Yours Truly 2016 / Cascadia College / Bothell, WA | Page 82

weak? Too sensitive? She couldn’t tell from
a mere reflection.

“Hm?” Sean murmured, caught up in his
own thoughts, watching the birds fly above.

She was definitely not a bitch. She flung
the mirror onto the sand, then picked it up
and looked at it again, sighing. Walking
away from Aron was the kindest thing she
could do for herself.

Nora wished she could turn the mirror
back on Aron, but that would have been
pointless. She sighed, putting the mirror
down and not looking at it again. She wasn’t
going to let anyone tell her who she was
anymore.

Her phone buzzed. It was a message
from Sean.
Aron was in a bad mood after u left. r u
ok?
Those three words at the end made
everything seem a little better.
Yeah. Thanks. Want to come to the beach?
I’m here now.

Be there in ten minutes.

When he came, he didn’t ask about what
happened with Aron. Instead, he sat on the
log next to her and offered to share an
earbud while he played music on his phone.
They didn’t speak, but she was comforted.
“Why do you hang out with her?” Sean
wondered.
Nora shrugged. “I’ve known her my
whole life, and sometimes she makes me
feel really special.”
“But she also makes you feel really
shitty,” Sean said.
“Well, we’re not friends anymore,” Nora
told him, holding up the mirror again. She
didn’t know what to think of herself, but it
wasn’t so hard to look at her own reflection
now.
“Am I . . .” she began, wanting to ask him
if he thought she was any of the things Aron
had said.

80

Sean reached out and took the mirror,
making a funny face as he held it up in front
of him. Nora laughed, really laughed, for the
first time in weeks.
“Do you just want to toss this?” he said,
holding it up. Nora jumped off the log and
took it.

“I can’t throw very far,” she said.

Sean took her hand. “Come on.”

“She wasn’t going to let
anyone tell her who she
was anymore.”
He led her to the edge of the water.
“Here, just throw it like it’s a Frisbee. Yeah,
like that.”
It flew across the water, landing with
a loud splash near a bunch of rocks. Nora
was comforted at the thought of the mirror
sinking to the bottom of the ocean, never to
resurface.