The Faint Taste of Spearmint

3 | Splash!

"Blyth," Adric repeated. "I know you're in here."

I stood up from the toilet, unsure of what to do. His footsteps grew closer. I saw his shadow lower and expand as he looked under each stall he passed. Instinctively, I propped my leg on the shaky lid of the toilet and quickly lifted myself onto it. Before I could secure my other foot on the toilet, the shaky lid broke and slid from under me like a rug as it clattered against the stall wall followed by a violent splash from the toilet up my right leg and everywhere else.

Just kill me now.

Adric followed the noise and soon stood directly in front of my stall. He broke into hysterical laughter. I looked down at my right foot stuck in the cavity of the toilet. The water had run up the right leg of my jeans to the knee and I had wet spots all over my clothes from the explosion. Thank goodness I flushed the toilet when I walked in. I tried pulling my foot out several times to no avail.

"Bly-Blyth? Ar-Are you...are you in there?" Adric sounded like he was dying of laughter on the other side of the stall.

"No, go away!" I said. He cackled more.

"Are you okay?" he asked still laughing. I didn't answer.

The more he laughed, the more humiliated and frustrated I became. All of this was because I liked him so damn much that I turned the entire date—and myself—into a farce. Upset, I pulled my foot with all my might, not caring if it popped off. It slid out of the water, making a weird suction sound. My wet, bare foot touched the cold, wet tile floor while my sneaker remained wedged in the toilet. Great...

"Open the door, Blyth," Adric said after calming down a bit. I kept staring at my submerged shoe, contemplating whether or not to try and flush it or pull it out. "C'mon," he said letting out another chuckle while knocking. "I'm sorry. Just come out so we can talk."

In my mind, there was nothing to talk about. I'd spilled his expensive popcorn, texted him by mistake, and fell into a toilet. I couldn't blame him for laughing — anyone would. But it hurt knowing I wouldn't be anything more than a joke to him after this. Any interest, any chance I'd had, was now in the toilet with my shoe.

"Are you hurt?" Adric asked as a result of my silence. "Blyth, open the door. Open the door or I'll crawl under," he said in a concerned manner. I thought he was bluffing until I saw his legs bend downward and his palms touch the floor. I unlatched the door, letting it open slowly.

He stood there, his skin still flushed—I'd never seen him so red. He was fighting his urge to cackle more at my disheveled appearance. The broken lid and the water on the floor didn't help either; I'd managed to ruin an entire stall in one swift action. I looked down at the wet floor in shame.

"Where's your shoe?" he asked. I looked at the toilet. Giggles escaped him. I tried to walk out of the stall past him. "Wait, wait," he said, pushing me back in. "Sorry. I—uh—I'll get it."

He walked into the stall, squeezing past me. Despite my pleas, he took off his cardigan, hanging it over the top of the stall, and shoved his right sleeve up before bending over the toilet. He dipped his hand in the water without hesitation, gripping the shoe and tugging a few times until he finally yanked it free. "Got it," he said proudly. He stared at the drenched shoe triumphantly. He flushed the toilet, walking out of the stall with my shoe dripping toilet water towards the sinks with the shoe pinched between the stubs of his thumb and index finger extended far away from his body.

I had my right foot in the sink, washing it off. Adric was to my right, trying to dry my shoe under the hand dryer. Every so often he'd start laughing. I eventually turned my back to him, trying to use paper towels to absorb some of the water in my clothes—and some of the shame. The bottom half of my pant leg was still visibly wet; I hated the feeling of wearing wet clothes. While Adric continued drying my shoe, a few guys entered and left the bathroom, staring at us strangely, but Adric didn't seem to care.

"Good as new," he said before kneeling and holding out the shoe for me.

"Ha, ha," I said, gently snatching the shoe from his hands and putting it on myself. It was damp, but it was better than sopping wet. Adric grinned, standing up and gesturing for me to walk ahead of him to the door.

"You don't have to drive me home," I told him, certain the date was over. I headed for the door unable to look at him as I spoke. "I'll catch an Uber, but thanks...for everything."

"Wait," he said grabbing me. "The movie isn't over yet."

"What?" I asked, confused. He couldn't be serious. "I'm not going back in there, not like this," I insisted pointing to my soiled clothes.

"You look fine," he lied. My eyes narrowed scornfully at him as he chuckled. "You look...alternative." I turned to leave. "C'mon," he said moving in front of me. "I paid for the tickets and made dinner reservations afterward. You're not going to ditch me now, are you?" I looked at him bewildered. I couldn't fathom why he even wanted to finish the date. "Please?" he said with a pouty lip. "I won't laugh anymore, I promise," he said as he fought a dubious grin.

"I'm covered in toilet water," I reminded him. "I just...wanna go home..." We stood in silence.

"Wait here," he said as he walked past me.

"What? Why?"

"Just wait here. I'll be right back." And he was gone. I stood in the restroom for a few minutes before he returned with a duffle bag he gave me.

"What's this?"

"A change of clothes," he answered. I opened the bag to see a T-shirt, a varsity letterman jacket, a pair of light-wash jeans, some Converse, and an almost empty can of Axe. "I like to carry around extra clothes and stuff in my car in case of emergencies. They might be a little too big for you, but they're dry," he said with a caring smile.

"Thank you," I said, stunned by his graciousness.

I walked into another stall to change. "Do me a favor?" he said before I closed the door. "Try not to stand on that toilet," he teased before guffawing. I slammed the door shut.