Chapter 6

6

     The drive to the mall was quick and Jordan absentmindedly pulled down the visor to check her makeup in the vanity mirror. Her mind floated to the moment when she had last seen Bethany alive, smiling after some music, and then she was gone. If she had taken the mirror when Bethany offered it, had used it, maybe… Frustrated and sad, Jordan flipped the visor up a bit too forcefully, letting out a deep, exasperated sigh.

“Been a rough week hasn’t it?” Stacey asked, with understanding that only a true friend can give, and Jordan relaxed enough to take a few deep breaths and nod silently. 

Attempting to change the mood, Stacey smiled and proclaimed, “Time to shop!” and both girls strode through the wide, glass doors with one thing on their minds, finding some stylish bargains.

Well, at least one of them had one thing on her mind, the other, Jordan, had many things on her mind; primarily, the mirror. Everywhere she went she saw mirrors, reflections in the glass, and soon she again began to contemplate the what-ifs of Bethany’s mirror. What if it did work?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a cacophony of laughter and chatter. Stacey had run into some classmates and friends, and they were already thinking about school. It would start in about a month and Jordan and Stacey would be juniors; no longer low-man on the totem pole.

     “Oh!” one of the girls proclaimed. Janetta, the speaker, stepped forward, her dark skin shining as though it had been polished. “Did you hear about Rocky?” Rocky was a classmate that had once had a crush on Stacey. A class clown, everyone had loved Rocky; he was the star of eighth grade. He had moved suddenly to Nevada and everyone kept up on Facebook for awhile, but he had seemed to drop off the face of the Earth within a year.  Stacey was all ears for the news as Janetta continued. “He was in a horrible car accident about a week ago and he was killed. Some say that he was drinking, but nothing official.”

     Stacey’s face paled and Jordan felt a knot tighten in her stomach. If she had used the mirror, could Rocky have lived? Maybe using it for such things is exactly what it is intended for and I am sitting here ignoring the chance to save others, she silently fretted. However, she also knew that Bethany had hidden it for years for a reason and she squashed the thoughts down and picked up with the idle chatter.

     “God, Stace, I’m sorry,” Jordan whispered as they parted from the clutch of kids and made their way to the courtyard for a drink and a pretzel.

     “I-it just seems so hard to believe,” Stacey stammered as they waited in line. “I always wondered what he’d gotten into. Seems like yesterday we were talking and the next, he just disappeared…”  The knot in Jordan’s stomach tightened more and she imagined herself standing before the mirror, gazing in to see… what? What would she see? Honestly she was so afraid, that she didn’t think she would ever want to know what one might see when gazing into that thing. In reality, Jordan knew she was a coward. She wasn’t like many of her friends - drinking, partying, and experimenting with sex and the likes. She didn’t mind hanging with them at times, but she didn’t need that stuff to make her happy. Jordan knew that she was somewhat pretty; and thankfully her shoulder length brown hair and hazel eyes off-set the fact that she was 5’1. Short, very short for girls her age; however, both her parents were shorter so what hope did she have?

     Stacey, on the other hand, had such milky white skin that it seemed luminescent against her blazing hair. And she was tall. Stacey loved basketball and was probably one of the best in the area. Her 5’9 frame and slick, quick moves, made her unstoppable on the court.

     “Hello… Earth to Jordan.”

Jordan snapped back to the present and realized she had been staring in the general direction of a fat janitor, who winked at her in a suggestive fashion. Shuddering she turned her gaze back to Stacey and smiled, “We better get this shopping done or we’re never gonna get out of here.” At the cue, the two girls continued shopping and finally made it back to the car, exhausted and broke, but stylin’.