Tales From The Raindrop Forest - Anthology

Mirror People | Reading List Marathon #3

I gazed at my reflection. I nodded as he did, blinked as he did, moved as he did. I smiled, saw his shining teeth peeping through his partly opened lips. I raised my hand, saw him run his fingers through his loose, dark hair. He looked like someone much more successful than I was.

I sometimes wished she saw me that way.

I snapped out of it and shook my head. I groaned and returned to my homework. Maths was not something to ignore, especially not with our teacher. He would give me detention if I refused to do my homework another time. I scrolled through the book restlessly, played a bit with my pen, but before long, my gaze had returned to the mirror on my bedroom wall.

I wondered about the boy quite a lot. That seventeen-year-old boy, staring at me with curious green eyes. Did he also want to study Economics? Did he like playing the guitar, like I did?

Was he also in love with her?

His eyes seemed to turn to a darker shade. A frown appeared on his forehead. I shook my head. That was not the question I meant to ask.

Was she in love with him?

She had blonde hair that fell down her shoulders like a waterfall. Her brown eyes were intelligent, as were her narrow eyebrows. I'm not sure she had ever worn makeup before. I didn't even know her name.

I didn't even know what moved me to check the school hall's mirror, that day. My eyes went upwards and I saw him, with that stupid red flannel shirt and the black backpack. I felt the corners of my mouth tensing up, saw him grinning back at me, almost as if to mock me.

Then, I saw her gaze. In less than a second, she averted her eyes but I could see her smiling, like it was frozen on her face. I didn't have time to do anything, didn't have time to think. I simply looked at her through the mirror as she walked down the hallway. When I turned to him again, he gazed back with a love-struck look on his face. I went home with a love-struck look on my face.

I wanted to punch my mirror self in the face. I averted my eyes, stared at my textbook. Why hadn't he said anything to her?