Saving Garin

The Mirror

Have you ever looked at a mirror? I mean really looked at it? I have. That's what I was doing after I got in my car and pulled out of the parking lot. I was able to weave through the prong of students celebrating the beggining of their faithful summer filled with beer, love, and sex. Every now and then I would peer into my rearview mirror, my mint green eyes starring back at me. 

That's the thing about mirrors, they never show the whole picture. They don't show me. I'm not just a boy with green eyes, freckles, and wavy brown hair. That's not me. But no one knows the real me, they're all just mirrors.

I tightened my hands on the steering wheel, causing a crinkling noise to come from my left palm. I pulled it away from the wheel, and there in my hand was the note Sophie gave to me before she ran off. I slowly opened it. 

There on the little slip of paper, was her name and ten numbers. A bubbling feeling rose from toes all the way up to my throat, and a crooked smile spread across my face. This strange girl gave me her number! And she liked me!

This summer was going to be great.

*~*~*~*

By the time I got home, the afternoon was already half over. I had to do something fun to start off the summer well, so I called up Tyson, my friend since elementry school. He knows about my condition, he knows everything in my life. He's my bestfriend. So naturally, I called him. He answered on the second ring

"Hey, man. What's up?" It sounded like he was out of breath, and i could faintly hear his heavy foot-falls through the phone. 

"Why are you running?"

"I'm coming over, stupid." I could imagine him rolling his eyes.

"Why not bring your car?" Tyson could be so braindead at times. Don't get me wrong, he's my bestfriend, but I don't get how he passed Junior year.

"I wanna excersize for the ladies."

"Ugh, Tyson. It's always about girls with you!"

"Shut up."

"Well, hurry up. I wanna go out tonight."

I could hear him sigh on the other line then the call disconnected. Okay, I lied. I didn't want to go out tonight. I just wanted to sit at home and start working on my summer list, but I knew that Tyson would want to go out. He's been wanting to find a girlfriend for almost 3 months now. That might not seem long to you, but it's long for him. He always has a girl on his arm. That's the difference between me and my bestfriend; he gets girls and I don't. 

That's why the conversation with Sophie scared the shit out of me. How could someone like her like someone like me? It just didn't make any sense. I mean, I didn't even know her, but I can already tell that she's way out of my league. It's almost like it's impossible. It's like she was playing a joke on me. That's it! She was playing a joke on me. 

I looked at the slip of paper in my hand, and i decided to rip it up. She won't get anything from me, she won't get her laugh. She doesn't know anything about me. If she wanted her beginning of summer laugh, she should've played with someone else. She doesn't know me because she's just a mirror.

I started to head upstairs to shower before Tyson showed up. As I passed by room, I tossed the ripped up paper into my wastebasket by the door. 

My bathroom was just like my room, dark and roomy. The wooden door opened up into a bathroom that was about the size of a small room. Its dark blue tiled floor matched the dark blue wall paper. There was a black carpet that covered half the room, along with a black toliet, a small sink, and no mirror. I usually didn't care that much about my appearences. At a young age, I knew I was attractive. But ever since I knew about my condition, I didn't care anymore. It didn't matter.

I opened the shower curtain and began the process of getting clean.

The shower is where I do most of my thinking. The shower of water served as a great instrument that helped block out all the sounds around me and the pressence of just me was reassuring. The shower is where I thought about my future. It's where I thought about death. You're probably thinking that I'm some creepy, depressed teenager that cuts his wrists every day and wears guyliner and listens to the heavy metal bands. But that's not me. I'm just your normal teenager; happy, stressed, and loves a good party. But everyone has their problems, and I have a big one. A problem that could possibly kill me. A problem that--

"Garrrrrrrrrrrrrinnnnnnnnnnnn!" Tyson's booming vioce came from behind my bathroom door.

I groaned, "What?!"

"Damn, what crawled up your butt and died?" 

I chuckled and turned off the water. Stepping out of the shower, i wrapped my black towel around my waist and used my other one to dry my hair.

"Go wait downstairs so I can get dressed." I told Tyson, and soon enough I heard his feet stomping down the steps. I shook my head, what a clown.

As I entered my room, a huge gust of man cologne hit my face. I looked around and three of my Axe bottles were laying on my bed. It looked like Tyson wanted to try them out. 

After I got dressed, I headed downstairs to find Tyson on the phone with someone. As I got closer, it sounded more like he was arguing with someone.

"No! I'm sure as hell not going there!" He said into the phone. I gave him a questioning look and he mouth me a 'I can handle it'.

"Who?!... Where?... When?... Okay, we'll be there." After Tyson hung up, he turned to me with a goofy grin on his face.

"Who was that?" I asked motioning to his cellphone in his hand.

"My friend. I think I found us a party to go to tonight. It's supposed to be the best of the summer!"

"But summer just started."

"Don't look at me! I didn't say it." Tyson put his hands up in defense and I shook my head.

"Who's party?"

"Some girl named Sophie Turner."

"Oh, shit."

"You know her?"

Yes, I knew her. This night was going to be interesting.