A Reversed Cinderella Story

"I'll be right back dad! Geez." I walked into the girls bathroom of the roadside gas station and paused. Wow, this is a nifty bathroom. Way more elegant and cleaner for that matter, than any other gas station bathroom I've ever seen. It had a wall length mirror with gold trim and the walls were a deep sun-red. The lights lit the bathroom perfectly that it seemed like a fancy restaurant. The stalls were mahogany wood, all in a line against the far wall. There was another person there in a stall, but I payed them no mind. I went into a stall and did my business. Flushed and went to wash my hands. Even the faucets were gold and had figures of foxes sitting attentively on the sides of them. The soap was a delightful fragrance and the aroma of it surrounded me as I washed my hands. I heard a flush from the stall the person was in and looked up in the mirror at the person exiting the stall. What the heck?!
A guy? What's a guy doing in the WOMEN'S bathroom? He looked at me and smiled sheepishly.
"You know this is the women's restroom, right?" I asked him.
"Yeah....." He answered. "The guys' bathroom isn't as cool as this one. So I use this one whenever I pass through this area. Please don't tell anyone?"
"Sure, your secret's safe with me." He walked up to the sink and washed his hands. Thank God! It was a relief to see him wash his hands, I thought he might walk out of here without doing that! I dried my hands on a scented white hand towel that was hanging on a towel rack. I looked him over: tall, teenager like me, blonde hair that swept over his forehead but not too long, hazel eyes, cool clothes (Jeans not sagging but not hiked up like a dweebs, his shirt had Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Machine on it, he was wearing dark blue Converse.) and he was cute. He seemed pretty awesome just by what I could tell about him and he was hygienic by washing his hands. Or maybe he was just being polite and washing his hands because I was there. I don't know, I'm just glad he's actually washing his hands unlike most guys.
"So do any of your friends know you use the women's bathroom here?" I asked him intrigued.
He laughed slightly, a baritone voice I could tell. "No, they would make fun of me if I told them or they found out." He looked at me through the mirror and our eyes made contact. He was really cute! He dried his hands off on the towel and stood across from me. "So what about you? Ever use the men's restroom?" He smiled a sweet smile that went with his humorous tone.
"Ha, right. Why would I go in the guys bathroom when the women's is apparently much nicer and cleaner? Besides I'm a normal girl who likes to use the correct gender restroom." I smiled back to let him know I was teasing him. I think I was flirting...
"Are you saying I'm not normal?" He replied with his eyebrows raised.
"Well, not everyone's normal. I'm not THAT normal, actually pretty weird. But abnormal is good."
"So am I good?" He asked and ran a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, you're good." I smiled. Then I heard my name yelled from outside in the gas station. "That would be my dad. I should go." I checked my watch. "Saint-like bovine! I've been in here for thirteen minutes! I really should go! Nice meeting you, bye!" I turned toward the door.
"Nice talking to you. Remember, don't tell anyone." He smiled again and my heart leaped.
"You got it. Bye." I swept out of there and rushed to my dad who was waiting impatiently outiside. We were coming home from visiting my relatives in Nevada. And dad had work tomorrow so he really wanted to get home and get enough sleep for the next day. And I had school tomorrow so I also wanted to get some sleep.
Two days later at school
"Hey, snap out of it!" My friend, Jade, snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Are you listening to a single word I said?" She said angrily.
"Yeah.... of course... Okay no." I admitted. She shook her head and frowned at me. Then she looked at me matter-of-factly.
"I was talking about the Trig homework. Did you understand it? Did you do the homework? If you did, can I copy off of you?" She looked at me expectantly and I handed over my notebook for her to find the page. The usual drill, Jade's a good friend but she can hurt me if she doesn't get what she wants. Our friendship is kind of a mutual thing, we hang out and all but it's really based on consentment. We became friends over homework and it's pretty much stayed that way. We have things in common and have fun together but it's really based on homework. She grabbed the notebook and started rambling again about whatever it was she was saying before the thing about the homework.
I wasn't paying attention really, I was thinking back to the guy in the restroom. I didn't even know his name! I should have asked him before I left. He was so hot, I should've asked for his name or cell phone number! Geez, I'm so stupid! How could I not get his name or number?!
I stared across the courtyard, just staring off into space. My eyes landed on something that looked familiar, who was that? Blonde hair, blue Converse, tall, sweet smile, and cute Tazmanian Devil shirt! It looked like Mystery Man from the women's bathroom!
"Jade, I'll be right back." I stood up and heard her say something.
"Where are you going? I might need you to explain some of the problems I'm copying off of you!" But I kept walking in a trance toward Bathroom Guy. The walk there seemed to take a millennia. I kept focused on his face, making sure it was him. It sure looked like him.
My heart beat furiously like a tiger thrashing around a cage with rage from being pent up. Roaring and hammering against the walls of my rib cage. I finally reached him and tapped on his shoulder since he was turned away from me at the moment. Luckily he was alone searching through his backpack. He flipped his hair as he swung his head around toward me.
I saw his mouth gape open in surprise and a grin slide onto his face. He stood up from where he was sitting and I breathed in the scent of his cologne. It was a sickly sweet fragrance but not too much of it that would make me want to hurl.
"Hi." I sounded confident but I felt like I was tremoring.
"Hey, I didn't think I'd ever see you again. How have you been?" I let the sound of his voice swirl around me before I answered.
"Um, good. Still using only the women's bathroom." I smiled teasingly and laughed. "So what are you doing here?"
"I'm a new student. What a coincidence! I can't believe you go here too!" He looked genuinely pleased and it was contagious. We both grinned stupidly and the end of school bell rang. "So where are you heading?" He asked me.
"I'm going to the parking lot to get my car and drive home." I walked into the school's elevator to head down to the front entrance to leave. He stepped into the elevator too and stood beside me.
"Me too." I looked down to hide my blushing face and saw that he was also wearing bracelets. Those thick rubber ones that usually sponsor things or have mottos on them and a few colorful yarn ones. The doors closed and it was just us two in the elevator.
"Ummm... look, I'm not usually the one who does this but.... would you like to go out sometime?" I couldn't believe I'd just said that. Did that really come out of my mouth? All of a sudden I felt a whoosh of air on me and I was against the elevator wall with him in front of me.
"I don't think you want that. I'm a screwed up guy who can't be fixed and you'll get hurt." His face was so close to mine and I had a compulsive urge to kiss him. His breath smelled minty and I hate the scent of mint, but on him it was attractive and desirable.
"Yeah, I didn't get that you were screwed up from you using the women's bathroom." He chuckled and I hoped for a second that he would consent to dating. I heard a ding and the doors slid open to the main hallway.
He backed up and started to walk out. "Wait!" I heard myself say. I couldn't let him leave yet, I wanted to be with him no matter how much it might hurt me. I grabbed his hand before he walked off and pulled myself closer.
"I've never been the one to put myself out there. But it's something about you..... there's something between us, I know it, and I feel like we should give it a shot." I gave him a pleading look with sincerity and waited for his response. He looked at me one last time, a look that said "I'm sorry", and walked out of the elevator. His hand slipped out of mine and I accidentally slid one of his bracelets off his wrist. It landed in my hand but it didn't seem like he'd noticed. He kept walking out of the elevator and I was left standing there with his bracelet in my hand. I read the one word on it: love.