If I didn’t hurry up, I was going to miss the bus. And yet I stared at the slice of mirror, transfixed as though I’d just witnessed a murder.

And in a way, I had. The murder of me.

Snap out of it.

I didn’t listen to the cranky little voice in my head, even though I knew it was right. Mom would kill me if I had to run back home and beg for a ride to school.

Skip it.

This time a different voice spoke. At first I brushed the thought aside like an irksome fly, but the more I considered playing hooky, the more I wanted to do it. And the more I stared into that sliver of mirror, the more watery my bright blue eyes looked, and the more my thoughts swam and injected painful memories into me like poison.

He was threatening to kill me if I didn’t let him have his way…

The tears fell.

He was smiling evilly, whispering into my ear…

The sobs began.

I tried to escape…

I screamed.

He told me never to tell a soul what happened.

I flung the mirror away. And like my heart, it shattered.