Chapter 8:
By now Maura's sobbing had subsided. I didn't care how long we had been on the ground. All I wanted to do was make Maura feel as safe as possible. Maura was the first to break the silence. She looked up to me. "Sorry I got your shirt all wet."
I couldn't help but laugh. "That's the first thing that comes to your mind after crying your heart out? Not a 'thanks for being there for me' or some random facts about how many bacteria whatevers are on the ground that we are sitting on?"
"Well," she chuckled. I could hear the smile in her voice without even looking down at her face. "Did you know that the cleanest place in the bathroom is the toilet and that the cleanest toilets are in hospitals and the worst are in airports and airplanes?"
"Eww, Maura, Too much info. Come on, let's get off the ground. You creeped me out by all the fact thingys. But, I am perfectly glad that my Maura's back." We both got off the ground. "Come on Maura, let's get that dirty dress changed." We walked out into the hall. It was completely empty. Maura followed me all of the way to the locker room. "You have yoga clothes to change into, right?"
"Yes, I do." She walked silently to her locker, unlocked it, and pulled her clothes out. I stood there not knowing what to do. She pulled her soiled dress over her head so now she only stood in a fuchsia colored bra and lace panties. She grabbed her black yoga pants and started pulling them on.
I spoke up. "Maura?" I paused. "How long were you in the bathroom before Emily and Debbie came in?" I looked at Maura who had now stopped what she was doing and stared at the ground. Her eyes had started to fill up with tears, but she replied anyway. "I wasn't in there long. I ran to the bathroom and started to try to wash the food off my dress with a paper towel. I heard some laughing from outside the bathroom; I knew it were the cheerleaders I just didn't know whom. Before they walked in I ran to the stall that you found me." She paused and I saw a tear slide down her cheek. "I think th-that- ," She was now sobbing. "that they kn-knew I wa-was in the- there."
I couldn't bear to see Maura cry anymore. I walked up to her and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry Maura," I whispered. "I didn't mean to make you cry."
"It's o-ok." She wiped the tears off of her face and sniffled one more time. "Wha- what time is it?" she randomly asked. I pulled my phone out of my jean's back pocket. It read 12:25. I had a text from Frost that was sent about ten minutes ago. I must not have felt it vibrate. Where the hell are you! Did you find Maura? Is she ok? When are you coming to class? I didn't reply to Frost. "It's 12:25," I told Maura, "but before you freak out about you being late to yoga and me late to English I'm sure we're fine."
She had now put on her top. It was a purple racerback yoga tank. "What do you mean 'we're fine'?" She grabbed my hand in a panic and headed toward the locker room door.
"Wait Maura, what about your shoes?" She looked down at her bare feet and headed back to the bench her clothes were still sitting on. "And, what about your clothes? Aren't you gonna put them back into your locker?"
She was absentmindedly fumbling around with her clothes. "Shoot!"
My eyes shot up in surprise and panic. I ran to her. "What!?"
"I don't have any shoes to wear. My heels won't go with my yoga outfit." She whined.
I sighed and groaned. "Oh my go- really Maura, really? That's it? Your shoes don't go with your outfit!?" I said a little too roughly for my liking, but Maura didn't seem to mind. "Here," I walked over to my locker. "What size shoe do you wear?" I opened my locker and pulled out a pair of converse.
"I wear a size 8."
"They're a size 9. I hope that's ok. It's all I have." I held out the pair of shoes to her. She didn't move. I reached into my locker and pulled out a pair of socks. "They're clean." She just stood staring at me, but I could tell that she was trying to come up with something to say. "I know that they're a size too big and not quite 'your style'; and I also know that you are probably about to start spouting off facts to me about how unsanitary this is, but they are all I have, and I'm willing to offer them." She didn't say anything to me, but she had a smile on her face. "What?" I asked cautiously.
"Nothing, it's just," She hesitated for a second. "No one has ever done that for me before." She walked up to me, still with a smile on her face, and took the socks and shoes from my hands. "Thank you."
She sat down at the nearest bench and began to put the socks on her feet. I was a little taken aback by her first comment, and all I could manage was a "No problem."
'It must be sealed now. Only friends share their shoes, right? So that's what we are now then, huh? Friends.'