Wall of Mirrors

Armin wasn't sure when he fell in love with Annie. He couldn't quite place the origin of his feelings, but he could remember the first time he spoke to her. No time apart could change either of these things. It wasn't the first time he saw her, no, he'd seen her around campus. She stood out to him. Wherever he went, he'd notice her. A flash of golden hair in the Starbucks line, the tip of a combat boot in the library, little things that wouldn't necessarily be unique enough to identify anyone, were somehow enough for him to identify her. Maybe it was that, that uncanny ability of him to track her down like radar, that first attracted him to her. He'd never seen her with anyone, she was always alone. For some reason that worried him. Even when he hadn't known her.

The first time he met her was after his first biochemistry test. He was exhausted, ready to go to his dorm and relax with a nice novel. But there was that flash of gold hair, even though it was night time, to him, it was a shining beacon. An unknown light pulling his eyes to her. She was gazing upwards, leaning against the railing of the pedestrian bridge, smoking a cigarette no less. The trickle of ashes like little stars blazing against the night sky as she released the smoke from her mouth. Almost like she was creating new universes with every breath. Her elbows were resting against the rail, tight muscles at ease under her white tank top. He wondered how she wasn't cold. The brisk air blowing his own long blond hair back as he made his way across the bridge. Black jeans clung to her legs in desperation, diving into those brown combat boots she wore so often. He didn't consider her outstandingly gorgeous, but he also didn't consider himself to be either. For some reason, he'd had the balls to talk to her. He actually considered himself to be very introverted, didn't tend to talk to people he didn't know, however, he wanted to know her.

"Those things will kill you, you know." He'd called to her as she took a drag.

She looked at him, bored eyes nonchalantly glossing him over. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to talk to strangers." She might kill him first.

He wasn't sure what kind of reply he was expecting, but it wasn't that. "I wouldn't say we're complete strangers, we go to the same school."

She returned her eyes to the night sky, her body language expressing she was already done with the conversation. "At a university with thousands of students." She wasn't expecting an answer.

"I'm Armin. Armin Arlet, a biology major with a concentration in biochemistry. I'm a sophomore, and 20 years old. How about yourself?" He paused amidst the bridge, too far from the railing to peer over, but close enough to smell the smoke.

She rolled her head back towards him. To him her eyes were unreadable. "Annie Leonhardt, 21 and going nowhere." She put the cigarette out against the railing before flicking it over the side. She watched as the dim embers, found on the worn tip of the cigarette, flickered against the winds desire to silence them.

"Now we're not strangers anymore." He smiled at her, head tilting to the side.

"What would you call us then."

"Friends." He spoke without hesitation.

"You know, being this trusting won't get you anywhere in life. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." She turned, muscles clenching as she hoisted herself onto the railing. Throwing her legs over the other side and sitting there. She made no sound with the movement, only the light of the stars spoke as it reflected the tense lines of her muscles.

"Hey! You shouldn't do that, it's dangerous!" He jumped forward, afraid that she might fall.

"That's twice now you've told me what's good for me." She leaned her head backwards, but this time it was to look at him, her bangs fell to the side revealing the whole of her face. He thought she was beautiful. She didn't understand him. Why was he even talking to her?

"I would hate to see you get hurt." He paused, staring into her two icy blue eyes. Almost like some years ago they had frozen to death, her eyes were somewhat lifeless.

"To live is to consume others." She slid down off the railing. Her feet touching the concrete edge on the opposing side of the fence. She peered at him, letting go of the railing she spoke. "Maybe I just like to live life on the edge." She fell backwards. Only for a short moment before she grabbed the railing again, pulled herself forwards, and repeated the process with calculated timing.

She was making him nervous. He wanted to grab her arm, yank her back over the rail. He wasn't strong enough though, he knew that. Something about the ease of her movements gave him the impression she did this often. From her new position, next to the rail, she took ahold once more and pushed her body outwards, leaning back to get the most optimal view of the black sky overhead. "Oi, Annie."

"Night is my favorite time, it's quiet. Everything that lurks in the night is alone, they have no reason to be loud. For if they were loud, they might not be alone." He wasn't sure why she was telling him this.

"I've always thought animals that lived alone were quiet because they're afraid. If they make a sound they might be found. There's safety in numbers." He walked over to the rail placing his hands in-between hers.

"Interesting theory Armin, but are you alone." She hadn't been asking a question.

He'd ran into her a lot after that night. Random moments, he always spoke to her, never she to him. Not that this was surprising to him, his consistency however, was. He never knew where he was getting the nerve to speak to her, time and time again. Call it fate. It wasn't until the day that Armin had found Annie mounting a motorcycle that they became friends.

She was swinging one leg over her bike when she first heard them call to her. A cat call, a lone whistle on the breeze. But the laughter which had followed reminded her of cackling hyenas. "Why don't you take me for a ride instead of that bike?" He spoke, just loud enough for her to hear. It pissed her off.

"Nah he'll be way too smooth baby. You need something a little rougher." This one was bolder, he yelled to her. Even getting up off the brick wall to walk her way. "What do you say?"

She was going to beat his ass. "I say-"

"Oi. She's not an object." Armin interrupted her. She didn't need anyone to protect her, but she had a feeling he knew that. So, what was his motive?

"You tryna take her for a ride, what does that make you a dike?" The bolder of the two friends spit towards Armin.

"Maybe I'm into girls, wouldn't that turn you on." She sarcastically purred towards the man. No one had ever stood up for her before. "Armin, get on." He hurriedly complied, awkwardly searching for some part of the seat to grab onto before Annie grabbed his hands, wrapping them around her waist, she winked at the man before knocking the kick stand out of her way and speeding off.

