Mirror, Mirror | ✓

•Day 7• Alora

"Do you want to hear a joke?" Dad asked me with that lopsided grin he had on his face when he was excited.
Ava groaned.
"Mr. Mills.... You know Alora doesn't like jokes very much."
I raised an eyebrow. "Hey, come on. Maybe this time it won't be that bad!" Ava and Dad made eye contact at that.

The surprised look on Ava's face was priceless. True, I despised Dad's jokes with all I had, but today I felt like giving him a chance. I mean, maybe they got better over the past day.

"Spring is here! I'm so excited I wet my plants!" He said, and then beamed proudly as if he'd never heard a finer joke.
I grimaced, and Ava giggled.
What was with her and bad puns? They always seemed to crack her up.

"Bye, Dad,"I called out, failing to hide my smile.
"See you, kiddo," he chuckled, kissing me on the forehead.
As Ava and I walked towards her car, I let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"This is going to be a long day."
She turned towards me, amused. "I like the outfit."
I looked down at myself, suddenly over-conscious.
I was wearing a black T-shirt that said 'first, I need coffee', tucked into a black skirt. I had on knee-high black combat boots and my hair was in a messy bun that took way too long to perfect to qualify for 'messy.'
There was never such a thing as too much black, in my opinion. Or Ava's, for that matter.

She was clad in her signature P!ATD shirt, this one with lyrics from 'House of Memories', her favorite song. The thing about Ava was that although she dressed like the typical 'don't mess with me' girl, she didn't act that way. She was open to new people, albeit she was shy.

She didn't tell people much about herself, so naturally she was a great listener.
"I don't want to go to school,"I grumbled.
"Who does?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

"I just hate the socializing factor and the studying."
She looked at me from the corner of her eye. "So you mean all of it?"
I nodded. "Precisely."

When it was clear she wasn't going to say anything more, I broke the silence. "How's Allie doing?" I asked, referring to her little sister. This was a rather different question compared to the usual things we talked about, so I could imagine why it threw her off.
"As annoying as ever. She's starting to grow up, though. I feel like before I know it she's going to be our age and I'll actually start to miss her six-year-old self."

I considered that. Even though I always bragged to Ava about being an only child, the truth was that it got pretty lonely. Dad was almost always at work, so it was usually just Ava who came over to give me company.

The school building came into view barely minutes after I hopped out, and I was trying my hardest to refrain from groaning again.
"I know what'll cheer you up," Ava smiled, and handed me a styrofoam cup.
The calming scent of coffee put my mind at ease and I took a sip before saying, "This is why we're best friends, Ava."

We walked together to class and sat in our usual places. Everything was going just the way it always went, when suddenly, a boy and a girl I'd never talked to before sat in the seats in front of us. What was even weirder was that they started talking to Ava as if they'd been friends for years.
When they noticed me staring, the girl smiled and said, "Hi! I'm Riley."
She looked sweet enough, but a tad bit too cheerful in my opinion. Or maybe I was judging her too quickly. Who knew what first impression I was giving off right then....

"Andrew," the boy said with a dimpled smile.
"Nice name," I said, not knowing what else to say to that.
Maybe you could just tell him your name, Alora.

"You too," he said, and I laughed. Riley put her hand on his shoulder. "Ah, Andrew. Getting dumber and dumber by the second, huh?"
Andrew looked confused. "What did I do now?!"
I chuckled. "I didn't even tell you my name yet."

"Well, I just assumed a pretty face would have a pretty name," he smiled sweetly, not at all like the usual players that said nice things just to get in your pants.
Smooth, Andrew, smooth.
Riley punched his arm and Andrew winced. She muttered something under her breath that was inaudible to me, but I could definitely see something brewing between those two.
Ava and I stared at them in amusement while they quietly bickered back and forth, until finally, Andrew gave up. "Okay, fine, I'll give you my chocolate pudding!" Riley beamed proudly. "It's about time you accepted defeat."

I was normally a very moody person and you couldn't have one conversation without me throwing you a snappy comeback, but that day, I couldn't help but gush at how adorable Riley and Andrew were together. I hoped they weren't going to be that typical straight couple that only ended up admitting their feelings when one of them was moving out of the country. Those really bugged me.

I had a terrible cold despite staying inside under the warmth of my blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, and I was facing a growing difficulty to breathe.
The desire to walk out of class then and there was overwhelming. I sensed an anxiety attack getting ahold of me and I stood up to get Ms. Perkins' attention. I gave her a look that she knew all too well and dashed out the door without her asking me any further questions.

As I walked down the hallways, my fists curled up and my nails digging into my palms, I tried to control my breathing.
I'd told Ava time and time again that I needed to be alone when I was upset or having a panic attack, so after a point she stopped chasing after me.

However, as I made my way down another corridor, I caught sight of a cute brunette sitting beside a set of lockers. As I walked by, she glanced up, and I noticed that her eyes were brimming with tears.

She had flawless bronze skin and eyes that were so remarkably distinct. They were large and light brown- the type you could easily get lost in. Without taking her permission, I sat beside her and took a deep breath.
She didn't care that I was watching her and let the tears stream down her cheeks, then slowly wiped them away every now and then.

When I was just about to give up and leave her alone to her own problems, she spoke, her voice brittle and laced with emotion.
"What do you do when the mask you have crafted for yourself slowly starts slipping away?" She asked.

I looked into her eyes and felt a surge of emotion.
"The real question is what do you do when there was nothing behind that mask in the first place?"

• • •

A/N And there- now you've met them all! Holly, Elody, Daisy and Alora. Comment who's your favorite!

Also, guess who you think the cute brunette at the end was. Hint: you've already met her.

Also, this chapter was a bit fast- paced. Sorry about that. I just needed to cram all my ideas in 1500 words, which isn't the easiest thing.

Hope you keep reading and like the book so far!