For a long time in history, your mirror image was perceived to be a reflection of your soul. An ethereal being, something that defines you at your deepest foundations, exposed by the magical yet unpassable gateway to another world.
People know better, now. There is no gateway to the world of reflections, but the magic of the mirror is a constant that remained unchanged.
Some just see it better than others.
Rachel for one, was certainly feeling quite magical staring at her bathroom mirror. But that magic didn't come from any hidden secrets of the universe suddenly revealing themselves through the would-be gateway.
Her reflection simply wore a magic hat.
A large, transparent, wavy and inky, conical wizard hat, surrounded by hollow marker-stars and a thick half-moon up in the sky above. Drawn on the mirror in a characteristically sloppy manner, the hat had very obvious facial features – two dark pits for eyes, and one for the mouth, wide open, letting out an unfittingly unmagical speech bubble -
GRYFFIN-DORK!
… Who's talking. Rachel huffed a smile and shook her head.
There's only one person who would call someone a dork while fitting every known criteria themselves so perfectly. The same person that never parts with a black marker, which was clearly the murder weapon of this mirror.
Only… it didn't really look like a murder scene. This time. Rachel actually kind of liked it, and it was a pretty obvious reminder of the pretty awesome last night when they binged the source together.
… And of another similar sounding thing that starts with b that they did afterwards.
… And of this morning when Chloe was so dead and lazy that Rachel took pity and went to classes alone, leaving her in bed.
Looks like she paid the price for her mistake.
Heh.
But it can stay. For now.
.
.
There was one thing Rachel didn't always like about her room. It was on the sunny side of the house pretty much whenever the sun was in position to cause annoyances to her eyes, which was usually during study time, a.k.a. now. The obvious solution was the large purple curtain behind Rachel's desk, but then that just made everything dark. So, what the room lacked in sunlight was completed with what Chloe called the mood lighting, or what Rachel called normal lighting because Chloe was simply never not in the mood.
But, to be fair, the soft red tones of the always-covered lamp did make things look cozy in somewhat of an intimate way. And the burnt frankincense made them feel this way too. It was kind of like another world here, very still and calm, with it's own personal atmosphere that was special and unmoving, but – stale, in comparison to the windy and the blindingly sunny outside that always brimmed with life.
Perhaps that's why Rachel tried to spend as little time here as possible. Not exactly running from it at every opportunity, but not needing it for much either. It was just a place to come back to – to sleep, to study, rest. A base of operations of sorts, a safe place to satisfy the needs, but not the wants – those were anywhere but here.
Still, despite not having a too strong of an attachment to the atmosphere, Rachel treated it in her own appreciative way. Her backpack was set down gently by the desk. She took her plaid red shirt off, and didn't mean to throw it in the vague direction of not-a-window and forget about it forever like a certain someone would.
The same way everything has its place in here, shirts go to the closet where they belong, and neatly hang among their likes until they're used again.
And maybe this one would have made it to its rightful place too, if sliding others out of the way to get an empty hanger didn't stun Rachel with an unexpected sight.
Apparently, the 'room' was occupied.
Literally. By a man sitting on a toilet.
A frowning man in – mostly – a suit, with hairy legs and bald head, which Rachel could only guess was an inky depiction of Principal Wells. He was covering his prized excellence with a magazine and angrily yelling –
OCCUPIED!
Rachel just stared at that back wall of her closet for a few seconds, not sure if welcoming a new friend.
Wait. Is that… a playboy logo on his magazine?
"Oh, god."
Rachel just 180'd out of there and pressed her back against the open closet door outside.
Yes. She did just see that.
And somehow, she huffed a smile. And then, a little chuckle.
And then just simply softly laughed.
It wasn't long or intense, and eventually ceased, but the thoughts ran through the difference it made – Rachel felt joyful now. And appreciative. Chloe was always able to lift her mood even without being physically near her.
Of course, being physically near would make that even better, but her capability of making Rachel happy was immeasurable, and the ease at which she did it – undeniable.
She shook her head, smiling down endearingly.
It was just cute how Chloe always sort of thrust herself into Rachel's mind, making extra sure it's never alone with itself – as if it could be anyway, anymore.
Their lives and minds were intertwined.
… But the shirt she was holding still needed to be in its proper place.
Rachel half turned towards the open closet, her shoulder still adjacent to the door. Her hand went in – without peeking in. She watched her elbow as it moved about.
The hand in the occupied room was almost like – oh, hello, excuse me. I just need a hanger. Sorry -yep. This one. Mhm.
Now just a moment as I'm gonna put this – yep. And I'll just leave it here. Not looking.
Sorry. Thanks. I'll leave you to your business now. Mhm.
A little wave before the door was carefully closed.
… Maaaybe the hat wasn't too wrong after all.
.
.
Enough dorking around though. There was some studying to do, and the idea that the sooner she's done with it the sooner she can get out of here was always a compelling motivator.
The textbooks were neatly laid out on the desk. The pens and rulers and whatnot – as well. Another lamp switched on, and Rachel was almost prepared.
A quick look through the study planner.
Geometry | Ch.3, ex. 1-7
English | The Scarlet Letter – finish!
Biology | Pg. 78-88
…
But of course, there had to be that totally inconspicuous black marker writing at the end.
Athletics | Knife dodging 101
"Wow."
Rachel smirked a bit.
"Bold one, Price."
Almost like a challenge to up her own game – maybe thoughts for later.
