn’t acknowledge her. She went up to her teacher and asked many questions so she could finish her assignment. She got done with it about 10 minutes before class would start. She went to her locker to get ready for her first class: Algebra 2.
Throughout her day it was normal. No one talked to her. No one noticed her. No one looked at her; until 4th block: English 11.
“Susan? Susan.. Susan?!”
Someone was calling her name. She hadn’t heard it in so long she forgot the sound of it. “Susan!!” She finally realized someone was calling her name.
She looked up from her assignment and looked around. “Yes..?” An unfamiliar face was looking at her.
“Your pen fell. Just thought you should know,” said the boy. She thanked the boy as the bell rang. Before she could say anything else he was gone.
On the walk home she thought of the boy’s face. His dark brown hair just above his bright green eyes; his blue t-shirt and his black jeans. She didn’t recognize him. She thought she remembered all the faces she saw; but not his. Who was he? How did he know her name? He saw her. He had actually talked to her. He looked into her eyes and saw her. She caught herself smiling. Who was he? How did she not know him? She felt terrible. Not noticing someone. Just as everyone had done to her. How did she not know him. Why didn’t his face look familiar? Who was he? She had goosebumps. Thinking about him and his voice gave her the chills.
The next day while watching all of her classmates walk in she saw him. He was in this class with her? She didn’t see him before? She hadn’t noticed this boy at all? How? How was this possible?
Class after class she realized he was in all of them. She was so blinded by her own insecurities she hadn’t noticed him. She wanted to talk to him. Just seeing him made her throat swell up. What would she say? How could she possible have a conversation with the only person that has acknowledged her. She couldn’t find the words to speak. Her tongue was numb. Her mind was blank.
She thought of something. She rolled her pencil off of her desk casually. And just as she suspected the boy spoke. ---- did his voice give her shivers.
“Susan? You seemed to have dropped your pencil again. You aren’t doing this on purpose? Are you?” He said giggling.  
“Wow seems I have, that’s weird.” She said in a very nervous voice she tried to hide behind a small quiet laugh. Before he could say anything else she almost yelled from excitement. “I didn’t catch your name yesterday; what is it?”
“Jack, my name is Jack” He said happily. “No one really has asked me that question. No one really cares here, or anywhere.” He said with a sad tone.
“I know the feeling, actually. Some days I feel as if I’m a bug in the grass. No one really sees me.” Susan said with a quiet tone.
“Hmmm, so I’m not alone then?” Jack said with a grin on his face.
“Don’t you think it’s funny we’ve been talking for a few minutes now and not one word has been said about it? How our teacher or classmates don’t even hear us?” She said with a very sarcastic but happy voice.
While laughing he tried getting the words out. “Yes, actually, I was thinking the same thing.”
As school went by they grew closer and closer. Just in the day of talking. Weeks went by and they still found so many things to talk about. They had been holding all of their thoughts in; now that they have each other they could talk about everything.
Susan didn’t realize how much Jack was like her. They both have broken families, with drinking problems, they both had younger siblings that were more annoying than being ignored by everyone at school, they both felt so alone; until they found each other. Now they felt complete. They both felt they had a purpose and they both felt noticed. They were in love, and they fell so fast yet so swiftly.

A few months past and Jack and Susan were still happily together. They were so happy and they knew nothing could change it. Neither of them expected a happy ending. Neither of them thought they would get out of the loneliness. But they fought through it together. They were happy together.
On a cold June night they were taking a drive. It was very foggy out. Their car wasn’t in best shape either. On their way to dinner it started raining heavily. Jack couldn’t see anything. While trying to pull over something happened. Something went wrong.
It happened in a quick minute, but it felt like hours. It was slow and steady. The light of the semi truck was as bright as the sun. They held onto each other as the car rolled over and over again. They looked into each other's eyes and knew this was it. To someone watching from afar they would have saw it as a tragic accident. They would have seen it in a blink of an eye.  But to them it felt like hours. It felt never ending. In the good kind of way.