The cold air blasted through Tori’s open windows, the deep red curtains billowing out and brushing the side of her bed. She shivered as she dressed and prepared, the feeling of being watched overcoming her as she made the final touches to her appearance in front of her credenza. Tori felt as if the walls were watching her, breathing down her neck. She was too tired for this. She prefered to ignore the uncomfortable feeling and kissed her mother and father on the cheek, walking to the bus stop. As her eyes flitted from an orange maple to a white pine to the glistening frost clinging to the assortment of cars resting in paved driveways, she reflected on her morning and her feeling of paranoia. Tori paused and stared at her distorted image in the reflection of a sleek black Ford, jumping as she made eye contact with her image. She continued on her way, meeting up with her friend at the high school entrance, a warm smile spreading across her face as she pushed the uneasiness to the back of her mind.
“Tori! Did you finish the chem homework? I couldn’t get numbers one through ten.” Lydia, Tori’s best friend, exclaimed as she chewed on a granola bar.
“Lyds, the homework was problems one through ten.”
“Well it’s a good thing we have lunch to finish it!”
Tori sighed in exasperation, taking a quick behind her as she lead Lydia to their first hour.

Vollrath 2
“Since the Mayan’s...” Tori blocked her teachers words out, staring at the worn wood of her desk, years of pencil graffiti and boredom-induced drool engraved into it. She glanced up every few seconds to make it seem like she was paying attention. She stared at the ground her shadow cast on the white tile from the classroom lights. Tori observed her shadow, the way her figure hunched, the blob-like outline of her desk. She rested her feet against the chair in front of her, the faint sound of the teacher a nagging presence as she thought back to her reflection in the Ford that morning, how it seemed to be fake, almost fabricated. She looked back down the the floor and watched her shadow for a few more moments before looking back up. She didn’t notice how the shadows head paused before assuming her position as well.
As they walked into the lunchroom later that day, Lydia droning on about how much she hated her algebra teacher, Tori’s eyes flitted to the large window by their lunch table. She watched life behind her move on, students interacting and functioning through their daily live, before looking at her reflection again. A gasp escaped her lips as the eyes in the window didn’t move to look back at her, stuck looking over her shoulder. She jumped as a hand landed on her arm, a small shriek leaving her.
“Woah! You alright? You zoned out for like 5 minutes.” Lydia worried, her grip on Tori’s arm tightening a bit. Tori didn’t answer, finishing her lunch as she worked through their chemistry homework for the second time. As they left for their next class a few minutes later, she stole a quick glance at the cold window. Her reflection followed her without a glitch.
Tori sighed as she trudged through the ever thickening snow, her boots sliding through the slush, her cold hands gripping the ends of her coat sleeves and her numb fingers fiddling with the black backpack straps. She had convinced herself earlier in the day that she was just seeing things, that she

Vollrath 3
hadn’t gotten enough sleep and it was coming back to bite her. A dark blue minivan sat in her drive and she quickened her pace to greet her mom and envelope herself in the warmth of the house. She entered the kitchen, hugging her mom in greeting.
“Mom, can I ask you something?” Tori hesitantly asked, fiddling with the bottom of her sweater.
“Of course, what’s up?” her mom responded absently, assorting the groceries into cabinets.
“Have you ever felt like someone was like, watching you, or following you, or something?” Tori muttered, her eyes glancing up at her warped reflection in the microwave, anxiously gnawing on her bottom lip and closely following the motion in the mirror, searching for a false movement.
“Uh no, not really? Why, do you?” her mom hummed, looking over at her daughter with a raised eyebrow.
“Never mind, it’s probably not that important, I’m just being stupid. I’ll be doing home work in my room.” Tori grumbled, walking upstairs and flopping onto her bed, completely ignoring the hours of work stashed in her backpack. She groaned as she walked to her bathroom, staring at her mirror in wonder.
“Why do I feel like someone’s watching me?” she sighed, staring at herself.
“I have no idea.” Her reflection replied. Tori screamed, stumbling back as she fumbled for the door handle, falling onto her bedroom floor.
“Mom! Mom!” she cried as her reflection stared after her in amusement. She heard her mother rush up the stairs before bursting into the room, looking around wildly,
“What? What?” she gasped.

Vollrath 4
“My-my, the mirror, it-” Tori stuttered. still trying to comprehend the strange occurrence from the bathroom.
“Oh, you found it already? I was hoping you wouldn’t see it until your dad came home.” Her mom sighed, running a hand through her hair. Tori paused, her mouth dropped in overwhelming surprise. Her mom lead her back to the bathroom and pointed at their reflections.
“I upgraded. I got you the new Reflection Plus! You can ask it questions and look stuff up and whatever else you do. It’s like your personal robot thing!” her mom cried, a huge smile on her face as she looked to her daughter in hopeful excitement.
“I...mom you didn’t have to! This must’ve cost a fortune, thanks!” Tori smiled, wrapping her mom in a hug, quickly pulling her phone out to text Lydia.
Tori finished her homework, climbing into bed, sending one last glance to her bathroom.
“Goodnight Tori.” her reflection called.