The Mirror: Chapter One

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There are two types of reality in this world. The first being the perceived reality, that which is the norm. The second being that of the intangible, the reality which exists in the mind but may not truly be experienced by the rest of society. But in certain situations these realities can collide. And in these situations the intangible may become tangible while only existing to certain individuals. But these circumstances rarely ever occur. They are something of an illusive quality and tend to show themselves only on occasion. So the tangible and intangible remain separated; the perceived reality taking president over the intangible. But there are the few unexplained occurrences in the world, which point to the connection between the two realities. But whether or not society can see beyond the perceived is that of an unknown state. 

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Light. It seemed to be the bane of her existence. Those first amber streaked rays of sunlight that found their way inside of her bedroom each morning seemed to enjoy taunting her. The ambient rays of light seeped into the room from behind thin, sheer curtains. Long dark shadows were cast about the room and danced about different objects; the dark outlines intertwined to form intricate works of art throughout the enclosed space. The room itself, was a mess. Some may not have expected it from the girl who lived in it, but to others, it seemed to make sense. Clothes were strewn everywhere, some catching the light of the amber sun and throwing shadows and spectrum's of color about the room. And sheet music almost seemed to explode around the weighted keyboard, which sat in the farthest, darkest corner of the room. Almost as if the piano could not hold so many notes and chords at once. And although it wasn't exactly contributing to the mess, the many pictures pinned about the walls certainly did make the room seem more cluttered. Many of the pictures were drawings, drawings of different people, scenes, and some indistinguishable pictures of anything from, or pertaining to, reality.

And in the middle of the colossal upheaval of clutter groaned the figure of its owner. The girl happened to be sprawled out across the length of the queen-sized, wrought iron bed that sat in the corner opposite the keyboard. A massive pile of blonde hair lay splayed out across the pillow. The face of the girl remained buried in the white depths of the cushy pillow. But that alone was not enough to block out the sunlight, which now seemed to pour into the small space. Arietta Lyric Carlisle was not a morning person. She had never liked the concept of it, she didn't even enjoy breakfast. But her parents seemed determined to make sure that she was a morning person. And if that meant replacing her heavy burgundy curtains with sheer cream-colored ones, they would do it. And they had.

Arietta also wasn't one who enjoyed attending school. And because her parents were all about her going to college, skipping the first few periods was not exactly an option, hence, the curtains. Her annoyance seemed only to double as the grating blaring of her alarm sounded. And it was right next to her ear. Slowly the massive rat's nest of blonde hair lifted, if only slightly, to glare at the alarm clock. And if that weren't enough to fill her day with joy, only seconds later her mother's head popped through the door. Camerata was a rather petite woman, and fairly thin as well. She was just barley five-foot-three, her frame not helping her height either. She was all bones, mostly cheekbones, and her skinniness only accentuated this feature in her. Unlike her daughter, Camerata's hair fell in wispy chestnut strands, just past her shoulders. Although, it was always styled up.

"Arietta. Why are you not out of bed already? School will be starting soon!" her mother's high-pitched voice sounded almost as grating to her as the alarm that was continuing to blare in her ear. Arietta ran a long-fingered hand through the knots of hair that encircled her face, knowing full well that a shower was most definitely needed.

"School doesn't start for two hours Mom."

"Well, you can never be to cautious. What if there's traffic? Or what if-"

"Alright Mom, I'm getting up. See?" she pushed herself up into a sitting position, giving her mother a look. Camerata merely waved an irritated hand and left the room, her small ponytail bouncing behind her as her pajama pants dragged along the floor. Arietta rolled her eyes and pushed herself into a standing position. After fiddling with the alarm for over three minutes, she finally gave up and just unplugged the damn thing. If it wasn't going to play nice, neither was she. As her feet padded along the hardwood floor and out into the hallway a small shiver ran through her body. Before she walked into the bathroom, she squinted over the stair railing to see her father munching on cereal in the kitchen downstairs. His thick blonde hair was graying rapidly, though it still kept its depth. Small, square glasses rested low on his nose as he stared transfixed at the morning paper.

Arietta shook her head and closed the door behind her as she entered the bathroom. Of course, because of her mother's decorating, the room was a proper powder blue. And all the accents, white. Arietta turned on the shower and waited for the water to turn hot before stepping in. As the stinging water rolled over her muscles she let herself relax a bit. The one thing she did like about mornings were showers. They were fantastic. But as she thought about the day ahead, her lips slowly formed into a frown. The thought of sitting in class after class of boring subjects was dragging down her mood greatly.

