Sometimes she thought it strange that people never notice her, even when she was right in front of them.

******Flashback******

Arya was at school. The first bell hadn't rung, so she walked up to her friend Karin. She stood there, waiting for Karin, or any of Karin's friends to notice her. There were a few people who always noticed her, but sometimes it took a little time. Paxton was one of those people who noticed her.

"Hey Arya!"

"Paxton."

She dipped her head as she said it, acknowledging him.

"Oh. Hi Arya!" Karin noticed her. "How's it going?"

"It's fine. How are you?"

"Good."

Karin turned away, and started to talk with her friends again.

Arya walked away, towards her first class of the day.

******Forward******

The last bell of the day had rung, and she sped walk to the Atrium, and out the door. She waited to see if it was the big bus, or the small bus. She was normally, if not always, one of the first people there.

Ian came out first, with a, "Hi Arya!"

"Hey Ian."

"How are you."

"Good."

She stared off, waiting for the bus.

Missy, Ash, and Zach eventually came out, and she nodded to each in turn. All three acknowledged her, but Missy and Ash started a conversation about Anime, a subject she wasn't very knowledgeable about. Zach pulled out his phone, and looked at or read something. She had asked him a while ago, and he always said he was reading a short story. Sometimes she felt like a shadow, there, but no one notices. Sometimes she joins in on her friends' conversations, but she always just ends up standing there, listening and observing.

The bus came around the corner, and it stopped in front of her, the doors opening.

"Thank you." she said to the bus driver. She knew, but didn't know, his name. She always forgot it.

Arya took her normal place on the bus, the first seat, right behind the door. She pulled out a book, and started reading.

"Hey." Zach said, from across the aisle.

"Hi Zach. Where are you now?"

"In 'Warehouse?' Still on the same episode."

"Seriously?" She put her book down. "It's been a while since I asked, and you haven't gotten past episode one?"

"Yeah."

She rolled her eyes, and picked her book back up. She looked over, and Zach was back on his phone. What in the world could he be looking at? she wondered. I may never know.

Arya made decent progress through her book by the time the bus arrived at the Junior High.