Read Me & My Invisible Guy for Free Online

November.
    I decided to enlist Darby’s help for two reasons. One: Mom’s rules included finding ways to keep her involved with the family (as long as it wasn’t stressful). And two: she had a car—a major advantage.
    After I told Dad he was relieved of his Darby-sitting duties that night, I found Darby on the back porch with her laptop, asleep.
    “Darby?”
    She stirred, opened one eye, then sat up slowly. “I fell asleep.” She looked up at me. “How long did I sleep?”
    “No idea. I just got back.”
    “I hate these meds. Hate them. I was actually getting that stupid essay done and then I fall asleep.”
    She didn’t seem to be in a very good mood, so favor asking was risky.
    She opened her laptop and then growled, “Well, at least it’s saved. Mom’s got some teacher meeting thing tonight.”
    “Well, I was going to see if you wanted to help me with something.”
    She looked up. “Like what?”
    I filled her in on the fund-raiser and my need to be driven around town to beg for space.
    “Sure.” Darby gathered up her laptop and papers. “Let’s go.”
    After we grabbed dinner at the Sub Shop, we drove around town looking for buildings that were vacant and for lease. A lot of them were too small; but we gathered names, addresses, and phone numbers for the ones that seemed large enough. In the end there were only about five possibilities.
    “Why don’t you let me call around?” Darby asked when we got home.
    “Oh, I can do it; it’s fine. This was a huge help.”
    “Well, lots of these are businesses, and they’re going to be closed by the time you get back from practice. I don’t mind.”
    I hesitated, weighing whether the task was too much pressure or the right kind of involvement. I wasn’t sure, but I needed the help, so I handed her the list. “If you’re willing, I’m game.” I also gave her the info that Tess had typed up about the project.
    “I think this is great. When I was in school, all the cheerleaders did was try to look sexier.”
    “Not Tess.”
    “I’ll call around and see what I can find out. You don’t mind me stepping in?”
    “No way. I’m thrilled. Ecstatic. Thanks, Darby.”
    She smiled sadly. Her dark moods were pretty standard fare, but I still wondered what was on her mind. Darby had been through so much that it could be any one of a dozen things nagging at her. I felt a little guilty, but Darby wouldn’t have offered to help if she wasn’t willing. That’s what I’d tell Mom when she asked.
    I called Tess to let her know that Darby was going to work on securing the building.
    “I’m picking you up then.”
    “Why?”
    “’Cause if Darby’s doing your job, then you can help with mine.”
    I didn’t argue. Mom was on her way home by that point, so I wouldn’t get in trouble for leaving Darby. I changed and waited by the front door. Tess pulled up in her Jeep.
    “Did you ask your dad yet?”
    “Not yet. He left as soon as I got home.”
    She wanted me to borrow one of my dad’s digital cameras for the pictures to save money. He had all the equipment—the cameras, the computers, the printers—but talking Dad into letting a bunch of cheerleaders use them was not something I was eager to do. I knew how to use the equipment, but I was no expert. My personal plan was to convince Dad to come and help us that day instead of me being responsible for thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment. I wasn’t comfortable with that kind of responsibility.
    “But he’ll say yes, right?”
    “Probably.”
    That satisfied her.
    Tess drove to Hope House, the local domestic violence shelter. She parked, and I followed her inside the building, which was basically a large, two-story house. A heavy-set woman with short red hair came out of a small office next to the entrance.
    “Tessie! I haven’t seen you in ages.” The woman squashed Tess into a hug. “What brings you by?”
    “I have an idea that might help us both,” Tess said. “This is my friend