She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, her fingers stuck in either side of her mouth. She pulled back and stretched her face into a hideous looking smile, ignoring the fact that by having her mouth open the tears and snot from her continued crying could now leak in and leave behind a rather unwelcome taste. Ofelia didn't care though as she forced herself to keep smiling again and again.

"Smile."

Her face was pulled, her shoulders shook.

"Smile."

Her hands were trembling and she couldn't even see the mirror anymore.

"S. . . . sm..."

Ofelia leaned against the sink, resting her face against the glass as her vision blurred in and out. Several tears ran down her face and dropped into the sink, having pooled at her chin before leaving entirely. A few decided to just run down her neck and into her shirt, soaking the front of her tank top in a rather odd looking puddle, but Ofelia could ignore all of that too.

"S. . . Ah need. . . "

The teen pushed herself back upwards again, her hands resting on the lips of the sink as she tried to gain her balance. She was dizzy from crying, she'd been going at it since Jordan had left, and even now remnants of that heart break still lingered on her face like a bad sickness. She was nauseated from carrying on as much as she had, not quite enough yet to actually vomit, but her stomach was still rolling inside and the butterflies were turning more into pigeons with each passing second. A few gags eventually escaped as she leaned in, however she stopped herself in time and rushed to the toilet, emptying the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl. She'd eaten nothing, or at least she didn't recall having a meal any time recently, so the bile that burned at her throat was an unwelcome taste that almost sent her into another round of puking.

Inside her head Rue started to chime in, a faint laughter that bordered on her usual cackle. It wasn't loud enough to be fully audible, the tone and volume controlled by the voice just enough that it sounded like a noise at a distance, and the laughter continued on and on like a looping track. The girl had a hard time hearing it over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, over the sound of her stomach retching as she knelled in front of the toilet and dumped a mouthful of bile once again. Her eye and nose were watering, drops of spit also falling from her lips, and against the laughter that Rue was still chanting Ofelia found herself chuckling as well.

This was ridiculous, all of this was ridiculous. She was overlapping her past with her brother with the incident with Jordan. It was no less than she deserved though, trying to actually reach out to someone in the hopes they'd love her and help her. She was selfish, she had wanted to be protected and told everything was going to be alright, but in the end everything came burning around her just like the barn she'd been standing in that night. It was strange that, even while she was in a cold bathroom with her hands on the sides of a toilet, she could feel the heat of the flames. Instead of smelling vomit, she smelled gasoline and burning wood. Instead of the sound of water dripping from a leaky faucet, she could hear the crackle and hiss of the barn wood as the flames licked at each and every surface. Her face had been sunburned that day, she knew it, but the walk to the school had sobered her up and had let the heat fall to the wayside.

Why was it that she was back in that barn now instead of in a stall at Deus Ex? Why was she thinking of that night with such clarity when she'd done everything in her power to place it behind her? Ofelia thought she'd buried all those memories, including the face and name of her brother (and aunt, by proxy) yet as she peered into the disgusting water all she could see was his face instead of her own skewed reflection. She could see his angry expression, she could feel the slap he delivered as a sting to her cheek. He'd struck her on the side without her eye, her blind side, and when he'd gone to apologize she'd called him an a*****e. He called her something in return though his voice was lost to the sound of the fire. If only the flames would eat all memories, she bitterly thought.

The laugh track was coming back now, a little louder than before. Rue had been silent during the flood of memories, perhaps she was looking at them just as Ofelia had been, but as soon as they stopped the monster started again and let her partner know just how the teen stood in the boo hag's opinion. It was still faint enough that Ofelia had to strain to hear it, but the laughter was still there. It wasn't a jovial laughter, it wasn't a sarcastic laughter. The laughter was mocking and cruel, the sound of a person laughing at another's expense. Ofelia was low on Rue's list of priorities of likes and dislikes, and the weapon took no pains to hide such things.

Her stomach finally settled Ofelia pushed herself to her feet with a few sways, her hand fumbling to find the lever that flushed the contents of her stomach down the drain. As the water roared and lowered down the drain the image of her brother's face vanished with it, taking alongside the crackle of the fire and the feeling of warmth. She was back in the dim bathroom again, the cold seeping up at her from the tiled floors. A shiver ran down her spine as she walked over to the mirror and sink, the tap turned on so she could wash her hands and mouth. The water tasted bitter as she gargled it and spit it out, finally satisfied after the taste was gone and she thought everything looked clean. Her tears had stopped somewhere between vomit one and two, and looking into the mirror all she could see was a face that was tear streaked on one side, scarred on the other. Since losing her eye she could never shed tears from that side again, not that it bothered her, but every now and then she thought it would be better if her hysterics were balanced.

This time a cackle came from her lips at that thought, about how ridiculous she was. This life she was living wasn't a life, not if she finally wished she could cry from both eyes instead of one, and she placed her hand over her missing eye in the mirror, her fingers scrunched up against the glass. Everything needed to go away again, she needed to believe again that nothing was wrong. She felt stupid for crying, she normally never cried at home, yet here she'd shed tears twice in front of the same person. The first time had brought her closer, the second time had driven her away. Now she cried for herself, a pathetic mess, and all she could feel was nothingness that threatened the back of her mind.

"Smile."

Her fingers went back into the corners of her mouth, her lips once again pulled back into the grotesque and forced smile. Her lips trembled and her eyes seemed to water, but they held steady enough that nothing happened. No more tears, no more worries. Ofelia wasn't going to think of them anymore, she wasn't going to admit anything had happened. She was fine with playing pretend, always hiding things and denying that something was wrong. She was a master at telling herself that everything was okay, that she was right, and now would be no different. She wasn't angry at anyone, no one was mad at her, and everything was okay. Everyone was friends, she wasn't getting death threats. Everything was okay, everything was fine.

"Smile."

The fingers were removed and the grin stayed, the eye above it cold and cruel before it glossed over into a look of blissful ignorance. The teen lowered her hands to her sides and kept the smirk, keep the lies to herself, before suddenly pulling her fist back and punching the mirror. The glass shattered as easily as a dropped cup and, thanks to Rue, nothing remained on the girl's knuckles to show she was the one who'd done it. She turned to leave as fragments started to fall into the sink, the water she left running starting to pool as the drain began to become clogged. She turned the tap off and looked up at her shattered and scattered reflection, the grin on her lips finally fading.

"Smile, Ofelia."

The laughter grew louder as Ofelia reached the door and stepped out into the hallway.