Reflection

I stared at the mirror in front of me, holding my the ends of my reddish hair that was wrapped around a curling iron. I carefully kept my fingers as far away from the heated metal as possible, not wanting to burn them once again. What if our mirrors were portals to another world? My friend's voice echoed in my head. Of course, we both laughed off the absurd idea. Portals didn't exist, especially not through mirrors. Still, that didn't mean it wouldn't be insanely cool if that was the case. I wasn't one to believe in those theories, but I was still able to find some of them interesting or even different.

I sighed, finishing getting ready for school. Once I brushed my teeth, I left the bathroom and grabbed my backpack from my bedroom. "I'm leaving!" I yelled to my parents before running downstairs and out of the house. If my parents yelled anything in response, it was lost in the sound of the front door slamming shut. I pulled out my phone, plugging my headphones in before slipping it back into my pocket. I almost didn't notice when my best friend joined me, too distracted by the music blaring through the earbuds.

I pulled out one earbud so I would be able to talk to her, looking over at her excited face. "Oh this should be good," I laughed. It was seven in the morning, and she was never excited past noon. Judging by her expression, something big must've happened with how excited she appeared to be. "What'd you do this time, Em?" Emily - or "Em", as I called her - sucked in a deep breath, preparing to start rambling a lot.

I took out my other earbud, stuffing it in my pocket with my phone. I could hear my music faintly, muffled through the fabric of my jeans. I'll have to remember to turn off my phone before we get to school. "Okay, so, remember what we were talking about yesterday?" She asked, and I nodded slowly. It was the nonsense about mirrors being portals to some other world. "I think I was right!" She exclaimed, her blonde hair falling into her face as she jumped in excitement.

I blinked, staring at her for a moment before resting the back of my hand against her forehead. "Are you okay? You're head feels a little warm. Are you sure you should be going to school today?" She glared at me, shoving my hand away. "I'm sorry, but don't you think that you sound just the tiniest bit crazy?" I asked sarcastically. "That whole conversation was a joke!"

She frowned, shaking her head. "No, I'm serious! I think there is actually a portal. I noticed something weird this morning when I was getting ready. My reflection wasn't really moving when I did. Like, it was, but it was strangely delayed," She began explaining. "I thought I was just being delusional at first, but then I touched my mirror. It actually rippled once I did! The rippling stopped as soon as my reflection caught up to my movements, though." Everything she was saying was an impossibility. There was no way that anything she was saying was true.

Voicing my doubts, I countered her reasons. "You always stay up really late at night. Maybe you were just more tired than usual. Extreme tiredness can give you hallucinations in some cases." She frowned, not looking too happy about the fact that I didn't believe her. "Look, you'll have to prove it to me. Try getting a lot of sleep, and if it happens again, I'll admit you're right," I shrugged.

She nodded her head, both determination and worry showing on her face. Something told me that even she doubted the chances of her hallucination happening a second time. Even if it did, it wouldn't be anytime soon. Before our conversation could continue, we arrived at the front gates to the school campus. "Well, I'll see you later," I waved, walking off in a separate direction from her.

*~*~*

I was lying down on my bed, playing a game on my laptop when my phone started ringing. I moved my laptop away, grabbing the phone off of my nightstand and answering it. "Sarah!" Emily's voice shouted from the other line. I nearly jumped out the loudness of her voice. "You need to get down here, right now! It's happening again!" She yelled, not even giving me anytime to answer her. Just as I was about to argue about her still being tired, my phone chimed to inform me of an incoming text message. Sure enough, it was Emily.

What surprised me, though, was the picture that she sent. It was a photo of her hand resting against the mirror in her bathroom. What was more surprising, was the fact that the mirror looks like it was rippling underneath her hand. It reminded me of somebody poking a puddle, or any liquid for that matter, with their finger. The rippling formed around her hand, almost as if she was holding it above a glass of water. Even I couldn't mistake the silver with water, though. There was also a distorted version of her reflection, the ripples not making it too clear. It was definitely a mirror. "You weren't kidding..." I mumbled, staring at the slightly blurry picture in surprise.

"I told you so!" She shouted, "Now get over here!" With that, the line went dead as she hung up on me. I slipped my phone into my pocket, grabbing some shoes and running out of my room. Neither of my parents were home, both of them at their jobs. I grabbed a notepad and I pen, writing a note that I'd be staying over at Emily's for the night. After leaving the note in an easy place for them to find, I left the house and sprinted across the street to Emily's house.

I didn't have to knock, just walking right into the house. Emily's parents have been used to me coming over since the two of us were just little girls. I even had the key to their house. "Hey, Em's mom!" I called before walking down the hall to Emily's room. There was the sound running water coming from inside, probably echoing from the bathroom. I quickly opened the door, walking over to her attached bathroom.

It was empty.

I reached over and turned off the sink, which had been the source of the running water. "Em?" I asked, barely raising my voice. There was no response as I looked around. Her windows were locked, proof that she hadn't escaped through them. It was impossible to lock the windows from outside. With a frown, I made my way back around to the kitchen, where I'd most likely find Emily's mom. Not surprisingly, my assumption was correct. "Hey, do you know where Emily is? She called me to tell me to come over, but she isn't in her room."

Her mom looked puzzled, unsure of how to answer. "I don't think I can help you then. Last I checked, she was in the bathroom. Said something about getting ready to go to the movies." This only made me more confused. Her mom would've heard her if she left her room. Except, I'm certain that I didn't see her in there. Even if I didn't, and she was there, she would've answered me when I called her name.

The mirror, I realized. It may have been crazy, but there was a chance that she really wasn't kidding. After all, I had some kind of proof from the blurry picture she texted me. I hurried back to her room, going straight to the mirror she had taken the picture with. It didn't seem different from a normal mirror. It just looked like some plain old mirror. Hesitating, I lifted my hand and rested it against the mirror's surface.

Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. Even though that is what seemed most reasonable thing to happen, it left a bigger mystery for me. Where was Emily? I punched the mirror in frustration, only hurting my hand more than the mirror. I pulled out my phone, texting her to see if she would answer. The sound of her text tone echoed through the bathroom. I looked down to see her phone laying on the bathroom floor. "Of course she lost it..." I muttered.

I walked out of the bathroom, plopping down on her bed and staring at the wall across from me. "How am I supposed to find you if my only clue is that stupid mirror? And that doesn't even work!" I complained, trying to think of anything that could help me. No ideas came to mind, and I was forced to feel helpless without any way to find my best friend.

*~*~*

I'm not sure how long I've been here. It's definitely been a couple of hours at least. I gave up on searching for Emily, now just waiting in her room to see if she would eventually show up. My stomach growled, letting me know that I'd need to go home soon for dinner. Just as I was about to get up to leave, a weird sound started coming from the bathroom. I walked over slowly, sticking my head in to see what was going on. As soon as I noticed the mirror, I had to take a step back. It was rippling, just like what Emily had described.

Before I could step into the room, a hand poked out from the center of the ripples. Next was blonde hair, and then the girl completely crashed onto the bathroom floor. With a quick glance at the mirror, I watched the ripples fade away. Once they were gone, I turned to look at the girl, who sat on the floor, staring at the mirror.

Emily.

I didn't even have time to ask her what had happened. Even if I did, I may not have even been able to. What I just saw was surprising, and I was speechless. Emily launched forward and hugged me as tight as she possible could, to the point where I couldn't breathe. I stared at her with wide eyes, pushing her back so she could tell me what happened. "I was right," She exclaimed, her brown eyes wide with excitement. "Everything we talked about, I was right!"