"Her"

Core

"I honestly had no idea. I knew she didn't have it easy, even though the money should have made life easier for her. But I never expected her to have work done."

Does it change the fact that she's your mirror? She looks at me in genuine curiousity. Her lips are quirked downwards in a neutral, mild expression.

"No. Of course not. A mirror gives a reflection of one's self. She's not a clone of me. I wouldn't expect her to be. It's just a little unexpected. I'm shocked. She's barely younger than me."

She tilts her head towards me and gives me a brief graceful nod. Her Athena's eyes were a tell.

"Yes. I should have known the pain went deeper than simply wanting to fit in. She's my mirror because she is an "other". Or at least she feels that way." I sigh, and rub my cold feet together. "I should have known that anyone who truely understands my pain has pain just as deep of their own."

You don't like it. You don't like having someone remind you of what it was like for you. She takes my arm roughly, drawing me close to Her, so I can hear the wind in her voice whip across my ears. No matter how hard and how long you run, your past will meet you in the end if you do not face it now.

I nod in understanding, my eyes tearing up from Her harshness. "I know it. This is my third year, and I have yet to become the person I intend to be."

Because you keep running. You have to start at the very core of yourself to promote change. Otherwise, your efforts will be fruitless. She releases me.

"Then my mirror is also my greatest challenge." I stop myself, realizing what my dream meant. The dream that had changed my life nearly three years before. "I couldn't accept who I was becoming then. I ran. I've been running this whole time. Running away from what I want the most."

You fear your pain. It shames you still. But you are also afraid of your future self as well. So you remain stuck in this inbetween state. Bouncing back and forth from fear to fear.

I nod. "Yes. I must fully become one thing or another. I cannot stay here in this place anymore. I must become my true self for the first time. There are no more excuses for me. I know what I must do."