"Um… excuse me, miss. Hello? Excuse me!" whisper-shouted a ditzy-looking blond on the other side of my desk as she waved her perfectly manicured hand in front of my face. I looked up with a face void of any emotion. Yet another bimbo had managed to get lost in the library. Well, that's what you get for being the only person with a brain in the whole of the world, or so it seemed.
"What." I replied flatly, my voice hinting at some form of mild irritation. But clearly the girl didn't pick up on it, because she continued.
"Um… okay, so I was walking through… wherever I am… and I am looking for a book on dating. Do you know where one is?" she asked, clearly not realizing that the exact book she was looking for was on the spinning shelf behind her.
I reached my hand over the top of the desk, and pointed to the book. The girl turned around, and gave a little jump and gasp of excitement, and perhaps accomplishment. Without even saying thank you, she grabbed the book and proceeded to the checkout line at the other end of the library.
Oh the life of the help-desk in the library. It was never interesting, and the only people I got to interact with were either bimbos like her, or people who happened to wander into the library and weren't able to find their way out. All of a sudden, I spotted Him.
Him wasn't really just 'him'. His name was David Tyler to be exact. He was an economics major at the college. He wasn't that into sports, but still never failed to attend every major sports game our school participated in, just to show his support. He was tall, handsome, and in my eyes, practically perfect in every way. Of course, no one was perfect, but who really cared? It's not like I would ever get the chance to talk to him in this universe, so why not just dream about a parallel one where I do?
The fact that he would never talk to me was just a given fact of the world. He was so amazing, known by a large percentage of the student population for not only his looks, but his brains also. I, on the other hand, was at the very bottom of the social ladder. Well, not the very bottom. There was also Timothy Harrell and his little group of pasty-white nerd-friends. Every single one of them was obsessed with me, and has a shrine in their dorm dedicated to me. Don't even think about asking me about how I know this. The point is I am invisible. To the rest of the world, I don't exist. I am a nonentity. And everyone knows what happens to nonentities. They are ignored for most of their lives, and it's not until they are old and dying that someone realized they exist and decides to take care of them in the few years until death.
A small beeping noise woke me from my daydream. It was my watch. Yes! My shift was finally over. David was still here, hanging out near the entrance, perusing some of the more recently republished classic novels. I quickly packed up the few things I had, which basically consisted of my school bag, and my two-ton literature textbook. I took a look at myself, and frowned. Again, I was wearing the same blue, knee-length skirt, white blouse and blue sweater that I wore every day. My hair was still in its short, low pigtails. And my feet were still covered in black flats, just as they were every day. My wardrobe never really changed. I looked back up, and prayed to whatever non-material being that was watching and laughing at me right now that David wouldn't look at me as I passed him to the exit. Keeping my head down, I started to walk, one foot in front of the other, towards the glass doors to the outside world. Just as I was about to make it, I felt a tap on my shoulder. My head whipped around, my body following, to meet a giant grin, and the face of the guy I had been daydreaming about and semi-stalking for the past four months. It was David.
"Excuse me. I saw that you worked here. I don't know your name, but I was just wondering what your opinion was on Charles Dickens. I'm trying to work on a paper for my final English credit, but I need an interesting person to do my research on. And he was the first person I thought of, but I just wanted an expert's opinion on it. Care to help?" A weak smile was on his face, accompanying that overall look of 'can you please help me despite the fact that I don't even know you or if you can even help'. Taking a very large swallow, I found myself replying to him.
"Alice. And you don't want Dickens. Lewis Carroll would be a much better choice for a paper such as yours. I would suggest his set of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Neither is complete without the other, so it would be much better if you read both." I said, picking up the two books I was talking about and handing them to him. I didn't look him in the eyes; I couldn't bring myself to.
"Thanks, Alice. Nice name, no doubt for this very book." He said, slightly raising the books I had just handed him. "I guess you need to get going, judging by your speed before I stopped you. See you around!" he said, turning at walking to the checkout line.
A shot of adrenaline surged through me, and I turned, heading outside into the crisp, cool air. It was December, but it never snowed here, so all I had to worry about was a bit of rain, which obviously not going to happen seeing as the sun was shining brightly. A small smile spread across my face, something that hadn't happened in a long time. I rushed down the steps, and towards the large dormitory building across the campus. Nothing could have made me happier. Perhaps nothing really was impossible.
Later that evening, after my wild roommate left to start touring the Friday-night parties, I stood in front of the full-length mirror that hung on the back of the bathroom door. I was wearing a loose-fitting white nightgown, like every night. Then, something overcame me. I felt dizzy, lightheaded. I thought it was just the excitement of the day. The whole room started to spin, and the mirror started to ripple. I regained control of myself, and my vision, and went up to the mirror. I touched it gently, and little ripples, like water, spread across the silvery surface. I placed my hand on the mirror, and then pushed it through. Within a second, I was being pulled through. And with only a cut-off scream to let the world I was disappearing, my whole body fell through, and all I saw was a swirling tunnel of color until I blacked out, falling through the air, down the hole.