Top Dogs

That guy in the mirror

Blue

After dinner I went to have a shower, there was still no sign of Pig. The 5th floor held all the showers and toilets. I stopped on the third floor to get my PJ’s. In the corridor there were steal doors lining it. Behind each one held a shower and a toilet.  I walked into number 99. Mouldy tiles and smelly brick walls greeted me. Tucked in one corner was a plastic shower which was shielded by a curtain. Next to it was a toilet and then across one wall was a long mirror. Underneath that was a cabinet with a sink. I turned the shower on, with a groan the pipes delivered the water that corresponded to the tap I turned. My body was scalded with hot water and as quick as I could I washed myself, got out and got dressed. I looked at the timer on the door. Designed to save water and time, each shower was timed. You get 10 minutes from the moment you turn the shower on. The technology in the room enabled it to sense a presence in the room. If you were in there longer than 3 minutes and the shower wasn’t running, it would be activated automatically. Thankful for the steam the hot water provided, I began to draw pictures on the mirror. I scrawled the word trust. Then underneath; trusting someone. The biggest mistake you can make. Finding someone you can trust; the biggest miracle. Stepping back to admire my handiwork I noticed something in the letters. A face. Don’t think I’m an idiot. I would know my own reflection. And the face it the mirror wasn’t it.  I took my grey (surprise) towel from the rack and wiped the mirror, completing the face. A boy about my age with spikey blonde hair and mischievous green eyes was staring straight ahead.  He had a muscular frame which was covered by a thin black T-shirt. I had to admit he was kind of cute. He was looking at me curiously. “Erm Hi.” He looked surprised, his green eyes went wide. “You can see me?” Considering he might me a figment of my imagination, yes I could see him. “Yeah.” He grinned. “I can see into your bathroom.” I raised an eyebrow. This guy had arrogance written all over his face. “This isn’t my bathroom.” This time he raised an eyebrow. “So you just hang out in other people’s lavatories? That’s creepy.” I scoffed. “Says the guy in the mirror.” He laughed. “Mirror? I appeared in your mirror?” I took one step back. “You didn’t know that?” He shook his head. Okay. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. “You looked like a stunned rabbit.” I quickly rearranged my expression. “To be fair you appeared in a mirror. That doesn’t happen every day. Your just lucky I didn’t die of shock.” He laughed. “So if this isn’t your bathroom, whose is it? And why is everything grey?” I knew the answer to the first question but the second one? I had no idea. “None of your unexpected business. Why would I tell you where I am, anyway? You just appeared in a mirror, I have no idea who you are.” He smiled. “Well I’m Ricky.” Ricky. Unlike the people at the orphanage his name didn’t relate to him in anyway. It was normal. I told my name. “Blue.” He took a step closer. “Blue? Because of your eyes?” I nodded. “Why did your parents name you after your physical appearance? Why didn’t they name you something normal? Like Sally?” I raised my eyebrow. “Sally?” He shrugged. “First thing that came into my head.” There was a bell and then the shower turned itself off. “I’ve got to go.” Ignoring his cries to come back I gathered my clothes and walked out the door. I walked back to my room, trying to ignore the fact that I had just had a conversation with a guy that appeared in the mirror.

