Once Upon a Bathroom Stall

forty // goodbye

She temporarily forgets to breathe.

Somewhere far away she can hear a bell chime, the distant hum of conversation, the twang of a guitar, but it all seems so watered down. Her dark eyes snap to the doorway where a boy is stepping inside, a boy she's never seen before but feels all too familiar all at once. Her pulse quickens and her heart stutters. He's looking right at her.

And then he grins.

And then she breathes.

Thick rimmed glasses are perched on the smattering of freckles across his nose, lanky limbs pulled together with beige khakis and a plaid shirt. Red plaid. The edge of her mouth quirks upward.

Then she's standing, cardboard coffee cup in hand as all of sudden a heat rushes to her cheeks. Her head unconsciously ducks as she gives a small wave. "Parker?"

She doesn't even have to ask. His grin only widens.

And then he's bounding towards her, wrapping her up tightly in his arms and pulling her off the ground, spinning. She barely has a second to think before she sees her coffee jump from the rim of her cup and then she's back on the ground again, safe and sound.

The same cannot be said for him.

"Oh my God! That burns! Holy shit! Oh my God! Christ! Ah shit!"

"Why would you do that!? Why would you pick me up? Why did you spin!? How did you think any of that was a good idea? You saw I had coffee in my hand! What the hell, man? Why?"

"I thought it would be cute!"

"Are your third degree burns cute now?"

"Be nice! I'm in pain! Christ, it's still burning! Oh my God!"

She pauses, still holding the coffee cup in her palm, and uses it to hide the smirk that finds her face. He's sucking his teeth and arching his back, face pinched in pain as he tries to inspect the damage. She takes the opportunity of his distraction to drink him in. The mirage in her mind of late night phone conversations and too close encounters merge with the boy in front of her, just an inch taller than her, hair darker than she'd first thought, his constellation of freckles. Parker.

She can't stop the laughter bubbling up inside of her, and when she snorts, his gaze snaps to her.

"Are you laughing at me?" he asks, incredulous.

"You're ridiculous."

A grin breaks out across his face. "No- no, say it with me, romantic. Oh so romantic."

She rolls her eyes. "Are you okay, actually? We don't have to take you to the hospital?"

He sighs, one last glance to the newly found stain drenching his back. "I think I'll live," he admits.

"Do you want to go home and change? You can, if you want, we can-"

"No!" He shoots her a look, mouth gaping. "After all this time, no, no way, I am not walking now. Sit, drink your coffee and sit. We're talking. About everything. And I will sit here, wet and uncomfortable, and it will be amazing. Sit."

He steals the seat across from where she'd been sitting, looking up at her with expectant hazel eyes. She pauses for a moment, nose pinching as she imagines the sticky sensation that the coffee left, but can find no argument in his voice, and so shrugs. "Fine, it's your loss," she murmurs, sitting opposite of him.

He chuckles. "Trust me, that's not it at all."

His smiles are seemingly contagious as she can't seem to help the curve of her mouth, and so she takes another sip of her coffee. "So how are we gonna do this-"

"Hi, I'm Parker." He stretches a hand across the table, flashing her a smile.

She swallows, setting her cup down, and feels a half-smile touch her face. She meets his hand with her own, looking up into his eyes. "Hi, I'm Mina."

He grins. "So I'm finally gonna get that good time I was promised? And by good time I actually mean innocent, engaging conversation. Sincerely. Does your offer still stand?"

She meets his gaze, feeling a warmth ignite in her veins, and nods. "I think that's a promise I can keep."

***
stay tuned for an epilogue tonight i think u will like