CHAPTER SIX

TRADE PLACES.

Like I’m frothing at the mouth to get inside that mirror! Does she think my I.Q. lost a couple of zeroes?

“Uh, I don’t think that’s something I’d like to do especially, this current century,” I offered.

“Don’t be so quick to dismiss the idea,” she answered. “Just think about the possibility for a while. Don’t you think it would be exciting?”

Yeah, like being shot into space strapped onto the side of a Saturn rocket. The first five nanoseconds would be a thrill, but after that...? I didn’t vocalize my thought but she wasn’t kidding when she’d said she could read my mind.

“I’m not familiar with a Saturn rocket. Is it fun?”

“You’re spooky!” I said, watching my/her eyes grow about as big as my fat Aunt Minnie’s dessert plates. (My cousin Sam calls Aunt Minnie Aunt Maxie if that helps you get a fix on how big her dessert plates are.) She was spooky! “How can you read my mind?”

“It has something to do with the electromagnetic field around you. I can’t explain it and it can only happen when you’re looking into the mirror into my eyes.”

I lowered my eyes, picked out a spot on my chin and thought, that’s just about the last time I do that. Or if I do, I’m crossing my eyes or something. A terrible thought struck me.

“How long have you been able to read my mind?”

Her answer was swift. Too swift.

“Since you were six.”

“What have you read?”

“Oh, lots of stuff. How’s Jimmy?”

She knows everything. My gosh, some of the things I’ve thought about Jimmy! Some of the things I’ve thought about anybody! Some of my thoughts were so personal I wouldn’t even tell them on an overnight camping trip to my best friend. This was gross, terrible! Then, I realized Miss Blue Eyes wasn’t a for-real person. I had created her. I stared back at myself. Maybe I could un-create her.

“No, you can’t.”

I turned from the mirror and took a step back over to the stool and sat down, head in hands. It was hopeless. What was I going to do? I felt like bawling, but if I did, she’d probably materialize and hand me a tissue. There was no doubt about it—I was a slave to Blue Eyes. Might as well hang a ball and chain around my neck and call in the dogs. This was a disaster. This was a ground zero nuclear blast. I wasn’t ever going to escape her. Ever.

I remembered this book I’d read about some black lady last year and in it she made the statement that “education gives a person their freedom.” Maybe that was the answer. Maybe if I learned everything there was to learn about this mirror person I could make her vanish and get my life at least back up to the bargain basement. It would be a pleasure to only have to worry about getting into college or if science would ever come up with a cure for acne. Those seemed like very faraway and very childish worries compared to the situation I faced right now. I got back up and stepped over to the mirror and faced it squarely.

“Why would you want to come out here if it’s so great in there?”

“That’s easy, Liz. It looks like a lot of fun there, too.”

I hate it when someone calls me Liz. Here I was, almost seventeen and she wants to give me this little kid’s name. She was blathering again.

“See, it’s okay in here—for instance, since it would all be new to you, you’d enjoy it. But me, I’ve never been anywhere but in mirrors all my life and I’d like to see some of your world. You’d get a kick out of what you can do in here, too, believe me.”

“I’ve seen you in more than one mirror. Can you get around to different ones?”

“Sure. There’s one little drawback. I can only get around from this side of the mirror. I’ve seen lots of things, trees, parks, playgrounds, stuff like that, but I can’t get out to enjoy those things. Sometimes I’ve been out with you in your compact and it looks wonderful! Grass and hills and going fast in cars. I love that stuff. But...” I could see a pout in her lower lip and I felt sorry for her in that moment, “you never have it open for more than a minute or two and them boom! you slam me shut and I’m back in the dark, wondering where we are and what it looks like. I can go to another mirror any time I want, but lots of times I just want to stay with you and do what you’re doing.”

“I didn’t realize...”

“There’s other things too, Elizabeth. You seem to feel things, physical things that I’ve never felt. I’ve heard you say ‘ouch’ and I’ve never had an ouch thing happen to me. Nor an ‘oh boy!’ thing either. I’m just kinda in here, looking out, not feeling anything. I think I’ve got the capability—last week you were sad and crying and I sort of felt sad too, I think. When you weren’t looking for a second I put my hand up to feel the tears on our face and I couldn’t feel them. What are they like? If I had a real body, I think I would experience and feel some of the things people in your world do. I just want a chance to try. If I could have even five minutes of being real, I think it would satisfy me the rest of my life.”

The way she put it almost made me feel guilty. Like it was my fault or something. I never asked for her to come along. It’s not my fault she’s a mirror person. Or was it? I couldn’t think. Everything was happening so fast.

“Just think, Elizabeth. If you were in here, you could travel to any mirror you wanted and find out all kinds of secrets. Haven’t you ever wished you could spy on someone or see something secret?”

Well, who wouldn’t? This mirror stuff might not be so bad after all. I decided to try and keep an open mind.

“Yeah. Maybe sometimes I do wonder what it would be like.”

“Like Jimmy?”

She could read my mind all right.

“Maybe.”

“If you wanted, I could go over to his house right now and see if I can catch him in front of a mirror. I’ve done it before. I could come back and tell you what he’s doing.”

It was tempting but I couldn’t let her.

“Or better yet, we could trade places and you could go look for yourself. Or anywhere else you wanted to go. I can show you how to hide in a mirror so they’ll never notice you.”

Wow, that was tempting! I almost gave in but some small, quiet voice inside me kept saying, no, no, no. Actually, it was more like a scream. I was scared to death to even consider climbing into that mirror or whatever you did to get into it.

She was as persistent as a vacuum cleaner salesman. I think she sensed the curiosity that was burning inside me.

“I know you’re frightened, Elizabeth, but there’s no need to be. You can’t get hurt in here and we can trade places back and forth easier than boys find dirt. You know, I think we’re going to be great friends. I’ve never had a girlfriend. C’mon, let’s trade! You’ll love it in here.”

Something told me to be cautious but something else told me I’d be nuts to pass up this opportunity. Besides, she didn’t seem that bad. Kind of nice, actually.

“How do we do it?”