I remember the week so vividly, every moment replaying in my head. I still remember the face that stared back at me that week. The cold and devilish look she had given me still makes me shiver with fear even 2 years later. I can’t help but think that she’s still out there. Almost like she’s with me everyday.

I was out with some friends at my favorite mall hoping to buy a pair of new jeans that were in style that summer. They had a dark wash to them with rips at the knees, but the best part were the shimmering rhinestones that lined the side hem of the jeans. They were just perfect. We searched every store in the mall hoping to find the jeans, but we had no luck. We ended up stopping by a small, cute ice cream shop hoping to grab a sweet treat before heading home for the day. The shop had an adorable ice cream statue that smiled at us just outside, right of the glass door next to the “Today’s Special” sign. The floors were black and white checkered, and there were booths against the walls giving an old-fashioned feel. The seats of the booths were covered in red laminate fabric. The back rests were made of shiny silver metal that pressed up right against the wall. We waited in the long line filled with dozens of little kids waiting to grab their cold sweets. I had gotten a double scoop strawberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles to top it off. My friends Evelyn and Adeline had both gotten vanilla with chocolate sprinkles. We found a nice booth at the back in a small corner. The light above us was slightly flickering. As I was sitting down, I must’ve tripped on something because I flew forwards landing on top of my ice cream. “Well there goes my ice cream.” I mumbled disappointingly. The ice cream had gotten all over my brand new white sweater too. “What a way to ruin a perfect day.” I said in my head. I headed to the bathroom to wash up and tried to get as much as the ice cream out of my sweater before it stained. The hallway to the bathroom was very dark, only lightened by a dim light. I suddenly got chills as I reached for the bathroom door. The bathroom was one stalled and very tight. The walls were cotton candy pink and on the sink there was a bouquet of wilting plumerias along with lotuses and a handful of orchids. I looked around for some paper towels to dampen. I found a white towel on a metal rack on the wall and reached for it. I went to the sink to wet the towel, turning the handle to the left to receive warm water. I looked up into the mirror and saw a figure staring right back at me. She looked exactly like me. I quickly turned around and she was gone. I looked back at the mirror examining it wondering if I was just seeing things. Shaking, I went back to my table where my friends sat. I told them what happened and they both said I could just be hallucinating. 

I slowly forgot about what happened as Evelyn brought up how she had accidentally poured paint on the art teacher Mr. McCallahan earlier that day. While listening to her story something had caught my eye in the distance, so I peered out the window. It looked like a figure was staring back at me. Hands were pressed up against the newly polished window. This time I could see the figure more clearly. She had long, dark, and wavy hair just like mine, the only differences between me and her were that she had a scar on her left eyebrow and that her eyes were hazel while mine were green. It looked like the figure's mouth was moving, but I couldn't make out what it was saying. I look back at my friends. “Guys look!” When they both turned their heads, the figure was gone. At this point I looked insane and started to think I was. I was starting to get scared. Was there really another one of me? Evelyn, Adeline, and I finished up our ice cream and went our separate ways. 

Walking through the parking garage to my black Sedan, I felt as though I wasn’t alone. I looked behind me, but no one was there. I felt a short gust of wind. Looking for my car keys I checked my pockets and my purse when something grabbed my arm. It was gray and colorless with a cold touch. I looked up, but there was no one there. Frightened, I quickly found my keys which were in the pocket of my purse and went into my car.

Shortly after I got home I received a text from Evelyn.

“Hey where did you go after we all separated, you seemed off.”

I was confused because I know for a fact that I went straight to my car and drove home. I texted the group chat between me, Adeline, and Evelyn hoping to get an explanation. Three hours go by without a response back from them. 

I decided to take my mind off of this entire situation and started to clean up around my room. I had some laundry in my hands as I walked past the window and saw a woman standing in my backyard. I recognized that scar.

I decided to go out to my backyard to see if what I really saw was real. There she was, or I was, standing right before me. Her skin was the same pale, almost gray, her eyes looked lifeless and she had bruised knuckles, a shade of deep purple. What was she? Right before I could ask any questions, her eyes widened and just like that, she had disappeared in thin air.

A few months after that  day I was sitting in my room watching Criminal Minds when my phone screen lit up. To my surprise it was Evelyn. Ever since that day Adeline and Evelyn hadn’t spoken to me which bothered me a bit. Honestly I was pretty hurt because I never found out why they stopped talking to me. I could tell that the text that Evelyn sent was pretty long. 

“Hey, it’s been a while. I felt like I should explain myself for why Adeline and I stopped talking to you. I recently started feeling pretty guilty for leaving you that way. Adeline still doesn’t want to speak to you, but I felt like you deserved an explanation.”

I was shocked that Evelyn was talking to me again or even giving me an explanation. I wasn’t expecting what she said next.

“From what I remember, when me and Adeline were headed back to our cars, we saw you standing in the middle of the road, hair messed up, a rip on your shirt with what looked like a washed out blood stain. There looked to be blood dripping from your hand. Adeline saw the blood and you made direct eye contact with her. I remember you yelling out the most gut-wrenching scream. Your mouth expanded looking inhumane and then after the scream and a period of silence you mumbled to us ‘Until next time.’ After that day we didn’t want to be near you anymore because we didn’t know what had been going on with you.

“Oh no” I thought to myself. It was her. I tried to explain to Evelyn that it wasn’t me and that I had seen another one of myself. A doppelganger. Evelyn was still skeptical, but at least she was understanding. I knew that there wouldn't be enough convincing in the world to get Adeline back.

It has been two years since that incident. I haven’t seen my doppelganger ever since. I have a feeling every once in a while that she is still out there, and I’m afraid that I will come across her again.