Manipulative Reflection

Astra cautiously walks through the hall and towards the bathroom and attempted to not make any noise. At least not until they got in there, as they could hear the light snoring from their roommate coming from another part of the apartment.

It's not just my 'silly imagination'... I know what happened! They turned the doorknob and entered, still quietly as possible. In the next step, Astra managed to somehow be even more careful, by just simply closing the door, which was known to be creaky.

A grin appeared on the teenager's face once successfully inside, though they made sure the lights were pretty dim. What if he saw the light? Astra couldn't have that happening. Now let's see if it's like last time...

The teen practically jumped in front of the large mirror, which had been decorated (at least on the corners, they never let him get farther) with some sort of things from the '80s. Ugh...why can't I just remove those? It looks terrible!

Although the mirror being decorated was the least of Astra's problems with it, they could fix it once the first major one was fixed. If it could be fixed. Speaking of which...

Astra turned their attention to the reflection that was currently staring back at them. It would have been normal if 'normal' means that the reflection was smiling when they were frowning, and with it waving to Astra, whose hands were both at their side. I was right...!

The reflection of Astra didn't even entirely look like them, which while not as freaky as it moving, was still creepy and strange. The hair was lighter and longer, they were just slightly shorter, and it was wearing some sort of jacket. "Hello..." Astra nervously spoke, and it was almost a mumble.

Mirror Astra finally stopped waving towards the actual one and seemed delighted that they actually spoke, and didn't scream. "Hiya! I'm so glad that I can finally do this, I've always wanted to talk with you!" Their mirror self couldn't help but jump up and down from excitement.

The real Astra backed up in surprise, though they didn't want to just bolt out of there, that would alert Orion, and what would they tell him? He still wouldn't believe it. "What do you mean by that? Have you always been...alive?!"

The reflection nodded with a grin that began to grow, and once again, they began jumping up and down from excitement. "Oh, yes, yes! In fact, we all are! Although-" Mirror Astra paused and looked towards the door, as both of them could hear light footsteps.

Astra glanced at their reflection quickly, before turning off the light, and hurrying out. Not even bothering to give Mirror Astra a little 'goodbye' or anything of the sort. Once out of the room, they immediately bumped into a tired and startled Orion.

"Astra," He yawned and rubbed his eyes, "What are you doing up at three in the morning...you should go back to sleep." He didn't seem to be staring at them though, as Astra followed his eyes, he was looking towards the front door.

They crossed their arms and slightly leaned against the wall. "I could ask ya the same thing..."

He sighed and already began heading towards the front door. "Going out for a little walk...couldn't sleep." He explained and pulled out his earbuds and phone.

"I needed to..." They stopped themself when the door was suddenly slammed shut, and Orion seemed to mumble something, but Astra couldn't make it out.

The next day...

Orion wasn't back at the apartment the next day, and Astra would have started to get worried, but he later texted that he was with another friend. That meant he would be gone for most of the day...and Astra could speak with the reflection.

Astra finished eating the nearly expired pancakes and biscuits, and then hurried off into the bathroom, and clicked the lock. Mirror Astra looked absolutely bored and was messing with their hair. "Oh, there you are! What took you so long??"

The real one didn't answer that question, and instead, they took out their toothbrush and toothpaste. "Explain. Now, please." They had mumbled towards their reflection, before beginning to brush their teeth.

Mirror Astra watched them patiently for a moment, before nodding and explaining...some part of it. Not all of it, that would take hours. "It's quite simple! We've all been alive for as long as the real one, and after...uh...well...after..."

Astra spat the toothpaste out and wiped their mouth, though they stared at their reflection a little confused. "After what? What happened?" They leaned a little closer, which caused Mirror Astra to jump.

Mirror Astra shook their head and slightly looked away from the real one. "Eh... never mind, it's not that important. Though I've been alive as long as you, and we have a chance to talk to the real version, we just have to pick the right time." They grinned.

"And why is this the 'right time'?" Astra questioned.

"Well, you seemed so upset a while ago, so I was wanting to talk with you! And... something may have been going on with me as well." Mirror Astra admitted.

"Oh..."

Three days later...

While Astra still wanted to make sure Orion knew that the reflection was actually real and alive, they kinda figured that it might not happen. Their reflection 'claimed' that only that the real person that the reflection was based off of could only see them. No one else.

Besides, Orion seemed to be visiting a few of his older friends a lot more in the past few days. Today was one of them. "Wait, O, can I ask you something??" Astra sat their hand on his shoulder.

"Fine, what is it?"

"Has anything...strange happened to you in the bathroom?" Astra asked, trying not to sound weird or awkward.

He seemed to pause for a few moments, trying his best to actually remember if anything like that happened. "Well...a few years ago, I did find a few baby crocodiles in the toilet. That was a weird few weeks..."

Once he explained...whatever that was, and left for the friend's house, Astra headed into the bathroom. "Hey, hey, hey Astra! Come over here!" Their mirror self tapped the glass repeatedly as the real one locked the door.

They sighed as they walked over and rubbed their eyes, preparing to get a few things. "Alright, I'm here now...what is it M.A.?" They asked, already getting used to how jumpy and excited, and sometimes...strange, their reflection could be.

"I want you to come closer first." Mirror Astra grinned, but this time...something felt off about it. Although Astra didn't entirely see the look, and obeyed, carefully stepping closer.

The reflection's hands suddenly reached towards the real one, and they were in the real bathroom, and in front of Astra. "Oh...what in the..."

The hands grabbed the real version as tightly as they could, not wanting to let go of them, and pulled Astra inside of the mirror. Then came the next part, Mirror Astra's grin grew, and they jumped out of the mirror.

As they did this, everything began to change. Not the stuff in or around the bathroom, but the changes began to happen to Mirror Astra themself.

The hair began to change first, the color and length becoming like the real Astra's. The same thing happened with their height, growing slightly taller, and the clothes changing into what Astra had previously been wearing.

They were Astra now.