Lisa Piazza
Believe Me
I'm hiding in the bathroom again.
Not the one in the main hall – that’s where everyone goes. I’m in the IA building – Industrial Arts – outside the woodshop and next to auto. None of the campus supervisors ever check here. And hardly any other girls come in, so this is a good place to be.
There are only two small stalls and one rickety sink in here. Sometimes the sink is broken, and sometimes it works. Sometimes the little lopsided canister on the wall actually has soap in it, too, but not often. When there’s soap, I run the water full blast and fill the sink so it overflows with bubbles. Then I just put my hands in and keep my hands in and cover them clean.
The water’s cold, but that’s okay. It helps. I mean, most of the time, it works. What I do is I just stand there at the sink and let the water run over my hands. I count to make my breath match the bubbles. One breath for every bubble – breath/bubble – breath/bubble – breath/bubble…