Chapter 21 – Toilet Explosion
Friday
“Your dad is such a control freak,” Sophie said as we walked toward Mr. Halifax’s class. We stopped outside his door and she leaned in to wave at him.
He dropped the chalk in his hand instead of returning her greeting.
She sighed and leaned against the lockers outside his room. “My dad would never forbid me from going to a dance with anyone. Sometimes it’s hard to believe our dads are brothers.”
“Tell me about it.” Although, I thought that Uncle Rob might forbid Sophie from pursuing Mr. Halifax if he knew it was more than a little crush. “But I’m still going with Leo. I’ll just have to meet him at the dance instead of him picking me up.”
“I love when you act rebellious. And speaking of rebellion...”
“You’re going to ask Mr. Halifax to the dance?”
“No. I’ll ask Eli or something. But about the venue...”
“Soph, I can’t.”
She sighed again. “You can but you won’t.”
“It’s a whole council that has to vote...”
“You’re the president.”
“It’s not a dictatorship.”
She laughed. “Well that’s a shame. Anyway, back to the rebellion thing. I was thinking of things that you can do once you turn 18. Maybe Axel is excited to do one of them with you.”
“What can you do when you turn 18?”
“Buy cigarettes?”
I shook my head. “I think that’s when you’re 21.”
“Let’s see.” Sophie pulled out her phone. She typed the question into Google. “Okay. Here’s a whole list. Wait, did Axel come over last night?”
“No.” I hadn’t heard from him since he shut me down hard. “Hit me with the list.”
“You can vote, apply for a credit card, get jury duty, buy a lottery ticket. Oh. Maybe he wants you to hook him up with lotto tickets. Is Axel much of a gambler?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think so. What else?”
“You can join the army.” She laughed. “Could you imagine? Axel signing you up to serve? That would be a weird plot twist.”
“That can’t be it,” I said.
“You’re right. Okay let’s see. You can buy fireworks. Oh that could be good for the party we’re going to throw.”
“Focus.”
“You can sign binding legal contracts without a parent, file for bankruptcy, get a license to drive a truck, become a notary public. Huh. Do you think Axel desperately needs something notarized?”
“Why wouldn’t he just go to the post office?”
“Because of the lines,” Sophie said.
I laughed. “Well, Jacob is already 18. He could have just asked him for that and lottery tickets.”
“Fair.” She looked back down at her phone.
“OMG did you know that you can work in a bar when you’re 18?
That’s so cool. I didn’t realize that. I have the best idea.
I can get a job this summer at the bar that we saw Mr. Halifax at one time.
And I can get him super drunk and...” She made a face. “God, I sound like a dirty rapist.”
“Soph, what else is on the list?”
“You can use a meat slicer at work in a deli.” She laughed.
“So weirdly specific. And kind of sexual. You can also get married, live independently, rent an apartment, bet on a horse race.” She looked up at me.
“I didn’t realize we couldn’t do that already.
I’ve been betting on horse races for years. ”
“What?”
“I have a guy. Don’t worry about it.”
I was a little worried...
“You can also drive a taxi. Maybe Axel wants a chauffeur?”
I laughed.
“You can also star in a porno and access adults only stores and content. Hot. Maybe he wants to star in a porno with you?”
“Doubtful,” I said. “He doesn’t even want to go to a dance with me.”
“You can also adopt a child and get piercings or tattoos without a parent. Ah! I got it!”
“What?”
“You can get medical procedures. For example boob implants. Maybe he wants your girls even bigger.” She winked at me.
I groaned. “Oh no. He probably wants me to have huge knockers to look like Olivia.”
“Stop it. I was totally joking. Your knockers are perfect.”
“Thanks, but they’re not Olivia sized.”
“Those will be saggy as hell in a few years. Besides, Axel doesn’t like Olivia.”
“Right, Jacob does.” Even though he’d looked me in the eye and told me he didn’t. Such a “good boy” as my dad would say.
Sophie shook her head. “Screw him. This is about you and Axel and his romantic countdown. Maybe it’s the live independently thing then. He’s tired of your dad always hovering.”
“Is this list of things even specific to NYC?” I asked.
