Mirror, Mirror | ✓

•Day 1• Will (contd.)

❝Always hope but never expect.❞
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"First up, we've got Daisy." Ava looked super diplomatic with that serious expression on her face and her eyes scrutinizing my every move.
I cleared my throat. "I'm listening..."

"Daisy's generally supposed to be the more crazy and creative one of the four.... By what do you think she could be swooned over?"
I pondered over it. "Um.... I don't know.... Maybe I could do something creative for her?"

Ava laughed. Really, really hard. She honestly looked like she was about to die. "You..... Creative......."she choked out, wiping imaginary tears from her face. "You couldn't make a paper aeroplane if you tried! Besides, you don't want to seem like you're challenging her."

"Hey, I can make a paper aeroplane!" I retorted. "With the help of YouTube...." I muttered, when she threw me a surprised look.

"Okay, what we need is something much better than that. Maybe you can start off small, or something."
I was baffled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She put her hand on her chin and gave out a long sigh. "Honestly, I don't know. Look, Will, if you were meant to be with Holly, this would come naturally to you. We shouldn't be sitting here discussing strategies on her to get her to fall for you."

Hypocrite much? "Ava, this was your idea!"
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, fine. But I don't think it's going to work anymore."

I raised my eyebrows. "Okay, so that's it? It's that easy for you to give up on us, huh?" I don't know why I was getting angry. Maybe it was the exhaustion, the worries of losing Holly or just the bitter feeling of failure.
We'd been sitting in this empty classroom all morning, at least having bunked four classes, trying to come up with ideas. It felt impossible. There were only so many ways you could get a girl to fall for you, but I sensed none of those would work on the polar opposites that were Daisy, Elody and Alora.

"You know what, Will? Surprise me. If I could become best friends with three of them, I think you can make them fall for you."

I smirked. "Challenge accepted."

She looked at me for a second and smiled. "A wise person once told me that Holly's situation resembled Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Holly's Snow White and her split personalities are the dwarfs."

I considered that. "Then I would be Prince Charming and you would be..... The huntsman?"

She grinned at that and a flicker of excitement passed over her face. "That's what she said too!" She paused. "Anyway, let's call this Project Mirror, Mirror. You know, because every time Holly looks in the mirror she's someone else."

I couldn't help but smile. "I like that."

When the bell rang for lunch, we were already done with half the list of things I needed to do for Project Mirror, Mirror. It was settled. All we needed to do was hope that everything would eventually fall into place.

"Hey guys," Ted called out upon seeing us. Ava shifted her gaze to the floor. "Did any of the teachers send out search parties?" I asked him with a grin.

This one time a boy had told our teacher that he was sick and she'd sent him to the nurse. Seven classes later he'd still not returned. She decided to go to the nurse's office herself to check up on him, but she said he was never there in the first place. So, she rounded up all the teachers in the grade and sent out search parties to go looking for the guy. In the end, one of his friends found him hiding out in the bathroom. Apparently he had an upcoming history test he hadn't studied for! No one dared to skip classes after that. Except Ava, that is. Everyone walked on eggshells around her because she was Skott's former best friend. I guess they felt they had to take it easy on kids whose friends had just killed themselves.
Ava hated it, though.

She wanted to think of herself as a normal girl who'd just gone through a hard time, that's all. Not permanently be known as the depressed kid.
"Uhhh, Will? You listening to me?" Ted's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah- um. Yes." I stuttered, not having the slightest clue as to what they were talking about.
Ted grinned. "Really? That's great, man. You're the best," he said, and left the table.
I looked to Ava in horror. What the hell did I get myself into this time?

She burst out laughing. "You didn't catch a word of that, did you?" I shook my head. "Well, have fun doing his math homework tonight."

I groaned. "Not again! Why this time? His next soccer match isn't for weeks!" She gave me a sympathetic smile. "He's doing volunteer work at the animal shelter." I groaned again."Why, why, why does Ted have to be such a good person?"

Ava grinned at that. "Don't worry about it. I'll do his homework. You go get working on your charms, mister, 'cause that girl ain't falling for you for nothing."

I threw her a hug and a lopsided grin. "This is why I love you." She smiled back and for the first time in a long while, it was a genuine one. "I love you too, Will. Now scram. Your sappiness is starting to rub off on me."

As much as Ava liked to deny it, and no matter how high she'd built her walls, I knew she was a softie on the inside. She pretended like she didn't care about feelings and she never liked to talk about herself, but I knew there was more to her than what she showed. She always criticized me for being the overemotional one, but I knew she was going through a lot too. Some people were just better actors than others. 

I knew by the way she looked at him and the way she was ready to help him no matter what that Ava had a thing for Ted. Conveniently for her, Ted was my best friend, so naturally it was the four of us always hanging out. Me, Ted, Holly and Ava. However, I knew she was too against commitment to do anything about it. That's where my match-making skills were needed. 

As I walked through the corridors towards my next class, I wondered what Holly was doing at that very moment. Or rather, Daisy. Perhaps she was playing cards with her grandfather or drawing things outside her window. Maybe she was lying down in bed and dreaming of endless possibilities, or listening to one of her favorite slow songs. Wherever she was and whatever she was doing, I hoped she was happy, and I knew with certainty that from that day, I would make it my goal to change her world forever. 

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A/N I just couldn't wait to publish this chapter. Hope you like it!!