The Bathroom Stall

The Bathroom Stall|Note Sixty-Eight

Note Sixty-Eight

From: Cora Roberts To: Tucker

Hey, do you want to meet at my house to talk about our project for bio?

Sent: 9/23 2:35 p.m.

From: Tucker To: Cora Roberts

Yeah, just got off my Saturday shift at Andy's Burgers. I'll be at your house in five.

Sent: 9/23 2:40 p.m.

The doorbell rang promptly five minutes later and I opened the door to Tucker, who was busily taking off his Andy's Burgers apron and shoving it into his blue backpack.

"Someone was in a rush." I commented with a slight grin, closing the door behind him and watching him with amusement. Tucker grabbed his cap from the top of his head and smoothed down his hair.

Tucker laughed, slightly breathless. "Yeah, I've just been so out of it these past few days. How are you?"

I shrugged, leading Tucker into the kitchen where all my notes over cellular respiration were lying scattered on the counter. "I've been better. Just super glad today's Saturday. I've been really swamped with all of my school work."

"Yeah? I guess it sucks to be a nerd."

"Oh shut up." I responded. "Not helping the situation."

"Homecoming's next week." Tucker commented casually, sitting down on one of the wooden stools.

"Yep."

"So... are you planning on going? Do you have anytime in your crammed, academic schedule to go out and live a little?"

Biting my lip, I frowned and shuffled my papers. "I dunno. You?"

"Yeah. I got asked actually, so it's hard not to go."

"Oooh," I muttered, raising an eyebrow at Tucker, "Who's the lucky girl?"

Tucker blushed slightly. "Just a friend form another school. Not a big deal."

"That's cool."

A silence until Tucker cleared his throat and leaned forward. "You could totally go in my group of friends. It would be super fun too, Cora. There's going to be a bunch of people without dates, and we're going to the Mona Lisa for dinner before the dance. Plus, you can't be a total social recluse."

"I don't know..."

"Please Cora? Please?" Tucker gave me a puppy dog face, his eyebrows turned down and his bottom lip jutting out.

I laughed at his adorable expression. "Fine. I'll go with you guys. Just don't expect me to be too much fun."

"It's going to be great, Cora. And it'll save some of your social reputation. Now, about that bio project."

***

By the time we had finished typing up all our notes, both of us were exhausted, lying on the white sofa in my living room. Tucker had gotten strangely silent in the past twenty minutes, a somber look on his face as he lied there, his arms crossed.

"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked, getting up to look at him with concern on my face.

Tucker managed a barely perceptible smile, vanishing as quickly as it came. "No, not really."

I wondered what was bothering him; although Tucker had also been mostly quiet ever since I met him tutoring Sam, this seemed like weird behavior.

"Well, do you want to talk about it?"

Tucker got up too. "Kinda. But I don't have to talk about it with you."

"Hey, come on. I'm good at listening." I said, resting my hand on his arm.

"It's not that, it's just... fine. Well um..."

Tucker got a mournful look on his face. "It's my cousin, Tommy."

"Okay?"

"Well, he u, he passed away a year and a half ago. And it just crept up on me a second ago."

I wasn't sure to say. "I'm sorry for your loss. I bet he was a great kid."

"He was the guy who you danced with that sophomore year."

"What?" I was taken aback, giving Tucker an astounded look.

"Yeah, he was the guy at that Masquerade dance. He kind of had that little crush on you sophomore year, at least before he passed away that spring."

"Oh god, I am so sorry I didn't know that."

Tucker cracked a smile. "It's not a big deal. I was the only one who knew he liked you and by then, you were already dating Terrence. Then he got hit in a car accident, so..."

How had I not known this?

"And I'm glad you didn't say yes to Sam."

I frowned at Tucker, who had packed all of his stuff in his backpack in the second after he had dropped the heavy news. "Why's that?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm kind of protective of my cousin, and since he like you, I guess that's translating over to you. When I found out that Terrence had cheated on you, I was really close to punching that guy in the balls or something. Hell, I think I'm turning maternal. Sam's my friend, but he's kind of an asshole to girls, you know?"

I didn't but I nodded as if I did. It was a good thing that I had turned Sam down earlier. "Well, thank you." I said, tugging on my hair self-consciously. "God, I am so sorry about Tommy. Now I feel awful. Do you want ice cream or something? That's what I always get when I'm upset."

"Don't." Tucker said, standing up and hoisting his backpack over his shoulder. "Thanks for talking to me Cora. It means a lot. I'll pass on the ice cream offer. See you on Monday in Bio, okay? Don't forget the notes."

With that, Tucker left, leaving me in a state of shock.