Sophie shrugged. “I have no idea.”
I laughed. “God, I really hope he doesn’t want me to get a boob job.”
“He doesn’t, I was only kidding. It’s definitely the living independently thing. Or maybe he wants to propose?”
I laughed again. “Sure. The guy who doesn’t want to go on a date with me wants to marry me, adopt a child together, and rent an apartment, all after I get surgery for double Ds.”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m not the serial killer with the countdown.”
“You just said it was a romantic countdown!”
“Can’t it be both?”
I saw Leo over by his locker. “I’ll be right back. I gotta go update Leo on the dance.”
“Have fun.”
I hurried over to him. “Hey.”
He smiled down at me. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Are you already 18?”
“Yes?”
“Were you looking forward to anything when you turned 18? Like anything specifically?”
He shrugged. “Not really. Why?”
“No reason.”
He laughed. “It seems like there’s a reason.”
“It’s not important. What’s important is that my dad found out about your record.”
“Oh? Can I get my record wiped at 18 or something?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did you ask?”
I laughed and shook my head. Conversations with him were so confusing and weird, but I kind of loved them. “Back to my thing. My dad had a member of our security run a background check on you. I know, he’s a total psycho. I’m so sorry. But he forbade me from going to the dance with you.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, but screw him. I really want to go with you. Can we just meet at the dance instead of you picking me up? My dad will never know.”
“Look at you with the wild streak. I never would have guessed.”
I mean...he kinda should have guessed. I’d let him go to third in a dark kitchen in the middle of homecoming. “As if you didn’t know after what we’ve done with the lights off.”
He smiled. “I guess so. Speaking of which...” He leaned forward to kiss me.
I put my hand on his chest. “I don’t think you want to steal this first.”
“First...what?”
“First person I’ve dated to get beat up by my dad. His classroom is literally two doors down. He could walk out any minute.”
Leo chuckled. “Maybe you can give me another first then. At the dance.”
“I’m not having sex with you in a dark closet, Leo,” I said with a laugh.
“I didn’t know that was even an option. But now that you’ve said it, it’s all I can think about.”
I laughed. “You know that’s my only first left.”
“You are so fascinating.”
“And I’m not ready for that. We can stick to third base stuff only. You’re really good at that.” I felt my cheeks flush.
“I’m fine with that,” Leo said. “And I guess people talk.”
“About what?”
He gave me a weird look. “I’m confused.”
“You’re hilarious. But I really gotta get to class.” I took a step back, but he grabbed my wrist.
“Wait.” He laughed and shook his head. “Want to sit together at lunch?”
“My dad might come in to grab lunch. It’s better if we’re not seen together. Maybe we can meet up after school sometime or something though. I have a hole in my floor so I can sneak out easily.”
“You have a hole in your floor?”
“More of a trapdoor.”
“Seriously, where have you been all my life?”
I smiled. “Text me, okay? I actually can’t think of anything better than sneaking out.”
“But you haven’t given me your number.”
“You’re hilarious. Just use your burner phone. I gotta go.” I turned around and hurried toward Mr. Halifax’s room.
The last thing I wanted was for Mr. Halifax to give me detention today.
Right before I reached his door, the door to the photo development room opened. I kept walking, but then whoever had just opened the door grabbed me and pulled me in.
The dark room smelled like chemicals. But I didn’t really even get a chance to register anything because Leo’s lips slammed against mine.
I guess he hadn’t wanted to wait for another kiss. I reached up to bury my fingers in his hair, but he grabbed my hands and pinned them against the wall.
God, I’d forgotten what it felt like to be kissed by Leo.
He kissed me like I was the air he needed to breathe. Like I was his whole world.
I’d missed him. I’d missed this.
He lightly bit my lower lip and I moaned.
He held my wrists in one hand as his other hand trailed down my back, stopping on my skirt. He squeezed my ass as he pulled me closer.
And he groaned when I pressed against him. He was hard. For me.
I guess I’d been wrong before. There was still one first we hadn’t done together. But he had me pinned in place and I couldn’t move.
His lips fell to my neck as his hand moved to the front of my skirt. His fingers lightly touched my inner thigh.
