I always noticed the bags under her eyes from staying up all night with unwanted thoughts swarming like bees inside her head. And sometimes I could see she'd be crying as if her room were a dried up lake that needed to be filled. I watched her pull down her sleeve to hide her wrists even on the hottest days, and if you were paying attention, you could see her shiver ever so slightly under the baggy sweaters. I noticed the way her lips were forced into a smile, and how it dropped as fast as a plane with a kicked out engine, whenever they looked away.
And then one day I went to reach for her, I wanted to embrace her and show her light. But when my fingertips brushed against her cheek, I could only feel the cold mirror before me.