A WHIRLWIND OF COLOR

28

“That’s only if you put a camera in a public bathroom…”

“That’s beside the point.”

Melissa sighed. “If you tripped and fell in the bathroom, you’d be happy there were cameras so you wouldn’t bleed out. Bathrooms can be very dangerous places. Just think of everything that could go wrong. Razor accidents, drowning, accidental choking by toothbrush.” She laughed, but I was no longer paying attention to her.

I bit the inside of my lip. She was right. Bathrooms could be dangerous. And she had just given me a brilliant idea. Or an awful one. Really it was just brilliantly awful. An accident would definitely draw the two security guards away from the front door and give me time to escape. Their sole purpose was apparently to protect me. It was devious and perfect and…impossible. But now that the thought was in my head, it wouldn’t go away.

I looked back up at the camera. I wasn’t even really upset about the cameras monitoring me at all times. It wasn’t like anyone was going to be watching me for much longer. I was upset because the cameras were an issue for my escape. The security guards were most likely watching me right now. I looked away from the camera.

My plan was already running wild in my mind. When I was little, I played an epic April Fool’s Day prank on my dad. The toilet in the downstairs bathroom had an issue with overflowing. So I poured a cup of water on the floor outside of the bathroom and then locked myself inside. I screamed about the toilet overflowing and pretended to panic instead of letting my dad come in and fix it. He almost broke the door down. Needless to say, I never played a prank ever again because of how upset he got.

Melissa’s idea about bleeding out in the bathroom had given me a similar idea. I could pretend to lock myself in the bathroom and cause some kind of distraction that would draw the security guards away from the front door. If I hid downstairs, maybe it would give me enough time to slip out undetected. There was just one issue. The stupid bathroom camera. And all the other cameras. They’d see me walking around prepping everything and they’d also know for a fact that I wasn’t in the bathroom. Unless…

“I need to pee,” I said.

“Um. Okay.” Melissa gave me a weird look.

“I’ll be right back!” My voice came out weird and high-pitched. Stop it. I practically ran out of the kitchen to avoid her scrutiny.

I glanced around the bathroom. It definitely seemed like there was only one camera. This could work. All I needed was to move the camera. And get some kind of disguise. First things first. I began humming and started to pull down my pants like I was about to use the toilet, but then paused and stared at the camera. I shook my head like I was truly disgusted that there were people watching my every move. Which was easy to do, because I didn’t even have to pretend. I even gave the camera the middle finger for good measure. Please believe I’m just pissed about you watching me. I climbed on top of the sink and pushed the camera toward the wall so that it was no longer monitoring the bathroom.

I walked over to the tub. I didn’t want to cause anyone distress, but I couldn’t think of a better option. It wasn’t like James would just let me walk away. There was an air of desperation around him. I felt bad for thinking it. I felt worse when I turned the faucet on in the bathtub and plugged the drain.

It probably wasn’t the best idea, but it was the only one I could think of. I had been in here long enough. They’d be suspicious that I had irritable bowel syndrome if I took much longer. I slipped out of the bathroom and glanced around the master bedroom one last time. There were definitely no cameras pointed at the bathroom door. I locked the door from the inside, and closed it as quietly as I could.

I didn’t know how much time I had, but it probably wasn’t much. The tub would overflow soon. And I needed to hide. I walked as quickly as I could out of the room and down the stairs.

“Penny?” Melissa said from the kitchen. “Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

“Sure. You pick one. I’m going to ask Josh if he wants to watch too.” Smooth. I ran to the guest room, knocked on the door, and opened it before he had time to answer.

“Um…hey, Penny,” Josh said as he looked up from his laptop. He was sitting on the bed working. “I heard Melissa ask about watching a movie. I’ll be out in a few minutes. Just gotta send one last email.”

“It’s freezing in here,” I said.

He looked back up from his screen. “Yeah? It feels fine to me.”

“Oh, good. Could I borrow your hoodie then?”

“My hoodie?” He looked at me like I had asked to borrow something much weirder than a sweatshirt.

It wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t even the weirdest thing I was going to ask him for. Give it to me, I silently pleaded.

“I guess,” he said. He pulled it off and tossed it at me.

I quickly pulled it on over my shirt. “That helped a little, but geez, it’s still freezing. Our air conditioning must be broken in the way that it won’t turn off. Can I borrow your pants too?”

This time he stared at me like I had asked to borrow his pants. Which made sense, because I had. I'd earned his stare this time.

“Um…no.”

I laughed awkwardly. “Why? They’re just pants.”

“They wouldn’t even fit you.”

“I know. That’s the point. They’ll be big and comfy…”

“I pack light, Penny. I didn’t bring a million outfits with me like Melissa did.” He laughed. “I can’t just give you my pants.”

“Please?”

He just stared at me.

“I don’t have any comfy clothes here. And I’m so freaking cold. And all I want in the entire world is a warm pair of sweatpants to make me feel normal again.”

“If it seriously means that much to you, why don’t you just borrow a pair of sweats from James?”

“I don’t want his. I want nothing to do with him.”

He pressed his lips together as he stared at me. And then he shook his head. “Fine. Turn around will you?”