I tilted my head to the side as he kissed my neck hard.
All I could focus on was him. His lips on my skin. His hand around my wrists. His fingers inching slowly higher.
I’d been so sad for so long. It felt so much better to feel this. “Please,” I begged.
He pressed his palm hard against my thong and I couldn’t help the whimper that escaped my lips.
“More.”
He groaned as he yanked my thong down my thighs and then one of his fingers slid inside of me, quickly followed by another.
He bit down on the side of my neck. He’d barely even touched me and I already felt myself pulsing around his fingers.
I moaned. That feeling that I was starting to grow greedy for made every thought in my head disappear. All I could feel was Leo.
Wait.
Leo had been somewhere behind me in the hallway, hadn’t he? I shook my head. That couldn’t be right. I took a deep breath and my heartbeat slowly started to return to normal. The bell rang and Leo’s fingers slipped away far too soon.
WAIT.
Leo had definitely been behind me. And someone opened the door to the photo development room ahead of me before I’d passed it.
Whoever I’d just hooked up with couldn’t have been Leo.
The door started to open and a crack of light entered.
“Wait!” I said. I stepped forward and tripped because my thong was still around my ankles. I heard it rip as I reached out and grabbed on to something. But whatever I’d grabbed tipped over onto my head and completely drenched me. Ah!
The container or bucket or whatever it was fell to the floor and splashed more on me.
I wiped at my eyes. All I could smell was vinegar. And I was soaked from my head to my shoes in it. I gagged and kept wiping at my eyes. Somehow my hair had blocked my face for the most part. The room was dark again when I dared to open my eyes.
I took a deep breath and gagged again.
Whoever I’d just hooked up with was my kiss thief. I knew that. And it wasn’t Leo. It couldn’t have been. Right?
I pulled my half destroyed vinegar thong off and ran out of the room. “Wait!” I yelled.
But the hallway was empty.
Mr. Halifax walked out of his classroom and stared at me.
I’d left a trail of wet vinegar footprints all over the floor and the ends of my hair were dripping.
“Miss Hunter, what happened?” His eyes dropped to my right hand.
I looked down to see my thong hanging from the tips of my fingers. Kill me. I balled it up in my fist and shoved it into my blazer pocket. It made a weird squishing noise because my pocket was filled with vinegar.
For a second all I could hear was the sound of the droplets falling from my hair hitting the floor. “It was a...toilet explosion,” I said. Ah! No! Why?!
“A toilet did that?”
“Yes. It backfired when I tried to flush. And I think someone had just cleaned it with vinegar. I need to go to the nurse.”
“Um, yes. I think that’s a good idea. Here. You’re probably going to need this.” He reached down and started to pull his sweater off.
Ah! “No thank you. I just need Soph’s help.”
But he continued to strip. Luckily he was wearing a button up collared shirt underneath. He handed it to me and then leaned back into his classroom. “Miss Hunter, a word, please.”
Sophie appeared a minute later. She took one look at me and gasped. “Scar, what happened?!”
I couldn’t say anything that just happened in front of Mr. Halifax. “Toilet explosion.”
“Oh my God are you okay?”
No!
“Miss Hunter, can you please escort the other Miss Hunter to the nurse?”
“Um...yes,” Sophie said. She stepped toward me and her nose scrunched up. “Good lord what is that smell?”
“Pee I think,” Mr. Halifax said.
I wanted to sink into the floor and die. But that wasn’t an option. So instead I grabbed Sophie’s hand and pulled her away from the door.
“Ew, please don’t get pee on me,” she said and pulled her hand out of mine.
I waited until we were down the hall from Mr. Halifax’s room. “It’s not pee. It’s something used to develop photos. The kiss thief struck again. And I tried to catch him, but I tripped and knocked over some tub of something.”
“Probably a stop bath.” She scrunched up her nose again. “And why didn’t you just talk to Leo instead of...” She gestured toward me. “Whatever the hell this is?”
“Because it wasn’t Leo!”
“What are you talking about? He confessed. And RJ saw him strike. It has to be Leo.”
“I don’t know what to tell you! But my kiss thief isn’t Leo, Soph. It can’t be. And I have no idea who it is.”