Odessa’s POV
My entire body went rigid, Why was he here?
“Landon.”
Out of every person in Blackridge University…
Why did it have to be him?
I stared at the locked stall door in horror.
“Are you still there?” his voice came again, calm as ever.
I covered my face with both hands.
“This is so embarrassing…” I whispered
“What was that?” He said
“Nothing!”
“You’ve been in there for almost twenty minutes.” He said again
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Had it really been that long?
“I know looser” I said
“So pinky”
“So what?”
“Are you planning on graduating from the bathroom?”
Despite my mortification, I rolled my eyes.
“Very funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
I groaned.
“You can go now.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean I’m not leaving.”
“Why this is a girls bathroom I can report you”
There was a brief pause before he answered.
“Maya found me outside the engineering building.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“She said you were stuck here.”
My cheeks burned even hotter.
“Oh my God I was going to kill them when I get out of here”
“She couldn’t bring this herself.” He said
I frowned.
“Why?”
“They’ve got a practical assessment.
The professor refused to let anyone leave.”
Oh.
“So…” Rune continued.
“She asked me to give you this, open the door and take it.”
I leaned my forehead against the stall door.
“I think I’d rather disappear.”
“I can arrange that.”
I laughed before I could stop myself then immediately covered my mouth.
Why was I laughing?
I hated him.
“This is officially the most embarrassing day of my life.”
“I’ve seen worse trust me.”
My eyebrows furrowed.
“How?”
“I fight for a living.”
“Right.” Rune cleared his throat.
“Are you coming to get it or not.”
“What is it?”
“The stuff Maya asked me to bring.”
I sighed like an idiot and crouched slightly.
“You can just slide it under the door.”
Nothing happened and a few seconds passed.
“Landon?”
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
“The gap’s too small.”
“What?”
“The bag won’t fit.”
I frowned, surely he was joking, what bag?
“You’re kidding.” I said
“I’m not.”
I looked down.
“Great.”
I heard him sigh from the other side then I heard the the faint rustling of paper.
“What are you doing?” I asked
“Taking things out.” He said and my eyes widened again, at this point the could just pop out.
One by one… Items slid beneath the door.
First it was a small pack of sanitary pads.
I grabbed them so quickly I wanted to cry.
This was so embarrassing “Thank you.” I muttered
Then he slides a small folded plastic bag, another rustle then a navy-blue school skirt appeared beneath the door, folded as neatly as possible.
I stared at it.
“Hm?”
“Why is there a skirt?”
He answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Because yours is stained.”
I looked at the brand-new skirt in complete disbelief.
“You… bought this?”
“You couldn’t exactly walk around campus like that.”
I was speechless.
It still had the price tag attached, he had actually gone to the campus store and bought me a skirt.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you?”
There was a long pause.
“So you’d stop hiding in a bathroom stall.”
I smiled despite myself.
He could never just answer a question normally.
“I’ll pay you back though.”
“No pinky”
His voice wasn’t harsh but I knew it was final.
I bit my lower lip.
“Thank you.”
This time he didn’t answer.
Instead, I heard him walk a few steps away before speaking again.
“I’m standing by the sinks.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“So you don’t think I’m trying to peek.”
My cheeks instantly turned scarlet red “I… I never thought that.”
“I know.”
“But if I stand over here, you’ll probably stop panicking.”
I looked down at the new skirt in my hands.
“Take your time,” he said quietly.
“I’ll wait till we graduate.”
I smiled to myself.
“You’re very strange.”
“I’ve been told.”
Carefully, I changed into the clean skirt, folded my stained one into the plastic bag, and took a long, steadying breath.
The worst part was over.
Now I had to walk out there and face him.
This was the hardest part.
I stared at the stall door for another minute.
Why was I nervous?
It was just Rune.
The same annoying, rude, impossible to deal with boy who called me Pinky every chance he got.
Taking one deep breath, I unlocked the stall.
Click.
Slowly, I pushed the door open.
Rune was exactly where he’d said he’d be.
Leaning against the sink with his hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie.
His head was turned toward the window, he wasn’t looking at me.
I stepped out quietly.
“I’m done.”
He glanced over his shoulder and his eyes swept over me for barely a second before looking away again.
His face was less bruised today, did he have a special healing balm?
Because one time I kit my forehead and the place was red for a whole week.
“Good.” He said
I looked down at the brand-new skirt.
“It actually fits.”
“It should.” He said
“You guessed my size?”
He shrugged.
“I looked.”
My cheeks immediately turned pink.
“You what?”
“You and every other girl in this school wear the same kind of clothes thought almost like a uniform.”
I rolled my eyes at him
Why had my mind gone somewhere completely different?
Idiot.
An awkward silence settled between us.
Neither of us seemed to know what to say.
Finally, I held out the neatly folded skirt inside the plastic bag.
“I’ll wash it and return the bag.”
“Keep it.”
“The bag?”
“The skirt.”
I blinked.
“I’ll still pay you back though.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“I learned from the best.”
A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his mouth before disappearing so quickly I almost thought I’d imagined it.
Without another word, he reached into the pocket of his hoodie.
“You forgot this.”
He held out a cold bottle of orange juice.
I frowned.
“What’s this?”
“A drink.” He said in a bored tone
“I can see that.”
“Then why are you asking?”
I rolled my eyes.
“I mean why are you giving it to me?”
“The internet says you should drink something.”
I stared at him.
“You searched it online?”
“Yeah I guess.”
He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Is it a lie?.”
I couldn’t help smiling.
He looked almost… embarrassed and cute then he reached into his other pocket.
“And this.”
He held out a chocolate bar.
I looked from the chocolate to him.
“Chocolate?”
He nodded once.
“It also says girls like chocolate during…” He gestured vaguely with his hand, clearly unable to say the word.
“This.”
I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
“You look like you’re in physical pain.”
“I am.”
“You fought three men yesterday.”
“I’d rather do that again.”
I burst into laughter and it was a real laugh this time.
He looked at me for a second before shaking his head.
“You’re laughing at me.”
“I know.”
“I don’t see what’s funny.”
“You’re funny .”
“I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
“I know.”
That somehow made it even funnier.
When I finally stopped laughing, I looked down at the chocolate in my hand.
“Thank you.”
This time I meant it and it wasn’t just for the chocolate but for the skirt and for waiting outside the stall.
For also pretending this wasn’t embarrassing and making sure I didn’t feel ashamed.
He shrugged as if it was nothing.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“I am making a big deal out of it.”
“Why?”
“Because…” I hesitated before meeting his eyes.
“You didn’t have to do any of this.”
He was quiet for a long moment then he looked away.
“I know.”
Another silence settled between us.
It wasn’t uncomfortable anymore, just quiet.
I smiled softly and stared at him, he scoffed and turned away
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Start thinking I’m nice.”
“I didn’t say you were nice.”
“Good.”
“You’ve still got a terrible personality.”
“That i am aware of”
“And you’re still unbelievably rude.”
“Much better.”
I laughed, shaking my head.
“I don’t understand you.”
“You don’t have to.”
He pushed himself away from the sink.
“I’ve already missed enough classes.”
“So have I.” He walked past me toward the bathroom door.
Just before opening it, he paused.
Without turning around, he said quietly, “See you at our tutoring session tomorrow, Pinky.”
He was going to come?
Before I could answer he was gone.
The door clicked shut behind him.
I looked down at the bottle of juice in one hand and the chocolate bar in the other and a smile slowly spread across my face.
Maybe just maybe… Rune wasn’t nearly as heartless as he wanted everyone to believe.
I walked out of the bathroom with a huge smile on my face.