It didn't take long to dry her hair. It seemed to be a mixture of her parent's, for although her hair wasn't as wispy and thin as her mother's, it wasn't as thick and coarse like her father's. It seemed to be placed somewhere in the middle. Though she did inherit her father's blonde locks. Although her hair was naturally a bit wavy, she still went through the trouble of curling it slightly. She had gotten into the habit after middle school, with her mother pestering her about looks. After a quick application of makeup, Arietta headed back to her room. When she glanced over the banister she could still see her father intently reading the paper, her mother was perched on the couch watching something on the television, although Arietta couldn't quite see what.

Finally, she averted her smokey eyes and walked back into her room. Again, Arietta wasn't one to truly care about the mess which was her room. But she did find it a bit frustrating and difficult to find clothes that were clean in the massive throng of shirts, pants, and such. She did finally manage to settle on something. She looked in the single mirror of her room and shrugged. It's not like anyone was really going to care what she wore anyway.

She bounced down the stairs as slowly as she could, drawing out each movement. Her mother sent her an irritated look but said nothing more. Arietta walked over to the counter and grabbed her keys. Her father didn't so much as even glance in her direction as she pulled the dangly, clattering keys away from the spot next to his cereal. He truly was engrossed in whatever he was reading. She supposed something interesting must have happened.

"Alright. I'm leaving.... walking out the door.... going to school...." she said, backing away towards the front door. Her mother turned around, resting her arm on the back of the couch.

"Okay honey, see you after school."

"Alright... bye..." she finished as she eased the front door to a close. As soon as it clicked shut she bounded towards her car. Yes she drove a bug, and yes it was her baby. She loved that car. The navy blue paint stared back at her as she slid into the front seat. It wasn't long before she was puttering down the road and towards the main town. The Carlisle's lived in a nice little neighborhood, with charming houses and little drama. But when you drove into downtown of the secluded mountain city, the more interesting things became. The old rundown houses began to emerge here and there, some interesting looking people walked along the streets, and the whole quality of the place dropped. As her car slowly crawled through the downtown traffic, she glanced out at the old buildings and shops, which lined the main road. They all looked rundown and washed out to her. But soon the traffic was moving again and she turned her attention back to the road.

As she drove up to the high school, she could help but let the frown from earlier return to her face. She truly did loathe the place. And as she parked she suddenly remembered why. Unlike like some high school's, cheer leading did not rule Emerson High. So that one popular bitch was not some ditsy blonde with an attitude jumping around in a little pleated skirt. No, that bitch had long black hair, dark green eyes, and was named Cassandra. She played volleyball; that was her only claim to fame. But she had a temper that could whip any head cheerleader into submission. And she absolutely detested Arietta. She could never figure out why, but Cassy, as she was called, had made it her life's mission to make Arietta's life a living hell.

"Working or walking honey, working or walking?" she snickered as she and her cult walked pass. Arietta gave the girl a simple smirk before slamming her car door closed. She felt it better to simply ignore Cassandra. She liked to compare her to a three-year old. If you ignored them long enough, soon they would give up and leave you alone. And the theory seemed to work on the volleyball player. And Arietta couldn't help but get a small satisfaction out of that.

As people began walking up towards the old, faded building, Arietta didn't move. For some reason, she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to handle the long drum of school today. So instead of walking to her first class after the bell rang, she walked across the parking lot and towards the football field. But she didn't stop when she reached the wet morning grass, she kept walking towards the old buildings. See the school had been rebuilt after a small fire had burnt down the original buildings. But for some reason, the few buildings that survived had been kept standing. She figured there had to be something interesting in those. And if not, at least she would be alone.

As she approached the largest of the buildings she was able to make out a small plaque next to the large double doors. Gymnasium. She pushed against the right door. Nothing. Locked. Then she tried the left, and what do you know, it was open. She slowly stepped inside the dusty dark room. The lights were off, as she expected, and everything was silent. As she walked around the rather small basketball court she glanced around. It didn't seem like much was inside. When she caught sight of another door she walked over. Perhaps it would lead to something interesting. In fact, it had led to the locker rooms. She glanced down the rows of lockers, again not finding much. Though at the end of the room there was a mirror. She wasn't sure why, but something about it seemed odd. So she went to take a closer look. When she tilted her head and looked at the object, she could find anything odd about it. So she reached out to touch the reflective surface. And that's when her world was turned upside down.