After that, it had been hard to find one without the other. Dinner dates to study, late night calls, 'uber' services when it rained, good luck text and long voicemails, soon enough it progressed to more than friendship. To no one's surprise Annie had been the one to first kiss Armin. There fourth year in college had been when Annie started to pull away.

Armin did everything he could to keep her, but Annie was convinced she wasn't good for Armin. Told him she wasn't some superhero, that he was. That he was going to go on and do great things, and all she would ever be was the villain. A superhero can't be with a villain, she said. Couldn't be allowed to corrupt something, stunt its growth. She wouldn't drag him down with her on her path to nowhere. She left him. So, here he was. Standing in front of a half empty wall because he wasn't going to let her go. He was going to make her see. He grabbed the next mirror from the ground by his feet, this one he had found in an antique store. Its rim was a chipped golden color with dull brown underneath, the mirror itself was worn from age, black encroaching on its reflective surface. The rim curved and twisted like a wave on the ocean, coming to a point in all four directions. He hung it on a nail in the center of the wall.

"Tell me something." Armin rolled over on the bed, away from his biochem textbook to peer at Annie on his floor. He needed a break.

She looked over at him, a certain kind of light had come to her bored eyes. She dropped her pencil. "I've always wanted to fill a wall with mirrors. Not the same one over and over, and not just one huge mirror, but however many unique mirrors I could fit. I don't mean the cookie cutter mirrors from Ikea either, mirrors with history, found mirrors from antique stores, yard sales, or maybe even dumpsters. Picture it, like really picture it." She stared at him, pausing to make sure he imagined what she was describing. "Now think, how could mirrors from so many different backgrounds, with so many different histories, that have seen such different things, possibly all reflect the same image? They can't. The mirror that the old man hung an image of his deceased wife on, and the mirror that some rich man's mistress put her make up on before, can't possibly show you the same image."

He was absent of words. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

He was almost done. Looking at all the mirrors around him in his living room, in their apartment, the apartment she'd left him in, the one she hadn't returned to; he couldn't imagine he'd need one more to finish the wall. Not one mirror on the wall was the same. Just like she'd said, he'd tracked them down from odd places. Not that he would ever tell her, but he even dove into a few dumpsters to find the shattered remains of a mirror or two, which was already hung before him like a mosaic. The wall was so far a month in the making. A month without Annie. Not a word. He hadn't even seen her; his radar was broken. But here he was, determined to change that as he hung mirror after mirror on the wall. Telling himself he would hang these before he went to sleep. He was proud of himself, even if Annie wasn't there to see it. He was worried about her; it was written all over his face as he continued to hang the mirrors. A little blue here, one lacking a border there, some cracked, some in perfect condition, they all reflected his face. Or at least variations of it. What Armin found to be the most beautiful however, was when the morning light shone through the windows, and bounced off one mirror, and although they were all placed on the same wall, the light appeared as if it was refracting from one glass to the next. To his eyes it looked as though the light were dancing across the room, slightly different tones of light coating the walls of his living room, but never did the pieces of light stay in the same place. It was like laying under a layer of water and looking up at the surface, he knew he was going to have to get Annie here. He pulled out his phone.

It went straight to voicemail. "Hey, Annie." His voice caught in his throat. "Remember when you lost the original key to your motorcycle and had to get a spare made? I just happened to find it when I was moving some furniture around, I'll leave it by the front door. Feel free to come by and grab it anytime." It was a lie, but she would come. She would come. She had too.

A week passed.

Armin was asleep in his room when he finally heard the front door open. He wasn't normally a light sleeper, but he had been on edge ever since he left the voicemail. Waiting. In his grogginess, he could hear rustling coming from the living room, followed by a curse word and then light seeping into his room. It wasn't until he heard the loud noise of something dropping to the floor that he awoke from his sleep, startled, he registered Annie was there. He burst from his room in the next moment to find Annie, stunned. At her feet was the motorcycle helmet she had apparently dropped to the floor, she was staring straight ahead, at the wall of mirrors. The front door opened into the living room, however it wasn't until she turned on the light that she had seen the wall for what it had become.

"Annie." He spoke as if he was talking to a deer.

His voice seemed to pull her from her state of shock, and she looked at him. "Armin, did you, when did you?" She pointed to the wall.

"Since you left me. For the past month, I've been searching. Looking for the mirrors, for you. So that I could show you." He walked up to her, stopping when he was close enough that he was sure she would understand, that she would hear him.

"Show me what?" She was quiet, there was no light outside for the mirrors to dance with.

"In all these mirrors, from all the places I've found them, not one of them alike. And yet, in not one of them does your reflection become a villain." Armin spoke defiantly, needing her to see it. To see she was worth loving.

She looked at the wall of mirrors, really looked at each one; time passed silently, and when she turned back to him there were tears in her eyes. "Armin." Her voice wavered before she closed the gap between them in two quick steps. She dove into him, burying her face against his bare chest, her arms clasped around his waist as he wrapped his arms around her head. He was never going to let her go again. "I'm glad I could be a good person to you." She said so quietly Armin wasn't sure he heard her right.

"Annie, you created my whole universe that day on the bridge. The only thing all these mirrors show, is just all of the different ways you're beautiful." She pushed against his arms, freeing herself of his embrace, only to wrap her arms around his neck. Pulling his face to hers, she crushed her lips into his. A silent promise in her gesture, she was never going to leave again.