WEB EXCLUSIVE

I look in the mirror and see two people staring back at me. Not in a multiple-persona way, but in a dual-personality way.

I look Left, and I see a laughing, outgoing and spontaneous person who loves to be the center of attention and who will talk to everybody, who isn’t afraid to share her opinions. I look Right, and I see a girl who likes to keep to herself and work on math problems quietly, who enjoys comic books and computers.

These are only two of my personalities, but they are my most prominent. I’m different with my family, I’m different with my fellow theatre kids, I’m different with my robotics team, and I’m different with my classmates. I’m never the same with various people.

My Left is the one that makes the most friends, I think. Left knows a lot of people and is involved with every school play and any drama within the cast.  She’s always talking, always smiling, always laughing because she’s always happy. At least, that’s what she wants you to think.

Right, on the other hand, has few friends. She doesn’t know anyone besides her robotics teammates, and will only nod to classmates in the hallways instead of talking to them. She spends her extra time tutoring math, playing games on code.org and building robots. And when she’s home, she does her homework right away then reads fanfiction of whatever show she’s into.

Left likes to procrastinate on her homework because she chose to plop on the couch with some Goldfish while opening Netflix, then do her homework during other classes the next day.

Right loves taking classes like AP Lang, AP U.S. History, AP Physics, Programming and Pre-calculus, and she does her best, never giving up, ready to ask for help when it’s needed.

Left likes these classes too, but she’s more ready to text a friend for the worksheet answers and hardly glance at a study guide before the test. They both excel in those classes,  together.

They both have friends. Right might have closer and better friends, but Left has more.

They’re both happy.

I may have a Left and Right, but what most people see is my Middle, which is neither and both of my Left and Right. Middle is one who isn’t close to anyone, or is the one visible to family. Middle is friendly and smiles, but can also be quite reserved and socially awkward. When I look in the mirror, I see all of these mes.

But I’m not alone.

I think everyone sees multiple versions of themselves, and that nobody really knows anybody, not fully.  The only one who truly knows is the ever-present reflection in the mirror.