Less Than Three

Chapter 8: Of Faucets and Feathers and Boys Who Do NOT Give Up

I'd checked my nose for blackheads and my hair for split ends. I'd read the entire Health Inspector's Notice on the Importance of Employee Hand Washing. I'd rummaged under the sink for a fresh roll of toilet paper to replace the nearly empty one on the spindle. I was considering giving the stool a good scrub when I heard a knock.

I held my breath. When I heard Brady's voice on the other side of the door, saying, "Summer, are you in there?" I squished myself against the wall and tried to make myself as small as possible. I bargained with God. If only He'd let me out of this one, I would:

1. Run every day for my coach.

2. Stop borrowing stealing my brother's t-shirts.

3. Not roll my eyes when Dad shot off another cliché.

4. Start working on an actual website for my mom.

5. Be nicer to Jacob (for Madison's sake).

6. Help Craig find a girl who wouldn't be too much work. and...

7. Try (really, really hard) to be the kind of girl who didn't deserve to be trapped in a bathroom with her boyfriend knocking outside.

Another long stretch of forever went by, then the door creaked open. This was it. So long perfect boyfriend. So long perfect life.

But it wasn't Brady who slipped into the room. It was Dave. I was so relieved that I threw my arms around him and pulled him close to me before I realized what was happening. Eep!

Even worse, he nuzzled my cheek and whispered, "I always suspected you had a crush on me."

I mouthed 'I DO NOT'.

To which he answered, "Your lips say no, no, but your arms says yes, yes."

I opened my mouth to yell but he covered it with his hand, then pointed at the door. "Why are you hiding?" he asked, quietly.

"I am not hiding," I whispered, then I tried to gain as much distance from him as possible in the tiny room. Dave followed until my butt was smooshed up against the sink.

"So, you just have an odd fascination with public restrooms?"

"Precisely."

"Funny," he said a little louder, "I do too." He reached around my waist. "I have a particular interest in faucets. I am intrigued by the way they run both hot and cold."

I'd used this restroom about a billion times. I knew the hot water faucet had a strange way of clunking, moaning and screeching before any water came out. If he turned it on now, we'd be discovered.

I clenched my teeth. "Okay," I said. "I'm hiding."

"Ha!" he shouted. "I knew it!" He waited just long enough for me to freak out before he added, "Don't worry, the coast is clear."

I put every muscle I had to work, and shoved him against the wall. I pushed open the door, then slammed it in his face.

"Ow! I think you broke my nose."

I hadn't meant to hurt him, not too bad anyway, so I opened the door -- and found him grinning at me. "Nice to know you care," he said.

I ran through the store. I'd just reached the door when Kiersten shouted, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"My skateboard." Had Brady seen it?