You wake up, clamber out of bed, and head to the shower. It’s a normal Saturday morning. 11:00. That night, you’d stayed up late and slept later, scrolling on Instagram and watching YouTube videos. You probably shouldn’t have, but it was too hard to resist viewing the perfect pictures of perfect people. 

As you stumble out of the shower, you dress quickly. As you eat breakfast, you watch your phone eagerly. Since it’s a Saturday, maybe someone will text, asking you to hang out.

A text never comes.

So you head to the bathroom again, to fix your hair. Should you part in the middle or on the side? You choose the middle.

Like always.

Still waiting for that message, you throw yourself on the bed and scroll on Instagram. All your ‘friends’ are posting pictures of them hanging out with their real friends. The ones who fit in, wear all the cool shoes and clothes, have the latest technology. Who aren’t broken on the inside and just wanting a reprieve from pain. Depression. Loneliness. Darkness.

An hour passes. No text, no call, no mention of, “Hey, let’s ask them if they want to hang out.” Just…silence.

But that’s fine. You know how to deal with this. You’re used to it.

As you walk to the bathroom, you realize how much this actually stings. Hands planted firmly on the bathroom counter, you stare at the person in the mirror.

You.

And as you stand there for a few minutes, you can’t stop finding all your flaws. You’re disgusted. You mumble to yourself, “Nobody loves you.”

The moment you say those three words, your reflection walks away. Without a glance, a wave, a word. They just walk away. Into the distance of the mirror. 

Even your reflection can’t stand yourself.

Wait. What? In disbelief, you stare after your reflection’s retreating back. In desperation, you call, “Wait! No! Don’t leave!” In hatred, you scream, “Don’t you dare! Do not leave me!”

And with a single move, you snatch the scented candle off your bathroom counter and fling it at your mirror, at your reflection.

Glass explodes everywhere. The candle breaks into hundreds of pieces upon impact and falls to the counter with a CRASH. The mirror shatters, along with your reflection, who turns back in surprise. Their face displays a look of hurt, shock, and…betrayal. Even though they left you first.

Before you can tell them to come back this instant, fragments of the mirror fall to the counter along with the candle’s pieces and your reflection breaks into slices of glass and screams an empty, soundless scream at you.

* * *

You wake up, gasping, your forehead slick with cold sweat.

It was all a dream.

But that doesn’t make it feel any less real.