I woke up and was greeted by my roommate, who gave me a freaking slap. 

I yelped and cupped my cheek in pain, "Shit, why did you do that?!"

He just stared blankly at me. "Dude, you screamed like a little girl for like ten minutes. This isn't the first slap I gave you; it's the fifth!"

Now that he said it, it felt kinda swollen. "Ouch!" I winced when I put a little too much pressure on the area. 

"Don't be a pussy! When will you finally man up? Gee, it's like living with a girl," he complained and looked down on me, "you're not even having a morning wood."

"You're an asshole, Brian. Only a pervert would have something like this after a terrible nightmare and getting slapped repeatedly on the face," I answered him emotionless. 

"Huh, aren't you one? I mean, you get up to some pretty nasty shit. Like those..."

"Stop, stop, stop," I panicked and threw my pillow into his face, "how do you even know that?!"

He caught the pillow and smirked, "Bro, you are not as secretly as you think you are. And you moan...loudly..." 

"Wh-wh-what?!" I stuttered and turned deep red. 

Brain rubbed his temples, "Dude, you EVEN blush like a girl. Exactly this is why the other men in the dorm call you our little princess. You seriously need to hit the gym with me and finally gain some muscles. Not enough that you are scrawny; you also have long hair and wear those oversized clothes. Even the girls in my club think you're one of them."

Completely forgetting the horror that had just happened in my dream, I looked at him indignantly. "Would it be so terrible if I WOULD BE a girl?" 

"You aren't, so stop making excuses. And quit being a sissy, alright? I'm just looking out for you, man. You know, many of the other guys want to beat the shit out of you cause they think you're a homo. So lucky that I'm here," he boasted and threw the pillow back into the bed.

I sighed. This wasn't the first time we had had this conversation. I know I wasn't the perfect picture alpha male, but I just didn't like the thought of being 'bulky', okay? Well, I didn't like my body right now either, but this was a totally different matter. Also, most of those guys dubbed me with girlish terms, probably out of spite, cause they were jealous. Who wouldn't? Girls were great, and I would totally swap if I had the chance. But I couldn't cause I'm a guy, and there is no way to become one. That was the sad fact. 

I shook my head to lose those depressing thoughts. They stirred something up in me that I only wanted to forget. To my relief, Brian opened his 'super' tactful mouth again. 

"Now, please, stand up. I'm hungry. You know I can't eat my morning cereals without you opening this shitty fridge safe. I still don't get why you bought it. Everyone on this floor thinks you're a brick because of this!" he complained.

"Me? Really? They always steal our milk and never buy a new one. I'm not their freaking mom, okay? Would they at least ask first, but noooo. And I'm not telling you the code for one reason: You would only spill it out to them. Furthermore, THIS. IS. MY. MILK."

"Don't be like that, bro. We're roommates. So chop-chop and get ready, princess."   

...there was no talking with him. Oh, whatever. I hoped my application for a single room will be approved next term. And that he really saw me watching those clips...even so, he was totally wrong about the reason why I watched them! 

Giving him the stinky eye—whereon he only rolled his eyes at me—I hurriedly walked past him and went into the mirrorless bathroom.

 

---

 

Twenty-five minutes later, I walked out in my bathrobe, grabbed my clothes, and went back in. Shortly after, I was ready for the day.

As sexist as Brian was, he was still rather nice to me. Or he was just super hungry. It was one of those two. Anyway, Brian was waiting at the door with my bag. 

But before I went to him, I made my bed and nodded satisfied, whilst I heard the ruffled groan behind me. 

"Yes, yes. Coming," I replied, turned around, and noticed that there was a big mirror hanging on the wall next to Brian. "Really? We have agreed that there will be no visible mirror in our apartment; why did you bring one?"

He raised one eyebrow and looked at me questioningly, "The fuck are you talking 'bout?"

"The mirror? Next you?" 

"I slapped you one time too often, huh? There is no mirror, now c'mon, I'm hungry, Ben," he answered, turned around, and stepped outside of our room. 

