Lou waited patiently by the mirror in the back of the library's storage room. She had found it a year ago when she had been cleaning and picking pieces to sell for the auction, an attempt to raise money for the underfunded library. Lou had been volunteering at the library near her high school ever since she was a freshman. Now, she was a freshman at the community college on the other side of town, but she had loved helping out so much that she had continued to volunteer.

Lou traced the sides of the mirror with her hand. It was an oval standing mirror with elaborate metal designs around it that was a dingy golden color. She frowned and then settled down onto the armchair placed in front of the mirror. She stared at her reflection. Her eyes were puffy from crying, but she had done a good job of cleaning her face in the bathroom. Gladys, the librarian, had ignored her sullen mood for most of the morning, but told Lou she could take an extra-long lunch break today if she needed it.

Lou had brought a book on songbirds, hoping to distract herself until he showed up. But she knew it wouldn't be able to help. Her mind would only stick to thoughts of him and if there had been other people that had the same problem. Surely there had to be others. Everyone knew that mirrors connected dimensions. And if a mirror were in the same location in different dimensions, then you would be able to see and communicate with the person on the other side. Lou roughly flipped open the book, upset with herself for probably being the only person to stupidly fall in love.

"Is that the book I recommended?"

Lou looked up from the pages she had been anxiously staring at in her lap. Her heart was gladdened and saddened all at once as she saw Ravi sitting on the other side of the mirror. He was seated on a high-backed chair and the storage room behind him looked far less dusty than hers.

"Not gonna happen," Lou replied with a weak smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Ravi's eyes and smile signaled unfiltered happiness to be sitting across from her in the mirror. He leaned forward and good-naturedly argued, "But I think you would enjoy the history of astronomy."

She couldn't help but let a half-hearted chuckle slip out. She shook her head no and tried not to look him in the eyes.

Ravi studied her face. He wasn't used to seeing her look so disheartened. It made him want to reach out and hold her hand, if that were possible. So instead, he gave her a soft smile and spoke sweetly, "You look nice today."

Lou's eyes snapped to his as she snapped the book shut. She declared, "I can't do this anymore!"

Ravi looked startled. He stood as she stood and asked frantically, "Do what? Lou, what's wrong?"

"This, Ravi!" She exclaimed as she paced in front of the mirror. "I can't be your friend!"

Ravi held the edges of the mirror on his side and said, "I don't understand, Lou."

She stomped up to the mirror and shouted in frustration, "It's too hard being your friend when I have feelings for you! I like you!"

Ravi leaned away from the mirror as he stared at her. Her eyes were wide like a crazed person and her lips looked slightly swollen from where she had obviously been chewing her bottom lip. He placed his palm against the mirror and said calmly, "I like you, too."

Lou's eyes softened and the tension in her shoulders relaxed. She placed her hand against the cool glass of the mirror, so that it matched over his. She sniffled and explained, "Which is why we can't be friends anymore. Don't you know how hard this is? I want to look at the sunset with you. I want to drive you to my favorite lake and teach you how to fish...I want to kiss you."

The confused look on Ravi's face changed to sadness. He said in a quiet tone, "But we'll never be able to do any of those things...because in your world…"

"You're just an image in the mirror," she said in a strained voice. "Like I'm just an image in yours."

She pulled her hand away from the glass. She turned away with her back to the mirror, intent on walking away. But his words stopped her.

"You're more."

Lou looked over her shoulder. But unlike every other day of her life, she had no words. Ravi removed his hand from the glass and glanced down at the armchair on the other side. Discarded on the seat was the book on songbirds. He looked back to Lou and held her gaze.

"You're more than an image to me, Lou," he said honestly. "You're like...Music."

"Music?"

"You make me feel happy and inspired and sometimes sad. Honestly, this is the first time you've ever made me sad."

Lou's frown deepened. Her heart ached at the thought of her being the source of his sadness when she had only wanted to do what made the most sense. Ravi saw the look on her face and shook his head.

He continued, "But it's okay. You make me far happier than you could ever make me sad. And even though I can't hold music...or kiss music. Music makes me feel."

Lou's heartbeat quickened. She turned to face him and took tentative steps back to the mirror. He placed his hand on the glass again and gave her a pleading look to do the same. She exhaled and put her hand over the reflection of his. The glass was still cold, but a warmth flooded her heart.

"And I don't want to be without music, no matter how intangible it may seem," he said confidently.

He gave her a loving smile and pressed his forehead against the mirror. She did the same. And the worries that had plagued her seemed less threatening now. The storage room had never been so tense with emotions, so Lou decided to break the barrier she had built.

She gave a shaky laugh. Her heart was racing. She joked, "And you're sure you don't have a girlfriend?"

Ravi smiled as he leaned back to look into her eyes. He said, "That depends entirely on you."