The Girl No One Could See

I noticed something I had been overlooking this whole time.

Elise kept saying her roommates treated her well, that she liked them.

But in both my last life and this one, I had never seen them actually help her. They had never even offered a single word of comfort.

That kind of cold distance didn't look anything like a close friendship.

Had they picked up on her personality flaws and started manipulating her? And was that strange smell on her part of it?

The thought made my whole body tremble. I couldn't stay calm anymore.

Elise looked at me through tear-filled eyes. "Mom, what are you trying to say?"

I shook my head. I didn't dare say it out loud. I was afraid of pushing her further when she was already so fragile.

I needed proof first.

My sense of smell was fine. That meant the odor on Elise was real.

If no one else could smell it, then there was only one possibility: they were pretending.

If Elise had been manipulated badly enough, her perception might be affected, too. She might not be able to smell it at all.

Proving it wouldn't be hard. I just needed to take her outside.

The smell was so strong, there was no way strangers wouldn't notice.

"Elise, you're feeling better, right? Let me take you out for a bit today. We can pick up some things for your roommates, too. Keep things smooth between you all," I suggested.

Early the next morning, I brought it up again.

Just like I expected, she agreed right away. She really cared about them.

I noticed that no matter where we went, the stench around Elise stayed just as heavy.

Strangely, even after we left the apartment complex, no one looked at us twice. Could they not smell it, or did they just not know it was coming from her?

A sense of panic started creeping in. I stopped a passerby. "Excuse me, do you smell anything strange?"

He gave me an odd look. "No, I don't smell anything."

How was that possible? We were standing that close. How could he not smell it?

My hands started shaking. I pulled Elise along and stopped another person, then another.

I asked ten people in a row. Every single one of them said the same thing. They smelled nothing.

Something was seriously wrong.

There was nothing wrong with my sense of smell.

"Mom, what are you doing? You're acting weird." Elise grabbed my arm, embarrassed, then turned and walked off.

I felt like I was about to break.

Where the hell was the problem coming from?