Head Space

The Bathroom Incident

Octo

"Looks like it's started. Here." Tuck whispered as she slid into the seat next to me. I took the mini basket of breadsticks from her hand and focused my attention back on the person on stage.

They had a slim tall build, and light blonde hair that looked really soft under the spotlight. I couldn't see much of what they were wearing, but it looked like something a doctor would wear strangely.

Would they

I bit into a stick. It was warm and soft on the inside. I made a sound of surprise. "Damn these are good." I commented. Dad turned to us with a frown. "Hush you two!"

"Jeez ok." I replied with my mouth full. i focused my attention back on the stage.

"....not be tolerated. Now that you're all caught up I'd like you to meet our resident caregivers! These young adults are the graduates of our 2027/2028 and 2028/2029 class. Trained and up to date on all the needs of a Little, and ready to take on this year with great enthusiasm! Please welcome The Pengasuh everyone!!!"

There was a shout of applause as people began filing onto the stage in pairs. They all wore white shirts and lightly colored cotton vests on top of those. Their loose trousers matched the vests in color and they wore blindingly white sneakers.

The last of them took their positions on the stage and the applause soon died down. There was about 16 of them. All wearing bright smiles that made something in me churn. Finally the Figgins person took the mike once more.

"Yes! Yrs thank you for the warm welcome. These people are my pride and joy you know? They truly represent what this Academy is all about. Now-

"ugh I'm so bored already. When is this thing supposed to end, Dad?" I drawled. I was super hungry, having devoured my breadsticks and I didn't need to add to to the dull ache in my stomach with a dull ache in my bran.

"Oh you. Lemme see uhh.." he fumbled around in the brochure clumsily " It says here the main event will conclude by 2pm. After that it's refreshments and getting to know each other I'm assuming...that's what...that means." he finished

I sighed and shifted in my seat to get a bit more comfortable. Tuck made a motion to check her watch and huffed loudly " It's only 12:40"

I couldn't stay in this seat forever. You know when you're super bored and restless so you make up random reasons to go places? Yeah now seemed like the perfect time to pull that.

"Bathroom." I mumbled, already shuffling out onto the aisle. I kept my head straight as I walked by the rows of people. The back of the room had ushers standing in designated sections. 

I didn't waste much time and made a beeline for the very obvious bathroom sign. A short man stood guard there. Please don't yell at me.

"Hey slugger! Need a hand in there?" he pointed towards the bathroom. My heart climbed up to my throat causing me to nearly choke and die.

"N-no thanks. I'm good sir" I rushed out, still in shock. He grinned widely and gestured towards the door. I practically ran in.

The bathroom was cool, I'll give 'em that. They went with your typical greyish white marble floors and a wife mirror on top of the sinks. The air smelled like birthday cake strangely. 

I strolled peacefully around the large room, checking out all its  finer details. Like the tiny murals everywhere of all the cartoons in the world.

Also the stalls were painted a bright blue color with streaks of toilet paper on them. I wondered to myself if those were real. Probably weren't. Hopefully.

'Why don't I just wash my hands' I decided. The sinks were rather low, reaching only my stomach when I was just barely 5ft 2'. The tap confused the hell out of me, it looked like a small block of ice that was slowly melting onto the wood holding it up. 

I rubbed it, twisted it, pushed it, hit it, nearly broke it off its stand and it still wouldn't release any water. Even the soap dispenser made more sense. It looked to be a half naked baby angel with a jar in its hand that was tipped as if it were pouring something out.

Evidently I wasn't getting anywhere in this bathroom. Still, I didn't want to leave back into the dark hall and relapse into boredom once more.

So I slumped  to the cold floor and sighed. Maybe I'd go back out in a few minutes who knows. Tuck probably fell asleep by now, lucky shit. Dad should have come alone, clearly he's the only one interested here.

It was still an quiet for a while, nothing but my low breaths and a cheery tune in the background.

Wait. I recognized that tune. Wasn't that.... that one song  by Electric Light Orchestra?

"Why the fuck are they playing Mr. Blue Sky in a kids bathroom!?" I exclaimed loudly.

"Well because isn't it a scientific-ifi-cally proven happy song isn't it?" came a tiny voice from a stall!

"What!!" I couldn't help but exclaim again as a girl  stepped out into view. She struggled to pop the buttons on her dungarees back into place.

"What?" she parroted with a cartoonish tilt of her head. I blinked rapidly, trying once more comprehend what was going on.

"What...what are you doing in here?" I said calmly this time. She took a pause to wash her hands and dry them off on her yellow shirt. Then she turned back to me.

"I came to wee wee. What about you?" she replied. Wow, ok off to a great start. 

"Uh I just wanted- actually that's besides the point. You're a girl, why are you in the boys bathroom?"

"The chocolate man said I could use any bathroom! So can you!" she jumped up. It clicked in my head just then, who this girl was.

She was the one sitting in front of us, the one who waved at me. I should have recognized her by the pep in her step and the streaks of pink in her hair.

"Oh it's you. The girl in front of us." I said. She smiled and ran towards me with an arm outstretched.

I braced for the hug I knew was coming but she stopped just in front of me. She help open a palm for me to shake and I accepted it cautiously.

She shook it violently and let go quickly.

"Hi! I'm my name is Cecile!! What's your name?" she asked excitedly.

Author's Note

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I had a lot of fun writing Cecile's character. Hope the chapter wasn't too short, their all I can bear these days.

Also, I have killer exams coming up, so I need to study. But never fear I'll still keep the chapters coming. Just don't panic if I post a day early or late or not at all.

Tell all your friends about my book!