The Bathroom Stall

The Bathroom Stall|Note Seventy-Four

Note Seventy-Four

What do you do when love comes along
And offers your heart a chance to move on
With no guarantees, no safety net
You trust what you feel, you take that first step

Just close your eyes
Reach for the moment
Before it slips by
Here is your second chance
Take it and fly

I have never in my life done well under pressure, This was no exception of course.

"Um..." I began, looking solely at the corsage instead of at Sam's face or the hundreds of eyes resting on me.

"Please Cora?" The music had died down by now, only to be replaced by the hushed whispers of of the crowd, both at my table and through the rest of the restaurant.

Unable to deal with the stares, and the possible accusations that would be flung my way if I rejected him, I put a strained smile on my face. "Sure. I'll go with you to Homecoming."

The applause to my response was roaring, Sam eagerly putting the corsage on my wrist. After he had finished, I gave him another smile then walked away from the table.

How could he do this? Pressure me into going with him?

Pushing aside the door to the bathroom, I quickly turned on the faucet and washed my hands, having the urge to tear the corsage off my wrist. The door to the bathroom slammed closed as somebody else entered, her wavy brown hair flying everywhere.

"Oh hi, sorry, this is the employee's only bathroom-" she began, wiping off some flour on her hands onto her aprons. Then she saw that I was on the verge of tears and rushed over to my side. "Hey, what's wrong?"

I shook my head, wiping away a single tear. her gaze went from my face to the corsage I wore and her eyes lit with recognition. "Wait, are you the girl who just got asked to Homecoming a second ago? I'm the owner here and that kid had to run it by me. If I had known that you would be upset..."

"No, no, it's fine." I replied, sniffling and giving her a small smile. Thanks for the concern though."

"Here." She handed me a tissue. "I'm Kirsten."

"Thanks. I'm Cora."

"So I take it you didn't want to go with him, and everybody pressured you?"

I nodded and balled up the used tissue in my hand. "Yeah. Thanks for the tissue, Kirsten, but I gotta go. I don't want people to notice I've been gone."

"Yeah, yeah I get it." Kirsten replied, digging in one of her coat pockets. Extracting a small bottle, she handed it to me. "They're eye drops. Get rid of redness. Keep it."

Curling my hands around it, I gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you."

"And Cora?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay strong."

***

Who's happy to read about KIRSTEN!?