15-year-old Bobby Phillips wakes up one morning and discovers he’s invisible. He can see the dent his body makes on his bed, but the bathroom mirror doesn’t show him at all.

Wearing a towel, he struggles to get down the stairs because he can’t see himself step on them. He walks into the kitchen and announces to his parents that he’s invisible. His mom—Emily, a college literature professor who’s used to getting her way around students—scolds him for playing pranks and orders him to sit and eat. He does so, and in moments his parents are staring, astounded, as food disappears in mid-air.

Bobby’s dad, David, is a physicist who works at FermiLab, where scientists smash atoms together and study the results. He stares, fascinated, then says that “this is a phenomenon, an event!” (4). Emily anxiously grabs for Bobby’s invisible arm, then clutches his hand, squeezing it painfully. She says they need a specialist; Bobby privately doubts there is such a person.

His dad warns them to keep this a secret. The media would smother them, and the government would take Bobby away to study him. Bobby agrees, but in moments his parents argue about what else to do.