2. Mirror

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Early the next morning, Mia woke up with a pounding headache. She swallowed some painkillers and dealt with it. Before she woke up Reece and Autumn for school, she swiftly headed upstairs to grab a fresh set of clothing for the three of them, being as quiet as possible so as to not wake Roger up.

Quietly, she tiptoed back downstairs and was met by a sleepy and puffy-eyed Reece.

"Morning Reecey." Mia smiled and approached him. "Here, take this." Mia handed Reece a hoodie and jeans, before turning around to give Autumn her clothes.

She'd picked out jeans for Autumn too, and was letting her borrow one of Mia's jumpers. Mia threw on a clean long sleeve shirt and a tight black skirt before slipping on her converse.

She grabbed fifty quid out of Roger's wallet and shoved it in her bag before dragging the sleepy siblings out of the house to make their way to school.

——————— School ———————

When they arrived at school, Reece headed to meet Marjorie in the canteen, while Mia and Autumn headed to the bathroom to clean up.

Autumn sat up on the sinks, her legs dangling from them, dancing in the air as Mia rummaged through her bag to find her makeup.

"Here, let me ..." Mia grabbed a wipe and wiped the dried blood off of Autumn's cut on her forehead. She then covered it with a bit of concealer.

"Thanks." Autumn smiled, jumping off of the sinks.

Mia sighed and nodded. She hated looking in the mirror —it made her physically ill —but she had to cover up her injuries.

"Autumn, you can go to class now. I'll see you at break." Mia gave Autumn a hug goodbye before she watched her walk out of the bathroom.

Mia honestly just didn't want Autumn to see her break down crying while attempting to cover her injuries. Anxiously, she stared into the mirror as tears already began to form in her eyes.

Suddenly, she heard a bathroom stall behind her open, and she quickly wiped her eyes. She turned around to see Charlotte. Charlotte was slightly shorter than Mia and had beautiful, curly, brunette hair. She was wearing a cute summer's dress, and her hair was tied up in a ponytail. She offered Mia a slight smile before approaching the sinks.

"Morning Mia!" Charlotte glanced at Mia as she washed her hands, smiling at the red head. Mia told Charlotte everything about what went on in her household, but she always told Charlotte not to worry.

Charlotte cared deeply for Mia, and Mia knew that. They were very close friends, despite most of Charlotte's friends hating Mia.

That wasn't enough, though. Mia had fallen for Charlotte two years ago, whenever she first met her. They'd found each other in the bathrooms one day as Mia was having a breakdown. Charlotte comforted her, and they clicked instantly.

Charlotte knew Mia was a lesbian, but she didn't know how to feel about Mia. She loved Mia dearly, but she didn't know if it was in a platonic or a romantic way.

"Morning, sweetheart." Mia smiled back before redirecting her attention back to her face in the mirror. She sighed and cursed herself as she felt a lump growing in her throat again.

"Are you alright? What happened last night?" Charlotte asked, her voice barely over a whisper, stepping closer to Mia. Mia glanced at Charlotte. She looked truly worried. Mia took a deep breath and sighed.

"Just the usual. I have to stick up for them, you know. I can't let them get hurt."

"You shouldn't let him hurt you, either, Mia." Charlotte uttered, placing a hand on Mia's.

Mia's breath quivered as she turned back around to face the mirror and see her reflection again. She saw Charlotte watching her worriedly. Tears already began to form in her eyes when she looked at herself again.

"I'm sorry, I.." Mia laughed through her sobs.

"Don't apologise for crying," Charlotte said, holding Mia's hand in her own.

She rolled her sleeve down on her other hand and reached out to wipe Mia's tears. The red head smiled softly in return.

"I just... I hate how I look. I can't look at myself in the mirror without breaking down," Mia admitted, looking at the ground, her voice cracking at the last words.

Charlotte looked at Mia empathetically before interlocking their fingers. "Mia, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

Mia looked up and made eye contact with Charlotte. Their cheeks both grew red as they were nervously looking into each other's eyes.

"Here, I'll help you." Charlotte let go of Mia's hand and grabbed a cloth out of her bag. She gently held Mia's hand and ran the cloth under warm water.

She reached up to dab the blood off of Mia's face, applying very little pressure, ensuring not to hurt Mia. Mia winced at the slight pain and squeezed Charlotte's hand.

"I know." Charlotte sighed worriedly, squeezing Mia's hand back to comfort her.

She reached out to grab the concealer sitting on the sink and applied it over Mia's bruises on her face.

She blended it using a beauty blender before admiring the redhead before her.

"You look beautiful." Charlotte spoke, her voice full of honesty.

Mia leaned down to kiss Charlotte on the cheek. She felt Charlotte's cheeks grow warm, and laughed as she pulled away. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Charlotte bit her lip nervously before opening her mouth to speak, then shut it again.

"What's up?" Mia asked, her fingers interlocking with Charlotte's again.

"Marjorie's having a party at her house later; her parents are out of town. I was wondering if... you'd like to come?"

Mia thought for a moment about what people would think when Charlotte showed up with her before shaking off any hesitation she had. "I'd love that."

Charlotte smiled happily before holding Mia's hand in hers and kissing her palm. She waved goodbye and left the bathroom, looking back at Mia, trying to hide her smile.

Mia sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. For once, she didn't feel hatred towards herself. Instead, she attempted to see the 'beautiful' girl that Charlotte saw. She smiled at herself in the mirror before leaving the bathroom.

There were many things she could be worried about, but the only thing she was thinking about was going to Charlotte's house after school.

She made her way to her first class and sat down beside Reece, asking if he was going to Marjorie's party. He nodded in response and carried on chatting with Marjorie.

"Marjorie, Char invited me to your party later. I hope that's okay." Mia looked towards Marjorie, flashing her a slight smile.

Marjorie looked at Reece, who was giving her puppy eyes, before sighing in defeat. "Yeah, that's fine."

Reece and Marjorie were close friends. They weren't dating, but Mia secretly believed that they were perfect for each other. Marjorie didn't like Mia very much because of her past relationship with Reece, and all of the other horrible stories she'd heard, but Mia was trying to become a better person.

Mia leaned back in her chair and sighed. All she wanted was for school to finally be over so she could drink all her problems away at the party.

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1218 words

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i'm trying to make this interesting but i have no motivation !!! and sorry if it's boringly written i'm trying ❤️❤️

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