Oookay, no mirror...I'm definitely going crazy. I thought and walked slowly to the open door. Don't look right, don't look right, I admonished myself. 

But when I was about to pass, I heard a clicking sound, like one of those an insect—a big big insect—would make. Ignore it, ignore it! 

Clicking again. Silence. Suddenly, a hissing voice spoke, "I smell the shard. Does it see us, does it see us?! Where are you?!"

Oh no...keep going, keep going. 

Hissing.

"Shaaaarrrrd," the creature cried out, but I ignored it. "Not the shard? Not the shard! But, I smell. Look further, look deeper." 

I crossed the threshold. Silence again. It was gone. My whole body trembled. Never before happened something like this, never ever. How?! They are not real! They are not real! You're just still sleepy...that's all. Yeah, that's all, silly! I told myself to calm down.

Brian snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Hey, someone in there?"

"Ah, yes. Sorry...I'm still sleepy?" I responded.

"Why does it sound like a question? Well, never mind. Let's go."

 

---

 

We had different student lounges on our floor. The biggest one was multifunctional and split into two rooms—a kitchen and a sort of living room. The living room was separated through a glass wall and took approximately one-third of the whole lounge. The rest was kitchen, tables, and chairs. 

I went to the fridge and opened its door; inside of it was my lockable food box, which contained milk, butter, and other small consumables. Even if the guys on this floor laughed at me for having this and called me petty, I just absolutely hated it when other people took my stuff without asking first. It was simply rude, you know. And I know I repeat myself!

I wasn't really happy to live in this dorm, but it was so cheap that I could pay it without asking my family for financial support. So I swallowed the discomfort I felt when the other guys were around and tried my best to make living here comfortable enough with stuff like this box. Anyhow, I entered the code and took the milk out. Whilst I did this, Brian had taken our bowls and cereals and was waiting at one of the smaller tables. 

-------

I was happily munching my Froot Loops when Brian asked me about my schedule today. I looked at him skeptically but answered, "Well, thanks to you waking me up so early, I'll probably go to my optional lecture about Gender and Fashion. It's pretty nice, and I usually go, but I wanted to sleep in today for once. Again, thanks for ruining it." 

I didn't assume that he would go further into the topic, but unexpectedly he opened his mouth again, much to the chagrin of my psyche, "That sounds like leftist bullshit. The fuck is this university doing to allow a lecture like that?"

"First of all, it is a reappraisal of historical facts and their social influences. There is nothing political about it. 

"Secondly, did you know that fashion used to be a male thing, a matter of representation? Fashion was all about status, not gender, until the 18th century, when it became more and more a women's affair. This was due to the fact that women's and men's roles became more and more separated, and women of the bourgeoisie were increasingly forced to stay at home with the family while men went out to work. 

"A kind of demonstrative lavishness developed, and women dressed ever more ostentatiously and novelly to represent status. At the same time, men did not have to do so because they were static, having a job. 

"Fashion as a woman's thing was ultimately branded as insubstantial and hollow and painted as meaningless. Women were not ascribed the ability of capability; therefore, they were not considered innovative in fashion because it only had to do with imitation and thus did not achieve anything, like a woman.  

"Through this connotation, fashion was not taken seriously and became increasingly socially bigger and more significant over time. Of course, this is just a small part of the subject, but do you understand how women have been treated sexist through fashion portrayed by men? These things need to be addressed. Can you at least understand this?"

Brian looked at me, mouth agape. "Dude, you are really weird! This is obviously a women's lecture to make the—" 

I raised my hand to stop him from talking bullshit again. "Just stop," I said and changed the topic, "what will you do today?"

You could see how little steam clouds formed over him because of this sudden interruption. "Uhhhh, ah, yes. I'll have a meeting with the other club members in like thirty minutes; after this, it's all sports stuff. This chick, Nadja—you know, the one I told you about last time—will be there today too. I already try to bang her for weeks, so I dunno if I will be back tonight."

