THE GUY IN THE MIRROR • CORBYN BESSON

I

He taught her how to love herself.....

"Remember,  you're beautiful, and only you can change that".
"really?"
"really".

Sitting in the back of the bus, Sydney looked out of the window, smiling to herself. Her friends were yelling at the top of their voices,  singing along to the song being played. She only let her head bob gently while the rest thrashed around in their seats.  May invited her to the front seats to 'join in the fun' but she politely refused.
Frankly, she wasn't just excited by the music of her friends behavior. She was excited as she thought back on all that had happened that year. It was her first college year and she had met a lot of people that had helped her but, there was this one person, that she remained forever grateful to. He was the guy in the mirror.
The guy besides her reflection in the mirror that always gave her regular lessons on how she could feel beautiful. She didn't know who he was, (nobody else knew about it or could see him) but she believed he was some sort of an angel. An angel she would pray God sends to other girls like herself....

Coming to a halt,  the girls came down one by one, most of them already sweaty from dancing in the bus. Looking at the fun-filled park entrance in front of them, screams of excited people filled their ears. Sydney shuddered as she wasn't prepared. She would see the different objects pick people up and toss them in the air. A little pang of fear hit her.
Gia paid for everything and they were trying the slingshot first. This didn't go down well with Sydney as she rushed to the bathroom after the session.
Throwing up her guts, she felt someone grab her hair and bond it behind her, silently rubbing her back. Assuming it could be one of the girls, she choked out "this is the worst thing ever, I ain't trying it again"
She was rather surprised with a masculine voice.
"you'll be fine"
Turning abruptly,  she froze. It was the guy from the mirror reflections. He was real this time and she could feel him- His hand was still on her back and he was smiling warmly at her.
"youㅡ" she shrieked, she was beyond glad.
"yes,  me. Call me Corbyn"
She was still shocked and could say nothing.
"You know you look more beautiful in reality" he chuckled and removed a strand of hair from her face.
Staring at him in gratitude,  she hugged him tight. "thank you" she choked out, sobbing into his chest. "for everything ".
"you're welcome?" he patted her hair slowly, enjoying the moment.
"uhh..... Syd? You good?"
Sydney opened her bloodshot eyes. Dang it!
He was gone, the reflection guy had disappeared and she was hugging one of the pillars. "uh,  yeah. I'm fine. The slingshot was really terrible" she sniffed.
Gia sighed and walked out but May stayed put, folding her arms. "You've been acting strange since this year Syd. Wanna talk about it?" she asked. Yeah truly,  she needed to get her head checked. "You can tell us?"

She badly wanted to tell the girls how her mental health was deteriorating. How she felt insecure about everything. How she cared about how people rated her appearance. How she wanted to be loved. How she wanted to be beautiful like the rest and how someone was already taking care of all that. That someone,  the guy corbyn, she wanted to say all but she was afraid she would get rejected.  They would call her crazy, dumb.....
"Syd?" Gia had returned and was waving in front of her.
"y-yeah?"
"Are you sure you're okay?
"yes " she simply stated.

They were at home when she picked her pocket mirror with hopes of seeing the reflection guy. She hadn't summoned him yet so she started by talking to herself in the mirror.
"The girls would think I'm crazy. I can't tell them about you"
Surprisingly, she saw his reflection beside her on the bed.
"why? You're not crazy "
"I am,  and I'm ugly.  I'm ugly and fat and crazy" she pouted.
"who says you're ugly?" he hushed her up,  frowning a bit. "You aren't even fat one bit and you're also not crazy. Cause I am real" he added.
"I don't know what I would do without you.  I would hug you right now but one of the girls could come in and they would say I'm insane" she said rubbing her eyes.
"go to sleep,  Syd " he said.
"I want to see you in real life.... " she drifted off, and the mirror fell from her hand as she fell asleep.

Make sure to vote on this story. Also, this doesn't in any way make reference to Sydney Avery. I also did not try to proof read this 👀