***

Ricky

I watched as Blue walked out of the bathroom. Her curly black hair reached just below her shoulders and moved when she walked. After the door shut, I looked around the room for any sign of where her location was. It was a shabby bathroom. The only semi-modern technology was the timer on the door. Weird. I didn’t want to turn the TV off, just in case she came back. I couldn’t get the image of her eyes out of my head. Electric blue eyes surrounded by lashes. With the mysterious Blue still on mymind, I headed downstairs to see how Montana was going. Stephan was on her computer, he looked like something out of Torchwood. He was seated at the computer chair (one of the old bar stools, that was held up by a long metal pole) and the computer monitor was actually an old TV, extended from the roof. He was reading something, he was in full concentration mode, better leave him alone. I walked over to Paige, who was seated on the arm chair beside Montana (still unconscious) and was reading a book. “Well we’re all just a bucket full of fun here.” I announced, sarcastically of course. “Shut up Ricky.” Paige said. I don’t think Stephan even heard me. Even though I wanted to tell Paige about Blue and the strange CD, I didn’t. She’d probably tell me to leave it. There are more important things to do than scare innocent girls. And I wasn’t even going to try talking to Stephan. Giving an ‘I am so bored sigh’ I collapsed into an armchair. “What’s Stephan doing?” I whispered. Paige looked at me over her book.  “I don’t know. Stephan-y stuff.” I rolled my eyes. “Not only do you not know what he is doing, to explain what you think he is doing you make up words.” She put her book down on the table. “If you want to know so damn much, piss off and ask him yourself.” I glanced down at the book. It didn’t have a title. “Why are you reading a book with no title? Does it have any words at all?” She gave be a withering look. “It has words, arse. And if you looked close enough you’d discover it has a title as well. It’s just faded.” I grabbed the book off the table and held it up to the light. Life as we know it. I snorted. “That does not sound like a good book, more like a corny TV show.” She glared at me. “In the quite literal sense, do not judge a book by its cover.” I threw her book back at her. “I’m not,” I told her as she caught the book, “I’m judging what the cover says. Even if it had a really beautiful cover I still wouldn’t read it.” She paused for a second before saying; “You’re a dick.” I smiled at her. She ignored me and went back to reading. Having no-one to tease made me restless, and just a little bit stupid. “Hey Stephan,” I greeted him, approaching him from the behind. He merely grunted in reply. Huff. Rude. “Whatch’ya doing?” He turned around, looked at me, and then looked at the screen. “Oh right. Do not disturb.” Paige glared at me from behind her book.  I peered over Stephan’s back so I could get a look at the screen. He was researching the mutant we saw. It looked like he hadn’t found anything. For the billionth time, I sighed, and gave into the boredom that was surrounding me.

***

Blue

I lay awake in my bed, thinking. I had gone to bed early, and as a consequence I woke up at One’  bloody-o-clock. I could feel the lumps and springs digging into my back.  Four people shared a room and I could hear Root’s (named for her brown roots forever showing through her blonde hair) and Nails’ (because her nails grow unusually fast) snoring. Pig was still missing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get Ricky out of my head. There was something about him that no matter how much I hated or disliked him, he would still occupy my thoughts. Frustrated and restless I kicked the flimsy blanket off and turned over. I looked at the dark maroon curtain that provided privacy for each person. Just. Being squashed into a small room, every sound could be heard. So when the door creaked on its hinges I was fully alert. I could hear the soft thud of footsteps moving around the room. I sat up in my bed, still not making a sound. Unlike the person who was snooping. It could have easily been one of the guys, they did stupid things like this, but I don’t think it is. The footsteps were too sure; they obviously knew their way around. Silently, I crawled to the end of my bed, the curtain my shield. I couldn’t have been that silent because a familiar voice said; “Blue?” Startled I didn’t say anything. I knew that voice. “Blue. I know it’s you.” I flung the curtains open so I could hug my friend. “Pig, where have you been? You’ve been missing for ages” Pig, her hands on my shoulders, pulled back and looked at me. “Okay, first, two things. It was like a day, not that long. And secondly, I don’t exactly know.” I could see in her eyes that she wasn’t lying. “Wait, let’s speak in private.” Pig nodded, we both knew where to go. Tip toeing out of the dorm, we walked into a corridor. Everything was black, if we weren’t so sure of where we were going we would have killed ourselves in the thick darkness. Turning left into a narrow corridor, we opened a wall. Saying that I mean the door that looks like a wall, handy. Entering a small square room, we lit the candles around the edges so everything was bathed in a yellow glow. We both sat down on the cold stone floor. We may not have comfort but we did have privacy. “Why can’t you remember?” I was met with a sarcastic roll of eyes. “Blue, if I knew that I wouldn’t be so freaked out” I looked down on her hands, they were shaking. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” She snorted and shook her head. “I didn’t say I didn’t have a theory.” Surprised I motioned for her to share. “It was someone at this school.” She took a deep breath, “I think it was Gum.”