"Why is somebody like you my roommate..." I mumbled and really wondered how the heck he was so popular on this campus, even if he acted like this.

No sooner said than done, he finished his cereal, and like always, left the dirty dishes for me behind to clean. "See ya later, bro." I snorted disparagingly at the word 'bro' and continued to munch my now soggy breakfast. 

 

---

 

After my second portion, I was eventually full and leaned back to rest for a moment when I heard a 'plink, plink, plink' next to me. 

Did I forget to turn off the faucet? I asked myself, eyes closed. The rhythmic sound of falling water made me kinda woozy.

'plink' 

'plink'

'plink'

It was soporific.

'plink'

'click'

'plink'

 W-Wait a moment...didn't I hear that sound just earlier?!

My eyes flashed open, and above me hung another mirror, inside of it one of the creepiest creatures I had ever seen. Instead of eyes, it had long shroom-like stems protruding out of its eye sockets. Black mandibles were attached where the jaw ought to be, with a watery liquid oozing out of them. Also, the rest of the body reminded me of a failed mixture of insect and human. Arms were partly made of chitin, while in other places, the flesh was exposed, and black-yellowish slime escaped. It also had some sort of bug wings, but I didn't really could identify those. Somehow, though, the sight reminded me of an insect infected by this zombie fungus. Only now did I realize that this wasn't a dream.   

The being—previously still inside the mirror—stuck the head out of the glassy surface. "I-I smell the shard. Is it...here?"

I jolted and fell from the chair. The creature moved further out of the mirror. 

"The smell, it is moving! Does it see me? DO YOU SEE ME!?" it screeched horribly. 

I also pulled myself together, grabbed my bag, and ran. Behind me, I heard the thing scream in anger, "IT'S RUNNING! NOO, STAY WITH ME, SHARRRRRD!"

But I didn't care; I only ran. I didn't know what was happening, this couldn't be real, but I knew, I knew that this was reality. I rushed to the stairs and went down floor after floor. But when I reached the first floor, I abruptly stopped. There were man-sized mirrors all over the walls and ceiling at frequent intervals. I gulped and walked slowly onward, concentrating only on the path in front of me and the exit at the end of the long corridor.

With every step I took, the corridor changed further. Grass grew all around the mirrors until they covered everything. Then plants shot out of the ground. Ferns, small trees, flowers.  

I kept walking. 

Then slowly but steadily, vines came down from the ceiling. By now, I was in a kind of jungle. 

But I kept walking. 

Then a clicking. 

I stopped.

'No! Don't stop!' a voice in my head shouted at me. 

'And don't speak either!' another added. 

I nodded and went on. 

'Only you have the luck the meet the Fungus Tyrant in this realm,' scoffed one of the voices, which I was able to identify as Thalia. 

'How horrible it must be!' said the other voice that clearly belonged to Melpomene. 'First the Queen of the Elderflowers and now this fiend!' 

The clicking came nearer and nearer. 

'Don't stop and go faster,' said Lia.

I screamed inside my head, but it seemed that they couldn't notice that. I wanted to ask them what was happening. I was scared; I didn't want to die. 

'Faster!'

I listened.

'FASTER!'

I ran. 

'RUN FOR YOUR LIFE,' both of them shouted, and I did as I was told. 

My mind already blank, my legs felt like they were falling off soon, but I sprinted as fast as I could, directly behind me the sicking screeching of the monster. 

Then the exist, I jumped and fell on the hard ground. I panted. 

Seconds went by, then minutes. 

I finally dared to turn around to the entrance and saw...nothing. The just overgrown corridor was now completely empty. 

An infinitely heavy burden fell from my shoulders, and tears ran down my face. "I'm really crazy, am I? Nothing of this was real after all!" I said sobbingly as I curled up on the dirty ground.

A clap of thunder roared, and the air trembled. Then, it started to pour down on me. I only wanted to disappear...