“Shit,” Josie said out loud, but her voice was muffled and distorted. She lost her balance, stumbled forward trying to right herself, and tripped on the bottom edge of the mirror’s frame, which sent her flailing through the mirror into Jo’s room.
She fell in slow motion through the portal, right up until the moment she broke the plane into Jo’s room. Then her momentum sped up and her shoulder slammed into plush carpet, momentarily sucking the breath out of her lungs. She squinted her eyes closed against the full force of the electric lighting as she sat up, rubbing the arm that had broken her fall. Through the mirror she could see her room: dimly lit by her bedside lamp, her cluttered belongings looked so little-girlish in comparison to Jo’s sophisticated décor. It was a whole different world.
Universe, more exactly. She was in a parallel universe, the existence of which science had been trying to prove for decades.
And which Josie had proven in one clumsy moment. Awesome.
Josie’s eyes rested on Jo’s desk, where a pen and paper stood neatly lined up beside a framed, smiley photo of Jo and her parents. Perfect. Jo might not have been there, but Josie could prove that she had been.
She dashed across the room and wrote a quick note.
I’m real. And I walked through the mirror. Meet me tonight?
—Josie
Josie smiled, hoping the note wouldn’t freak Jo out too much. That’s when she saw it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the image in the mirror distort as the surface began to ripple. The image of her own bedroom came in and out of focus. The portal was starting to close.
Josie threw herself toward the mirror. As she passed through, she could almost feel the mirror beginning to solidify. The gooey interior felt more like hardening concrete. Her bedroom was pulling away from her, racing down a long hallway. Josie pumped her legs, desperately trying to step into her own world before the portal closed for good. Instead of the split second it had taken her to fall through into Jo’s room, Josie felt as if she’d been in the portal forever. What happened if it closed before she reached her room? Where would she be?
The weight of the portal grew heavier and denser, and for one sick moment Josie felt as if the space around her was going to crush the life from her body. Her lungs burned, and Josie gasped for air. She could still see her room, distant, dark. She had to get there. Had to. With all the strength left in her, Josie leaped forward, arms outstretched, desperate to catch hold of the mirror’s frame. It seemed too far away. Too far to reach. Her eyes closed; her mind went blank.
Then her hand felt the edge of the frame. She clawed at it and pulled her body through. As soon as she rolled onto the hardwood floor of her bedroom, her lungs worked and Josie gulped in huge mouthfuls of air.
She glanced back and saw her own reflection in the mirror. She’d just made it.
4:00 A.M.
Josie stood up, her back creaking in protest. She’d fallen through the mirror. She’d been to the other side, and she’d almost gotten trapped there. Passing back through the mirror, just at the moment the portal started to close, reminded her of the theoretical descriptions of passing the event horizon into a black hole. Time elongated. Physical matter stretched. And your body felt like it was being pulled apart.
Note to self: don’t get caught in the portal.
Still, she’d done it. She’d been to the other side.
Jo’s room had been so clean, so rich. The photo on Jo’s bureau showed a happy family, not one ripped apart by divorce. Then Josie thought of Nick, Jo’s Nick. Nick, who met Jo for picnics in the park. Nick, who gave Jo a necklace of two entwined hearts. In Jo’s world, Nick still loved her. In Jo’s world, Josie could make up for what happened between herself and Nick. . . .
Josie stared at the mirror, which currently reflected just the cluttered, spastic mess that was her room. But there, just on the other side, was a place where all of Josie’s woes didn’t exist.
All she had to do was walk through the mirror.
SEVENTEEN
3:59 P.M.
JO WAS IN THE MIRROR AS THE IMAGE DISSOLVED from Josie’s jean shorts and tank top to Jo’s satin pajamas. This time, Josie didn’t waste a second. She took a deep breath and plunged into the portal.
“Oh my God,” Jo said as Josie’s feet landed on the soft carpet of her room. “You came through.”
“I know,” Josie said, somewhat breathlessly. “Cool, huh?”
“Um, yeah.” Jo sounded like cool wasn’t quite the adjective she’d use.
They stared blankly for a moment, each examining the other. Josie knew what Jo saw. Her dirty blond hair was a tangled mess and her face was devoid of makeup, typical Saturday fashion for someone with no place to go. Meanwhile Jo’s bright blond tresses fell on either side of her face in perfect spirals that cascaded over her shoulders, even though it was the middle of the night.
“So we’re the same person or something,” Jo blurted out. “Is that it?”
“Kind of,” Josie said. She wasn’t sure she wanted to get into a long discussion of theoretical quantum theory if she only had a minute until the portal closed.