Hey guys. I'm not going to give some long, lame excuse as to why I haven't been updating, but I'm sorry. This is kind of a spin-off of one of my other one-shots about a paper that Eli wrote, but blah blah blah it sparked an idea inside me randomly. So, yeah, here it is! R&R, please!

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure you already know.

I stared.

This wasn't who I knew. But it stared back.

This doppelganger had pale, unlively green eyes with noticeable bags below them, and a flushed face that I couldn't recognize anymore. Misery flashed across its face, burrowing so deep that it reached its decomposing lily pad eyes. Its collar bones were protruding, but I was on the inside and knew it was because its mother couldn't get it to eat regularly.

This unrecognizable person in the mirror was me.

I was a walking travesty.

This mirror was like a slug to the gut, the knuckles of an impending mental breakdown digging their way into my insides. I felt it coming, that stinging urge behind my eyes was a sure sign. The tears sprang before I could stop them, dripping down like a cold flood of defeat, staining my face and making me ashamed that I turned into this. My fist flew at the mirror, and I prepared for the glass to shatter and dance across my carpet; For it to be done.

My skin tingled, its pores being sucked like a vacuum, before the feeling disappeared.

I stared.

This wasn't what I knew.

I was wrist-deep in this full-length mirror, waves of mystery swirling around my wrist. Nothing shattered, nothing mattered, because I was enthused at the small swirls. My tears dried in that single moment, replaced with confusion and that collapsed feeling that I was finally going crazy.

There was no shattered reflective glass, there were no bloody knuckles, there was no noise but a small humming. I was wide-eyed, and I sniffled, my mouth slightly ajar.

I wriggled my fingers, air flowing between them.

I shook my head. What just happened?

Well, only one way to find out.

I pushed my arm inside the mirror farther, that tingly feeling returning to the new skin until I was shoulder deep in the enemy. My mouth was wide now, curiosity enthralling me before experimentally sticking my head through. Stars danced behind my eyes while my vision focused, only to meet a dirty brick wall. Cars honked, the smell of smoke filled my senses, and the rest of my body soon followed through until my converse hit the hard concrete.

I, Elijah Goldsworthy, am officially psychotic. Only crazy people walk through mirrors, or I should assumedly phrase it that they think they walk through mirrors.

My head whipped around, my feet following suit, strutting down the dark alley until I stopped at the street. I looked both ways, confusion settling in as I glared through the harsh sunlight and saw a small green café. Only, it wasn't just a café… It was The Dot. Isn't it supposed to be purple?

I shook my thoughts. I am crazy, after all.

The tingly feeling disappeared, and I turned my hand over and over again before silently concluding that I wasn't disintegrating.

"Hello, Elijah."

I jumped, startled, before meeting the eyes of my favorite pair of blue eyes that I haven't gazed into for so long. Last time I looked into them, I was at a hospital, a neck brace adorning my injury and a leg cast to match, while the love of my life broke from my grasp, her azure eyes filling with tears threatening to overflow. "I can't, Eli. I just can't anymore." Her voice whispered in my memories.

"Clare?" I asked softly as I stared at her perched upon her bike seat, one sneaker-clad foot planted to the sidewalk to keep her upright. She blushed as I said her name, which only confused me more. Doesn't she hate me? Doesn't she despise my existence? Hasn't our love been lost?

"I, um… do you want to hang out later?" She asked bashfully, a darker blush taking over, her teeth clamping down on her bottom lip out of nervousness. Was this really happening? Was I dreaming? "Like… a date?" She added on, the cement near my feet becoming interesting as she avoided my eyes.

"Do you want it to be a date?" I questioned, awestruck, but my smirk taking its usual place to hide it.

"Well, uh… Yes?" She answered like a question, and I started to wonder when I would wake up from this taunting reverie.

"Then of course." I answered, and a graceful, beautiful smile replaced her nervous chatter and my heart stuttered at the brightness of it.

"O-okay. Cool."

"Meet me here at 7 tonight?" I made a plan.

"Sure, sure." She replied nervously, before flashing a quick smile and bearing a goodbye before pedaling off. She glanced at me over her shoulder, whipping her head back around to watch where she was going when our eyes met.

Clare Edwards, the girl that I pushed away, smothered, and loved too much just asked me out on a date. My heart leapt at the word date.

Did I hit a reset button? Am I somehow starting over?

I pinched a small amount of skin on my wrist and mentally cringed as I felt the pain that proved that I wasn't dreaming.

Or have I stumbled upon an alternate universe?

End of Chapter 1.