But now she found herself grinning again. This particular little invasion came to be somewhat of a common occurrence to look forward to, thanks to the sharp wit of it all. Flipping through the previous entries, there was always one after pretty much whenever Chloe was here, which lately was only every few days.
Cooking | 'Your first batch of Methamphetamine', ch. 1-3
…
Geometry | Tactile measurement of curvature degrees on the female body
…
Driving (the fuck out of here) | Extracurricular practice with Ms. Price
…
You know what? There was an awful lot of fresh ink today. Somebody took too much of an advantage.
Rachel pulled out her phone from her pocket and tapped her way to Chloe's contact, for some texts.
[RACHEL: How is it that after whenever you come over I always discover something new in my own house?]
The reply took practically no time to arrive – not like Chloe was ever busy. And there was a pretty enjoyable sense of Rachel just being a priority to her, too, which Rachel rarely took for granted.
[CHLOE: what can i say]
[CHLOE: life is full of mystery]
[RACHEL: Like my room is full of mystery vandalism?]
[CHLOE: hey]
[CHLOE: i mean precisely]
[CHLOE: yknow sometimes art just appears and you're like woah it's there]
Rachel huffed another smile.
[RACHEL: Oh?]
[RACHEL: I thought art comes from artists.]
[RACHEL: I guess there's no one to reward for their work then.]
[CHLOE: reward?]
[RACHEL: Mhm.]
[CHLOE: what kind of reward?]
[RACHEL: I guess we'll never find out.]
[CHLOE: but hypothetically if i knew the artist you would make sure that they're rewarded]
[RACHEL: Correct.]
Chloe was clearly playing along – for now. There was a long-ish pause before Rachel broke it with another text.
[RACHEL: I might even give you a little something as a thanks for the information.]
At this point Rachel's smile was practically permanent on her face – all the way throughout another long pause that Chloe matched her with.
Eventually though -
[CHLOE: that sounds nice but my spider sense says not to trust you]
Rachel huffed out some amusement.
[RACHEL: You don't have a spider sense.]
[CHLOE: i do when i'm high]
[RACHEL: Then it's malfunctioning.]
[CHLOE: mmmmm i dont think so]
[RACHEL: Why is it saying that then?]
[RACHEL: Does it have something to hide?]
[CHLOE: are you suggesting something officer?]
[RACHEL: Oh I think I've solved the case.]
[RACHEL: Question is, are you gonna resist?]
[CHLOE: is this a trick question?]
[RACHEL: Maybe.]
There were a few moments of thought.
[CHLOE: fuck it]
[CHLOE: i did it. i chopped up the body in the garage. the money's in the basement. lock me up]
Rachel just couldn't help but smirk.
[RACHEL: No, you're gonna do community service.]
[CHLOE: what]
[CHLOE: this wasn't part of the deal. i wanna back out]
[RACHEL: No. You're gonna unvandalise my closet.]
[CHLOE: noooooooooooooooooooooo]
[RACHEL: Yes. Or else.]
[CHLOE: fine. i will improve it]
Improve it. She better.
[RACHEL: Good.]
[CHLOE: eventually]
Rachel just stared at the phone for a little bit, smiling. But that conversation was concluded, and there was some studying to do – she put her phone aside with a content sigh.
But in a few moments it buzzed again, with a new message. Of course Rachel had to check.
[CHLOE: so does you texting me mean that you're finally done with your school crap]
Rachel sighed again, but slightly.
[RACHEL: It's called education and no, I'm just starting.]
[CHLOE: groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan]
[CHLOE: why do u have to spend so much time on this]
[CHLOE: just spend it on me i can teach u everything u need to know]
[CHLOE: like anatomy]
[CHLOE: wink wink nudge nudge]
[RACHEL: Subtle.]
[CHLOE: okay but really whats the point of not letting me be around you when you study if you're talking to me instead of studying anyway]
[CHLOE: kinda defeats the point if its supposed to help you focus]
[RACHEL: You know that might be because you're texting me without stopping.]
[CHLOE: not my fault]
[CHLOE: u knew what u signed up for when u texted me first]
Well. True. Kind of.
[CHLOE: so thats kind of on you]
Hm.
Rachel bit down on her newly widening grin.
[RACHEL: I just missed you.]
The app indicated Chloe typing immediately – as usual, but then the indication faded. It stayed that way for a few long seconds, then reappeared again, and faded.
And then there was a quick flash before the message arrived.
[CHLOE: you're so full of shit]
Rachel just burst into laughter. She was pretty sure Chloe did on the other side, too, at some point – maybe not as intense, but clearly it took her off guard, and Rachel knew more than anybody just how adorable that made her.
Picturing that was just the best thing.
Eventually, she texted again.
[RACHEL: And you love me for it.]
But the issue had to be addressed, too.
[RACHEL: Look, if this doesn't work I'll let you distract me all you want in person, okay? Just let me try and see if it does first.]
[RACHEL: I'll stop replying for like an hour. Call you when I'm done. 'kay?]
Chloe seemed to need a moment to process this, which was more or less expected anyway.
[CHLOE: sure]
[CHLOE: gonna be the longest hour of my life]
She didn't have to make Rachel endeared with the acknowledgement, but she did.
[RACHEL: You'll survive. Cya.]
The phone was finally put away for good and even on silent.
Just some focused studying left. The sooner she's done, the sooner she's out of here.