Smol Fry | Hercules X Lafayette

C h a p t e r T e n

Laff's POV

I wasn't sure whether it was nerves of confessing to Hercules or the coffee. But either way, I... How do I put this civilly? I really needed to use the bathroom. It felt a little awkward saying it in front of John as we were still in the shopping centre, but I didn't want my bladder to fail non the less.

"John? Could we-"

"Go to the bathroom, sure... Yeah I noticed you were hobbling around slightly."

He led me to the bathroom and I just ran in, thankful nobody else was in any other cubicles. Whilst I was... Well... I heard someone else enter the bathroom. Obviously, that was normal - it was a public bathroom after all. But was slightly abnormal was the cough the person let out; it was somewhat oddly pitched. Then, their phone rang - it was a 'Little Mix' song I believe as John had educated me on popular music. He had mentioned it was mainly a band aimed at girls, but he listened to them anyway. But then, they answered the phone.

A woman answered the phone.

Was it illegal for a woman to accidentally walk into the men's bathroom? Awkwardly, I stayed in the cubical not wanting to greet her, the embarrassment she would face if I did. Then, someone else walked into the bathroom - better them having that shock than me making a situation a million times more awkward than it needed to be. They began to speak to her. Their voice was one of a woman's as well?

She had also walked into the men's... It then hit me. They weren't in the men's - I was in the ladies'. No, no, no. I wasn't looking where I was going when I rushed through the doors - I obviously went through the wrong door... I could make out that the other girl had left, leaving the first still on her phone. If I were to wait for her to leave, I could be there for a while. The girl kept chatting to whoever was on the other end of the phone,

"Nah, my shift was okay. It wasn't too busy but we had a lot of... Interesting customers," she laughed. Listening in on her conversation was a little against my rights, but I couldn't help but do it. "The names? I've given up on the people who try and spell the names on the cups to be honest, they're hopeless! What, Peggy once got called 'Penny' on her cup? Wow..."

Peggy? Wait, Peggy Schuyler? The girl I had to share a room with in that game when everyone slept over at Hercules'... Surely it couldn't be her, there were millions of Peggys... Right? I had to make my escape sometime soon. Crawling under the stalls? No, I wasn't agile enough...

"Eliza, I'm gonna have to hang up, my next shift starts in ten minutes and I need to get lunch," she told Eliza... Wait. Eliza. Eliza Schuyler. Peggy Schuyler. I was going to cry if I was greeted by Angelica, "Actually, there's someone else in here and I think they're listening in on our conversation... Ok, byeeee!" She added the last bit at a whisper but I still managed to hear.

Next, she began to rummage through what sounded like her bag. A clicking noise told me she was applying lipstick or something of that family. She coughed, slightly awkwardly and then I think continued applying her makeup. Hercules had mentioned that some girls take at least four years to apply makeup so if I didn't confront myself, I would be there at least four years.

"Umm... Excuse me?" I whispered so she couldn't hear my actual accent, but could hear my voice.

"... Yeah?"

"I don't know how to put this... But-"

"Wait, your accent's familiar... Oh, carry on."

"I have... I am... In the wrong... Bathroom."

I could hear her pause. There was an awkward silence hanging around the room with the occasional sound of my slightly loud breathing. "You mean you have like, a stall preference?"