He wakes up on a gloomy Wednesday morning. He slept late to do homework, which causes him to wake up exhausted. As usual, the first thing he does is going to the bathroom. He brushes his teeth, washes his face and looks at himself in the mirror, thinking he looks terrible. He looks at his dark and swollen eyebags and dried skin. He puts on some moisturizer, which does nothing but makes his skin sticky. He tries to ignore it and goes to the kitchen. He opens the fridge, sees nothing but milk. He has nothing to eat. He thinks about going to the market but the time is already 6.30. “Why am I so slow?” he thinks. His school starts at 7.30, his walk to school takes approximately 25 minutes. He likes to go to school early so he drinks a glass of milk, gets dressed and starts walking to school. He closes the door and turns around. He takes his first step and sees glasses with big, black frames and a shiny light blue lens. He picks them up, curious why they are in front of his doorstep.
He turns to the window to look at his reflection. He puts them on and suddenly, his face is glass clear. He thinks about how this happened, but decides to ignore it. It feels so good, he decides that he will never take it off from now on. He looks at himself for about 3-4 minutes, than remembers he needs to go to school. He looks at the time and 10 minutes have passed since he stepped out of the house. He will not be able to go to school early. He walks to school, feeling confident. He has never been confident with his looks before. It feels like it is not real. It fact, it isn’t. But he will not be able to stand his real looks after he sees this version of himself. He reaches school, there is 5 minutes for the lesson to start. He goes to his class and sits. He doesn’t realize it, but the class is staring at him. They whisper, not because of his looks, but because of the way he smiles for the first time in forever. The teacher comes in, her name is Mrs. Kelly. “Good morning Mrs. Kelly!” He says, Mrs. Kelly ignores him. Mrs. Kelly finally sighs and starts teaching. He listens more carefully than usual. The world feels lighter. His handwriting looks neater. He almost forgets the glasses exist until something strange happens. During math, the numbers on the board seem brighter, sharper, almost like they’re glowing faintly. He blinks, but they stay that way. It’s not just the numbers. The classroom walls are cleaner, the bulletin board that always looks messy, looks organized… It all feels better.
At break, his friend Ethan, the energy kid who is always the one running around happily, trying to start conversations, walks over. But unlike the other days, he stops in front of him and freezes. “Whoa” Ethan says, his eyebrows lifting. “Are you okay?” “Yeah” he answers quickly. “Why?” “You’re always…smiling.” Ethan replies, almost laughing. “It’s weird.” He looks at Ethan, unconscious of the impact of the glasses. “I’m just happy.” He replies. But inside, he knows something’s up with the glasses. The bell rings again. History class starts. Mr. Alex gives out worksheets, and when he glances down at his paper, the sloppy handwriting he expected isn’t there. Everything he writes looks perfect. Straight. Clean. Like someone practiced for years. He blinks again. Did the glasses do that? At lunch, he sits alone for a moment, staring at his reflection in his phone screen. It’s still the same clear, confident version of himself. But when he lowers the phone, he notices something else.The world doesn’t just look better, people do, too. The kid who usually looks stressed out across the cafeteria now seems calmer. The girl who always seems annoyed laughs with her friends. Teachers walk by actually smiling. Everything feels lighter, kinder, happier.
He wonders, for the first time, if the glasses don’t just change how he sees himself but how he sees everything. Then the bell rings again. He goes to his next class, and halfway through the lesson, the glasses flicker. Just a tiny glitch. The colors dim for half a second. The room looks ordinary. His handwriting looks normal. His reflection in the dark window shows his real face againtired eyes, dry skin, the same old him. His heart jumps. Then—click—the world snaps back into perfect. He exhales. The glasses worked again. But now he knows something for sure. They can stop.