“What’s wrong,” he asked.

“Everything.”

“Don’t give me that. What’s wrong?”

“I’m so ugly I-”

“Stop. I’m going to say this once so listen. You are beautiful. No. That’s a meaningless, overused word. You are stunning. Not just in your looks, either. In what you are. Everything about you is flawless.

“I love you, Rach. I really do.”

“And I love you t-”

“No. Don’t say it back because I love you differently. I love you. No, I’m in love with you. And I cannot stand to see you put yourself down. I can’t stand to see the most amazing, gorgeous girl I know putting herself down. I won’t stand for it. So please shut up and accept yourself.”

I was speechless. Did my best friend of ten years just confess that he loved me? That he was in love with me? How do I respond to that?

Joe stared at me as if he wanted me to respond. I didn’t know what to say. What do you say? I never thought about him that way. It had crossed my mind a few times but I never thought it what happen.

Of course he was everything I wanted in a boy friend. Everything I liked. The more I thought about it the more clear it became. I did love him.

“You’re wrong,” I started, “it is the same kind of love. I love you too.”

When I said that I felt better. Like I had removed a burden I had been carrying. Joe was about to open his mouth and I heard a loud crack.

I looked around until I saw the mirror. I crack spread even more until it was straight through the middle of the mirror. It was useless now.

“Finally that damned mirror is broken. I want you to take into consideration that you’ve never actually seen your face. Only in reflections and pictures. If you saw yourself you’d think you were dazzling too.”

“I never thought of it that way.”

“I know you didn’t. That’s why I’m here to enlighten you.”

We looked at each other and smiled. Joe got up and took the mirror out of my corner and took it to the garage. When he came back, we looked at each other for a long time.

After a while I got up and went to hug him. I was glad he was in my life, through thick and thin.
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