Tiffany stands in the mirror with her head slightly tilted. She amuses herself for a few seconds by making funny faces. She stops and looks behind her own reflection to see her friend lying on the bed, bored.
TIFFANY: Have you ever wondered if there was life behind your mirror?
(Friend: What?)
Tiffany: Your reflection, I mean. What if she was a real person who looked just like you, but had a life totally opposite from yours? I thought about that all the time when I was a little girl. I used to think we were two different people. In her world, the lamp is on the right side of the dresser. In mine, the lamp is on the left. Her birthmark is on her left leg, and mine is on my right leg.
I bet her whole life is the one I wish I had. At her school, they don’t even wear uniforms. They can wear whatever they want, and the teachers don’t care if they chew gum or eat candy bars in class. She’s probably the most popular girl in school, not a loser like me. The boys compliment her on her hair and the girls ask where she buys her dresses. There aren’t any bullies… No enemies… No long stares in the cafeteria…
Her family is different from mine too. Her little brother always does what she says, instead of annoying her all the time. Her mom doesn’t drink on the weekends… because if she does, her dad will get mad and they will fight. Then her dad would disappear for days at a time, and no one will talk at the dinner table… Her parents never fight. They’re always home, and they’re always happy…
But once I got older, I wondered… why do we cry the same tears? That’s when I realized that it isn’t another girl in the mirror. It’s just me.
