***
I started avoiding any and all mirrors and reflective surfaces and it wasn’t long before all of my friends had noticed my odd behavior, but everyone--besides Ty--seemed to think my hang up on mirrors was due to the injuries I had.
Carly and Leah tried several times to convince me it wasn’t as bad as I thought, and even Noah and Owen would go out of their way to tell me how pretty I was. In an effort to distract me, Leah had come up with a plan to go to the carnival that was down the street and Ty agreed it was a good idea so we all trooped down the street.
We walked around the fair, deciding what ride to hit next. Ty wanted something gentle so I could go with, but I didn’t really care. I just enjoyed getting out of the hotel. When we stopped outside the house of mirrors, Ty glanced over at me and a strange look passed over his face.
“Come on, we’ll go in here,” he said, watching me carefully.
A wave of panic rushed through me and I stopped in my tracks. “No.”
He leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Lily, he’s not real. You need to face this. It’ll never go away if you keep letting it bother you.”
“No. I don’t want to go in there.” I started to feel sick to my stomach and dizzy as my heart rate picked up. A sure sign of an oncoming panic attack.
The others had stopped to see why we had and Leah said, “Ty, if she doesn’t want to go, don’t force her.” She watched me carefully and twisted the strap of her purse in her hands.
He sent her a look, but didn’t say anything before turning back to me. “You can do this, Lil. I’ll be with you the whole time. You just need to prove to yourself he doesn’t exist. I know you can do this.”
He sent her a look, but didn’t say anything before turning back to me. “You can do this, Lil. I’ll be with you the whole time. You just need to prove to yourself he doesn’t exist. I know you can do this.”
I closed my eyes. He was right. Jackson didn’t exist and I needed to face this. I couldn’t just keep avoiding mirrors for the rest of my life. When I opened my eyes, I nodded. “Alright, but don’t leave me. Okay?”
“Never,” he promised and slipped an arm around my shoulder to lead me into the attraction.
Leah reached out and tugged on my arm. “You don’t have to do this, Hun. You can wait until you heal. There’s no need to rush into this and make it worse,” she said, her narrowed eyes on Ty.
Ty made a growling sound in his throat, but otherwise said nothing. I smiled at her, conveying my thanks, but shook my head, even as butterflies flew around in my belly making me feel even sicker. “No. This is something I have to do. For me.”
She watched me, then nodded and let go. She gave one last glare to Ty and then stepped back to follow us into the building.
Ty kept a tight grip on me as I shook, but I forced myself to look in every mirror we passed.
Jackson never appeared.
Eventually, I relaxed enough to let go of Ty and wander to a few mirrors on my own, laughing at how silly I looked.
I moved from mirror to mirror, feeling lighter than I had in days. I was over it. I was fine. No, I was ecstatic. Jackson didn’t exist and I wasn’t going crazy. Thank God.
When I got to a mirror that made me look not only short and fat, but made my face look all squished and gnome-like, I giggled and turned to get Ty’s attention. But he wasn’t near me. In fact, no one was.
Cursing myself for not paying attention, I tried backtracking to locate my group, but only succeeded in getting myself more lost. So, I stopped and tried to think about the way I’d come and how to get back, but tingles of panic started to creep in. I’d been so focused on the mirrors I didn’t remember the path I’d taken. And where the hell was Ty? He’d promised he wouldn’t leave me.
I debated calling for help, but decided that would only make me look stupid. I looked up and saw Jackson’s sad eyes staring back at me. My heart leaped into my throat and my feet froze to the floor. This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening, I thought over and over.
He reached out to the glass, and mouthed, “Please.”
I shook my head rapidly. “No,” I whispered, backing up. I bumped into another mirror and turned around, only to see him staring back at me from this one instead. I spun again, and again, but no matter where I turned, there he was.
Oh God, this can’t be happening. It isn’t real. He doesn’t exist.
“Please,” he repeated, his eyes turning even sadder. “I won’t hurt you.”
“No!” I screamed, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. I dropped to my knees and slapped my hands over my ears as my screams echoed back to me. My heart felt as if it were trying to escape from my chest as Tyler raced to where I was.
My eyes flew open when he grabbed a hold of me and pulled me into his chest. I clung to him, but it still didn’t help much.
“Lily! What’s wrong? What happened?” he demanded, but I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t get words to form coherently. I could only babble things that didn’t make sense even to me.
Leah ran in next and stopped when she saw me. She dropped down next to me and tried pulling from Tyler, but he held tight. She glared at him. “I knew this was a bad idea. You stupid son of a--”
“Now’s not the time,” he said, cutting her off. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Was it another hallucination?” I could only nod once before I sobbed and buried my face into his chest. “Oh, man, Lily. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t realize. I’m sorry.” He encircled my waist with his arm and, ignoring all the people who’d come running, led me back to the hotel and to his car, apologizing the whole time.
I curled up into a ball in his passenger seat, making mewling sounds in my throat. He took me straight to my parent’s house, checking on me constantly as I trembled and rocked.
He rushed me inside and my mom turned from the sink with a smile when she heard us. “You two are back early…” she trailed off when she saw me. “What happened?”
“She’s seeing things. A boy. In mirrors,” Ty said, keeping his arm firmly around me as I trembled harder.
Dishes clattered in the sink as she rushed over to me. She placed the back of her hand on my forehead and looked into my eyes. “How long?”
“Since the accident. I think something’s wrong with me,” I finally managed. Hot tears poured out of my eyes and she wrapped her arms around me as my father, who’d been listening from his seat at the table, called the hospital.
