Time was running pretty fast. Emma stood up from the bed and went to the mirror The evening light spilled through the window, painting long stripes across the floor, the kind of soft gold that made everything look gentler than it really was.
She dropped her bag onto the chair by her desk, kicked off her shoes, and crossed to the mirror above her dresser. For a moment, she just stood there, staring at her own reflection.
Same brown hair, falling loose over her shoulders. Same tired eyes that always looked like they hadn't slept enough, even when she had. The same pale scar near her temple from when she fell off her bike at nine. Same Emma.
She ran a hand through her hair, as if smoothing it down could smooth down everything else too — the day, the awkwardness of new hallways and unfamiliar faces, the weight of starting over. Again.
Her room felt too big, too neat. Like it belonged to someone else. A sleek bed that was never really unmade, books lined up on shelves she hadn't chosen, framed art her mom's decorator had picked out.
She touched the corner of the mirror, traced a smudge on the glass, and whispered, "You'll be fine."
Because that's what she always told herself.
She grabbed the notebook off her desk, the one she kept hidden under school papers, and flopped onto the bed. The pages smelled faintly of ink and old paper. She flipped to a blank page and stared at it, the pen resting in her hand.
She thought about Lucas. The way he'd barely looked up at lunch, the way he'd said she could sit down like it didn't matter to him at all — or maybe like it mattered too much.
Emma sighed, tapping the pen against her knee.
Then, slowly, she began to write. Not about him. Not really. Just fragments of thoughts, bits of poetry she'd never show anyone.
The girl in the mirror doesn't say much. She just waits. Maybe for the next move, maybe for someone to see her. Maybe for herself.
Outside, the city lights flickered on, one by one, and night wrapped around the house like a quiet promise.
With different thoughts in mind she drifted to sleep, one that makes her forget all her worries.