Read Online Amber Eyes by Mariana Reuter - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mariana Reuter
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instant, my palms turned sweaty and I could feel my face stone cold.
I hated myself for being so foolish. I shouldn’t have told Mrs. Olsen I was heading to the Greyhound station. I could imagine her telling the cops what I had told her when they questioned her about Yago’s dead body. All my life and hopes vanished in a second. The redheaded cop would arrest me and when she did so, my girlfriend Jenny, my new friend Edward, and the short liberty I’d experienced since two hours ago would vaporized.
Anxiety filled me like the day when Clara Benson and her gang had cornered me in the restroom. They said I needed some lipstick to look more girly, so they smeared bright red lipstick all over my face. I lay curled on the floor for hours. Today, I wanted to curl up too so the redheaded cop wouldn’t spot me. I couldn’t allow her to arrest me, at least not until Jenny could stand by my side and protect me. Then I could endure court, jail and even the death penalty, if that’s what I got.
I jumped to my feet like somebody had lit a fire under my buttocks and glanced in every direction. The restrooms, where the hell were this station’s damned restrooms? Outside. They had to be outside. I bolted to the back door and exited to the empty, dark parking lot. The air smelled like wet earth, which meant rain was about to start dropping. I discovered the restrooms to my right, two metallic doors labeled “Gents” and “Lad es”—the ‘i’ was missing.
I pulled open the Ladies restroom door but froze. No. I was a boy, wasn’t I? So, for the sake of the lie, I had to enter the Gents restroom instead. I released the door and moved in front of the Gents’. My skin tingled. It was the first time ever I’d dared enter a boy’s restroom. What would happen if some guy was inside? Hoping not, I gulped. With my hand still on the knob, I hesitated.
Okay, I said to myself, I’m a boy, and I’ll be one until all this is over. I mustn’t fear. This is my gender’s restroom.
I wished I actually was a boy. It would have solved all my problems. For sure, the cop would describe a girl to the station’s staff and ask them whether they’d seen me. If I behaved like a boy, she’d never realize the pigeon had fled right from under her nose. I flung the Gents’ door open and step inside stamping my foot. I had to pinch my nostrils right away. Bet nobody had flushed the toilets in centuries. One more step and my sneakers—Edward’s really—splashed on the waterlogged floor. Never mind. I made it to the first stall and locked myself inside. Then I gave it a second thought. They always search the first one in the movies. So I moved to the second one. There were only three of them, anyway, but I decided the last one was as conspicuous as the first one, like trying to conceal myself in the last possible hole.
Two or three minutes later somebody came into the restroom. How stupid of me! I should have turned the lights off if I wanted the cop to believe the place was empty. Then I thought lights in public restroom are always on, so it’d been better I hadn’t turned them off.
I had to stop making the wrong decisions. Even considering them,
“God, what a stench!” It was Edward’s voice. I exhaled in relief. “Justin, are you in here?”
My heart beat a thousand miles per hour while I decided if I should answer. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I stood silently, squeezing my hands with each other.
Edward knocked on my cubicle’s door. “Justin, is everything okay?”
I was terrified and not sure whether Edward had added two plus two and was about to hand me over to the cops. I bit my lip. A sweat droplet trickled down my forehead. The stench made me feel sick. I glanced at the toilet behind me. Indeed, nobody had flushed it and nauseating things floated in beige water. Edward wouldn’t hand me to the police, would he? He was a boy scout after all, whatever that meant.
“Justin, I know you’re there. I can see my
I hated myself for being so foolish. I shouldn’t have told Mrs. Olsen I was heading to the Greyhound station. I could imagine her telling the cops what I had told her when they questioned her about Yago’s dead body. All my life and hopes vanished in a second. The redheaded cop would arrest me and when she did so, my girlfriend Jenny, my new friend Edward, and the short liberty I’d experienced since two hours ago would vaporized.
Anxiety filled me like the day when Clara Benson and her gang had cornered me in the restroom. They said I needed some lipstick to look more girly, so they smeared bright red lipstick all over my face. I lay curled on the floor for hours. Today, I wanted to curl up too so the redheaded cop wouldn’t spot me. I couldn’t allow her to arrest me, at least not until Jenny could stand by my side and protect me. Then I could endure court, jail and even the death penalty, if that’s what I got.
I jumped to my feet like somebody had lit a fire under my buttocks and glanced in every direction. The restrooms, where the hell were this station’s damned restrooms? Outside. They had to be outside. I bolted to the back door and exited to the empty, dark parking lot. The air smelled like wet earth, which meant rain was about to start dropping. I discovered the restrooms to my right, two metallic doors labeled “Gents” and “Lad es”—the ‘i’ was missing.
I pulled open the Ladies restroom door but froze. No. I was a boy, wasn’t I? So, for the sake of the lie, I had to enter the Gents restroom instead. I released the door and moved in front of the Gents’. My skin tingled. It was the first time ever I’d dared enter a boy’s restroom. What would happen if some guy was inside? Hoping not, I gulped. With my hand still on the knob, I hesitated.
Okay, I said to myself, I’m a boy, and I’ll be one until all this is over. I mustn’t fear. This is my gender’s restroom.
I wished I actually was a boy. It would have solved all my problems. For sure, the cop would describe a girl to the station’s staff and ask them whether they’d seen me. If I behaved like a boy, she’d never realize the pigeon had fled right from under her nose. I flung the Gents’ door open and step inside stamping my foot. I had to pinch my nostrils right away. Bet nobody had flushed the toilets in centuries. One more step and my sneakers—Edward’s really—splashed on the waterlogged floor. Never mind. I made it to the first stall and locked myself inside. Then I gave it a second thought. They always search the first one in the movies. So I moved to the second one. There were only three of them, anyway, but I decided the last one was as conspicuous as the first one, like trying to conceal myself in the last possible hole.
Two or three minutes later somebody came into the restroom. How stupid of me! I should have turned the lights off if I wanted the cop to believe the place was empty. Then I thought lights in public restroom are always on, so it’d been better I hadn’t turned them off.
I had to stop making the wrong decisions. Even considering them,
“God, what a stench!” It was Edward’s voice. I exhaled in relief. “Justin, are you in here?”
My heart beat a thousand miles per hour while I decided if I should answer. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I stood silently, squeezing my hands with each other.
Edward knocked on my cubicle’s door. “Justin, is everything okay?”
I was terrified and not sure whether Edward had added two plus two and was about to hand me over to the cops. I bit my lip. A sweat droplet trickled down my forehead. The stench made me feel sick. I glanced at the toilet behind me. Indeed, nobody had flushed it and nauseating things floated in beige water. Edward wouldn’t hand me to the police, would he? He was a boy scout after all, whatever that meant.
“Justin, I know you’re there. I can see my
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