Mirrorless

Chapter 2

White, gray, black,
The smoke spirals up.
Intoxicating, addicting,
Snowflakes and ash.

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"I don't eat fruits. Fruits are scary."

As Lucille sighed, thoroughly annoyed, Lilian merely watched the scene with an amused smile on her face.

"William come onnn. It isn't even a fruit, okay. Strawberry ice cream isn't a fruit. Its a dessert."

William turned his face to the side, an expression of panic flitting across his face as Lucille brought the ice cream closer. He scooted as far away from her as the couch would allow.

"A strawberry is a fruit. I don't care if its ice cream or dessert, I'm not eating anything that's even remotely related to fruit. Don't make me curse at you in Thai. Lucille, I swear don't bring that thing near me it- AAAGH GET AWAY FROM ME I TOLD YOU FRUITS ARE SCARY I'M GONNA CRY I SWEAR GO AWAYYYYYYYY."

Lilian giggled quietly, ignoring the stares her table got from the rest of the cafe. Next to her, Aaron sighed and she glanced up to see him smile slightly before pulling on his usual straight face. Lucille noticed that Aaron seemed to force himself into a poker face quite often, and she wondered why it was so.

Lilian turned her attention back to her own chocolate flavored ice cream, savoring the bittersweet taste. After a few days of spending time with the three, Lilian felt comfortable around them - something she usually took months or even years to achieve around new people. They were a weird but nice group, with William and Lucille as the life of the group. Lucille never ceased to talk and William never failed to lighten up the mood with corny jokes.

Lilian smiled to herself as she watched the pair run around the place, making a fool of themselves. Suddenly, William ran straight at her, pulling her off her seat. He twirled her around so that she was in front of him, blocking Lucille's path. He clutched at her waist tightly like a 5 year old kid.

"Liliannnnnn Lucille's being meannnnn."

Lilian laughed. Although she couldn't see the male's face, she knew he was most probably pouting. Lucille sighed, deadpanning.

"William, its just ice cream. It probably doesn't even have real strawberries in it. I'm pretty sure they used artificial flavoring. You can eat it don't worry."

William shook his head vigorously.

"Its still scaryyyy. Liliaannnnn tell Lucille to stop trying to make me eat itttt. I don't want to eat thaaat."

Giggling, Lilian pried the male's arms off of her.

"Its alright, okay? I'll tell Lucille to eat the strawberry ice cream. You go sit down next to Aaron, alright?"

William jumped to his feet and grinned.

"You're the best Lilian."

With that he plopped himself down next to Aaron, happily eating the rest of Lilian's half melted chocolate ice cream. Lilian shook her head and smiled, sitting down where William had been sitting before. Lucille sighed and looked down at the melted strawberry ice cream. She lifted the cup to her mouth, downing the melted ice cream in one go. She put the empty cup down and sighed.

"You're missing out William. The ice cream was amazing."

William pulled a face at her, finishing off the chocolate ice cream. Lucille leaned back against the soft couch.

"Oh yeah, Lilian. Did you do the essay in Psych? I haven't started and its due tomorrow. What was the theme again?"

Lilian sighed, shaking her head.

"You can't always procrastinate, Luc. And I can't keep writing your essays for you either."

Lucille grinned.

"I know, I know. I won't procrastinate next time, promise."

William frowned, pointing his spoon at her in an accusatory manner.

"That's what you said last time."

Lucille turned to make a face at him before turning back to Lilian. She batted her eyelashes and gave Lilian the puppy eyes.

"I mean it Lilian. I swear I won't procrastinate again."

Lilian sighed and shook her head, hiding a smile.

"I'll email it to you by 9 PM, okay?"

Lucille grinned and pulled Lilian into a tight hug.

"You're the best!"

Lilian laughed.

"Yeah, I know. Now let me go before I suffocate."

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Lilian turned around and dipped her head slightly in thanks. Though Aaron had been born and brought up in the States, his parents still taught him Korean manners, which had inevitably rubbed off on Lilian and the others. Lilian often caught herself bowing while thanking someone or bowing while giving or receiving something from someone.

"Thanks for walking me home Aaron. Take care on your way home, its getting dark."

Aaron smiled slightly, nodding his head briefly in acknowledgement before turning on his heel, his footsteps impossibly silent. Lilian turned to her door, unlocking it. She pried off her heels, slipping her feet into her soft slippers. She sighed with relief, the fuzzy slippers soothing her aching feet. She locked the door behind her, making her way into her bedroom and curling up on her bed.

Aaron was a man of few words, making him one of those mysteriously attractive guys. His height and looks added on to his popularity and half the campus had a crush on him, guys and girls alike.

Lilian closed her eyes, thoughts running through her head. She often wondered what people thought of her, of what they whispered behind her back. It wasn't good for her anxiety, but when she was home alone, she couldn't stop the thoughts from taking over her mind. Did people think she was weird? Did they look at her and think that she was out of place, hanging out with incredibly popular and attractive people? Did she deserve the friends she had?

She clutched at her head, her breath quickening. Her chest felt constricted and she gasped out for air, her hands clawing at her throat as her anxiety took over. She slid off her bed and stumbled into the kitchen, reaching for a glass of water. Her vision went fuzzy as a result of the lack of air.

Lilian hated her anxiety attacks, and she hated that most of the time, it was her fault, for letting herself think that she didn't deserve the life or friends that she had. She fumbled for the glass of water, her shaky hand knocking the glass off the counter. There was a crash then a intense pain in her left foot as the jagged pieces of glass pierced her skin. She cried out and reached for her foot only to fall over, losing her balance. And then everything went black.

A familiar vanilla scent invaded her mind. Incomprehensible conversation danced just out of her hearing range. Her body flared up with pain, and she felt a cold tear trickle down the side of her face. Something warm enveloped her hand. And then it was gone.

She was left hanging in nothingness. An empty void.

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Hallooo. Confused? Same, don't worry. Kidding, I know where I'm going with this.

Anywayyy I didn't really put much planning into this chapter. I was gonna introduce William's character in more detail but I figured Lilian should come first, cause like main character and all.

Alsooooo William's a cutie. He's my favorite character hands down :D

Yeah I'll go now. Bye.