12 - Invisible - Darien
Isaac had tried to explain it so many times to Taylor, but Taylor would never
understand. He glowed under the spotlight. Even Isaac had to admit, his
little brothers were very good-looking. And they had those beautiful voices.
All those signs floating in the crowd, “I love you Zac!” or “Take me Tay!”
He couldn’t help but feel invisible. The first time Isaac had confided those
thoughts in him, Taylor had suggested they add a song for Isaac on their tour. But even that hadn’t helped, in fact, in some ways it just worsened the
situation. When it was all of them up there playing, there were fanatical
shouts from the crowd, but when it was just him, dead silence. Sometimes people even yelled to bring Taylor back on or to get Zac back out on stage.
A band is a band, Isaac wanted to tell the fans. But he saw how his brothers
loved the attention. Zac would run out with a water gun and spray the crowd. Taylor would egg on the crowd behind the keyboards. They both loved the attention. It gave Zac a chance to let his crazy antics be tolerated, and even encouraged, something his parents wouldn’t let him do. Even though Taylor could be shy sometimes, most of it had certainly worn off. He knew he was a stud. He had even started this stripping thing at their concerts, where he would wear a few layers of clothing and strip them off one at a time, draping the sweaty garments all over the stage. Of course, this left the girls screaming and fainting. The “band” didn’t even need him anymore. They had two backup guitar players, as if he couldn’t just play himself. No backup drummers for Zac and only one back-up keyboardist who was primarily there supply sound effects.
Tonight, more than any other night, Isaac could feel it. He retreated into
their dressing room after the last song, refusing an encore like they had
planned, and plopped down on the couch. “Isaac what the hell was that?”
Taylor screamed, barging into the back room.
“Shut the fuck up Tay!” Isaac yelled tossing a shoe in Taylor’s direction.
“What’s wrong with you?” Taylor asked dodging the shoe.
“I suck. Shouldn’t you know that yet Tay?” he asked sarcastically.
“Isaac, you’re not invisible. I don’t know why you pull this bullshit. And you don’t suck. You’re an awesome guitar player.”
“Yeah, is that why Jason Taylor AND Ravi are necessary to make me sound
okay?” Taylor stood quiet for a second, as if he knew it were true and was
trying to think of something comforting to say.
“Isaac, I love you. You’re my brother,” Taylor said offering a weak
smile.
“I’m thinking of quitting the band Tay,” Isaac said quietly.
“If you quit the band, you quit the family!” Taylor shouted, “you’re not
walking out on us, not now!”
“I’m sorry Tay, it’s just been a rough night. Can I have a little time alone?” Isaac asked softening his tone.
“Yeah sure,” Taylor said, hesitating a moment before he left.
A knock sounded at the door a few seconds after Taylor had gone. Probably
another family member who wanted to yell at him. Isaac opened the door. A
pretty girl stood there with a picture and a black sharpie in hand.
“Taylor just left,” Isaac growled.
“I don’t want Taylor, I want you,” she said.
“Oh, sorry, come in,” he said opening the door. “Hey, how’d you get back
here anyway?”
“It doesn’t matter Isaac. I know what you want, what you need.”
“What are you talking about...? Security!” Isaac yelled.
“They can’t hear you,” she said.
“What do you want?” he asked backing up.
“It’s not about what I want,” she said grinning. “It’s about what you want.”
“What do you mean what I want?”
“You know what I’m talking about Isaac. You want to be noticed.” Isaac
looked at her quizzically, how had she known?
“So how are you planning on helping me?” he asked sarcastically.
She leaned up close to him, so that her bright green eyes were parallel with
his. "I can make you something you're not."
“What do I have to do?” he asked casually, trying to hide the excitement in
his voice.
“All you have to do, is sign your name,” she said handing him a picture.
Isaac stared at the picture, he’d never posed for a picture like that before.
That was the best picture he’d ever been in though. He didn’t have braces and his hair was straightened. The marker shook in his hand. “Just do it,” she urged, putting her hand over his. Isaac quickly signed it and handed it to her. She ran out, without even saying goodbye to him. Isaac doubted that had meant anything, she probably just wanted an autograph. He sat down at the dresser and began to take his make-up off. Underneath it, was pure milky white skin and flushed red cheeks free of zits. Isaac had never had such a nice complexion. He smiled and noticed the plastic that had once encased his teeth was gone and all that was left behind were perfectly straight white teeth.
