Out of her depth

“You’re just jealous. Aren’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why would I be jealous of you?  Seriously.”

Mary Ellen stood in front of the vanity. She stared deeply into her own reflection. “I know you’re jealous because all the boys think I’m prettier than you. …And you don’t have a date for the prom yet. Don’t worry. I can fix you up with Joey.”

“Mary Ellen, I really don’t care about the prom or stupid Joey. I’m just trying to focus on my exams so I can get into college.”

“Seriously Ginnie. I can’t believe you are just blowing off the most important night of your life to study for exams. College schmollege. And what are you going to do with a college degree? End up at McDonalds like the rest of us. I don’t need a college degree to work at Manicures r Us.”

True, nowadays a college degree barely qualifies you to say: “Would you like fries with that?” But I wasn’t in it for the degree. I just needed access to a lab.

“Mary Ellen,” I said. “I want you to come over to my house tonight. Then you’ll understand why I’m not going to the prom.”

Later that night, Mary Ellen followed me down into the basement.

“Just to be safe Mary Ellen, don’t walk into the …. “

Mary Ellen didn’t listen. She was mesmerized by what she saw.

“Oh no!”

I was going to revolutionize the courier system, but I hadn’t figured out how to reverse the process yet. I shouldn’t have used such a reflective surface for the 3-D to 2-D converter. Mary Ellen never could resist her own reflection.She floated to the floor like a paper doll. She always did lack depth.