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T hat night, the RA stops by to promise popcorn and soda and eventually movies in the dorm lounge if we go mingle. My new roommate, Erin, rolls her eyes as she closes the door. “I’m going to see my boyfriend .”

“I’m all about popcorn,” I say, irritated at her too-cool-for-school attitude. Everyone should be happy to be here. I’m happy to be here, in our world, and not trapped between Heaven and Hell as a perpetual teenager. They could use a little perspective .

“Have fun.” She fluffs her bangs in the mirror hanging on the back of our door and then tosses a wave over her shoulder as she heads out .

I’m a fan of popcorn, it’s true, but I’m an even bigger fan of seeing Jax again. I wonder if he’s even going .

Just in case he is, I check my makeup in the mirror. I guess I shouldn’t make fun of my roommate and the way she checks her bangs every ten minutes .

When I smile at myself, my face doesn’t look quite familiar to me. I lost too much weight while my soul was lost in the Far, and now my smile seems too big in my thin face. I stick my tongue out at myself instead .

A second face appears in the mirror alongside mine, gaze fixed somberly on me .

As I spin on my heel, my fists rise, and I drop my weight low, ready for a fight .

My empty dorm room is in front of me: my roommate’s classic movie posters, our matching desks and the Hello Kitty comforter that I picked out for some reason at Target. The windows look out over the wedge. There’s no one else in here .

My skin prickles as if the room is cold, and I turn back to face the mirror .

There’s still a second face hovering in the mirror. Her dark hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and her features are blurry. She’s the girl from the hallway. Her lips move, but I can’t hear her .

Help me. She’s saying it over and over, forming the words dramatically with her lips .

“Okay,” I say. What else do you say to a ghost? “Who are you ?”

Her eyes widen as if she’s excited to have made contact. Whatever she’s trying to say next, I miss. I can’t lip-read as quickly as she’s speaking .

I cautiously approach the mirror, half-afraid that she’ll reach out of it and drag me in. I don’t know everything about the supernatural world .

She stops, raking her hand through her hair. The look she gives me is frustrated but more than that, her eyes are full of anguish .

Then she’s gone .

I’m alone in my room, and alone in the mirror. My reflection gazes back at me, wide-eyed and uncertain. My hands are still knit into fists, my posture aggressive, and I stop and shake out my shoulders .

I should have been terrified by a ghost. I should have screamed .

Who is she? I have to figure it out so I can help her .

But I’ve got an even more pressing question .

What the hell am I ?