Isaac ran his hand through his hair, perfectly straight, only curling slightly at the ends. His lips glowed a bubble gum pink as he ran a tube of chapstick over them. He took off his shirt and flexed. Smooth rounded muscles surrounded his once lanky arms and he had streamlined chest above a
six-pack stomach. “Isaac, some girls are here to see you,” Taylor said
opening the door before disappearing. Had Taylor just said what he thought he had said? He came out of the dressing room. Three beautiful girls stood with CDs waiting to be autographed.
“Oh he doesn’t have a shirt on!” the first one happily squealed. Isaac got
an erection as the second girl ran her hands over his bare chest.
“Can you sign this for me gorgeous?” the third one asked, shoving the CD case at him. Isaac nodded, barely able to contain his excitement. The second one persisted, running her fingers through his hair seductively as he signed the autograph.
After he had signed all their CDs, the second girl leaned up and put her
soft pink lips on his ear, “why don’t you give me a tour of your room?” she
suggested. Isaac nodded and she giggled and waved off her friends. He led her into his dressing room and immediately grabbed his shirt to put back on.
“Oh, don’t do that,” she said taking the shirt from his hands. “And while we’re at it, why don’t we get rid of these?” she asked opening the button on the top of his jeans. Isaac clamped his legs around the lump in his pants. “Relax,” she said leaning him back on the couch.
Isaac didn’t resist, but instead laid back on the couch. The girl slowly took his shoes and socks off and then his jeans and boxers so that he was naked. She put her head between his legs and Isaac flinched. She rubbed the inside of his legs and he relaxed a bit. Twenty minutes later, Isaac was
alone again and left with just a smile on his face and a phone number on his
dresser. Tammy had been her name. Isaac grinned and began putting his clothes back on. They would be heading to the tour bus soon. He gathered his belongings and slipped Tammy’s phone number in his pocket and then went off to find his family
Five months had passed since Isaac had signed the mysterious girl’s autograph and things just kept getting better. All anybody wanted was him. At concerts all the signs read his name. In all the reviews, only his name appeared. Guys his age would flock to hang out with him. He’d lost his virginity and been with countless girls in hotels across the country. And if he wanted to settle down, he could. The only thing that bothered him though was that his brothers were slowly disappearing. When he was invisible, he would have loved for his brothers to feel what he had, but now, he felt horrible. Taylor was pallid and sad and almost mechanical in his music. Zac no longer had any outbursts or other wacky attributes he had once been known for.
One night as Isaac sat up in his hotel room thinking he heard a knock at the
door. It was probably just another girl who wanted to pleasure him or some
guy who wanted an autograph, but he answered it anyway. “Not tonight,” Isaac said beginning to shut the door when he saw a young girl eager for an
autograph. The girl put her hand in the way of the closing door.
“Isaac, I need to talk to you,” she said holding up a photo. It was the photo he had signed all those months ago that had gotten him to where he was
today. Isaac’s eyes widened and he opened the door further so she could come in. “I have another picture for you to sign,” she said. She shoved a picture forward at him. His former self.
“Where’d you get this?” he demanded.
“Isaac you’ve forgotten what it was like. You’ve become so caught up in
yourself, you didn’t even notice your brothers fading.”
“There’s no way I’m going back to being that way!” Isaac shouted.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,” she said.
“What do you mean? Of course I do, you can’t force me to sign that!”
“But Isaac, if you don’t, your brothers will disappear. They will actually
become invisible, fade into oblivion.”
“What have they ever done for me?” Isaac asked.
“Do you remember what Taylor said that night Isaac?”
“No.”
“He said, ‘Isaac I love you, you’re my brother.’” Isaac flashed back to that
fateful night when she had changed his life for the first time.
“Give me the marker,” Isaac said extending his hand. He signed the photo
with no further thought. A few seconds later, Isaac opened his eyes. He was back in his dressing room. Had there never been a mystery girl? Was it all a dream? His eyes wandered to a discarded photo on the floor. He picked it up. It was the picture, but there was no autograph in the corner. He did look really good in that picture anyway. Isaac pushed the thought from his mind and tore up the picture and threw it away. A few seconds later there was a knock at the door.
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