Ertifferrah Written By: Elay Understood CHAPTER 23 THE BATHROOM SURPRISES...Elay TV Content Creator

Octavious accompanied Erica as they walked to get things from her locker. She broke the silence.

“Referring back to the subject of my name, come to think of it, why in the world were you hovering over my shoulder anyway?” she asked, part serious, part teasingly. “I thought you were the type of guy who liked to ‘give a girl her room’ and ‘respect her privacy’,” she mimicked.

Sharing the abrupt silence between them as she waited for his answer, they climbed the steps to the third floor. Erica aware that they passed the junior lockers on the previous floor.

“Hey, I don’t remember saying all of that, but hey, if that’s what you think about me, then it’s all good…if that’s a good thing to you, that is,” he said with a smile.  

“So, Erica…” his voice trailed.

She shivered at the way he said her name.  

Shaking it off, Octavious continued. “Never mind all of that stuff about your name right now. Haven’t you ever heard that when a man,” he inhaled deeply and with great pride, pointing to himself “pesters an attractive young woman, like yourself, that means that he’s interested in that young woman?”

She blushed with embarrassment and delight as her jaw dropped, her face burning bright, her eyes watery.

“Aw, you’re about to cry!”  he smiled, trying not to laugh too much.  

“No, I’m not, it’s just when I’m surprised, I, I just, uh, my…it affects my sinuses!”

“Right,” he said rolling his eyes with a smile.  “Girl, look at your face!  It’s glowing brighter than the sun!  He took her hand, quickly leading her into the nearest bathroom, which happened to be the boys’.

“See, look at you!  You’re so radiant!  My big sister used this lotion that got some type of radiance stuff to make her skin glow.  It worked but, the way you’re glowing now, woo, you’re shining!”  Octavious looked so amazed.

“Yeeaah, I do look radiant. Umm, but I think we’d better get out of here before someone comes in and assumes the worst…if ya know what I mean?”

“I know exactly what you mean…” his voice trailed off as he moved in closer to her.  

She could see the definition in his arms, the veins as they throbbed, blood pumping through them.  This is the closest Erica had ever been to a guy before, and she liked it too.  What made this experience so exciting though was that he was the hottest guy around and was truly digging her!

He held her close, at first, hugging her tight with an embrace and inhaling the sweet fragrances in her hair.

“Mmm!  What’s that scent in your hair?  I love it, it smells good. It smells, like honey and flowers! See,  you have the funkiest stuff going on about you in a good way and you act differently than the rest of the girls. You’re you.  And you make it look so easy being that way, understand what I’m saying?”

“Thank you.  She whispered gently into his chest.”  He smelled so good.  It was hard to remain focused.  “It’s, it’s, uhmm, I think we should go…”

“Baby, don’t nobody ever come up to this bathroom, let alone this wing of the school.  That’s the way it’s always been since I’ve been here. I know a few cats who graduated last year and the year before that who say the same thing.  So, there you have it, baby girl, we’re safe.  He pressed his body even closer to hers, constricting his big arms so much tighter than before.  Moving her farther from the mirror and deeper into the bathroom.

Erica braced for his luscious lips to touch hers. The warmth of his mouth on hers sent thousands upon thousands of sensations through her body from head to toe. This was her first kiss but she knew deep down inside that there was something more to it than any other couple could ever experience. If she died right then and there, it would have been okay with her.

He pulled away, though he didn’t really want to. “Wow that was right, that was so right. Did you feel the same way?”

He spoke to her with excited compassion.  Waiting for an answer, puppy-eyed.

“Yeah, yes, I’ve never felt anything that amazing before. This may sound a little unbelievable, or maybe even a little sad, but you’re my first kiss.”

“Strange enough, but I believe you…Wanna do it again…?” he said kind of laughing, yet hoping she’d say yes. Before she could answer, though, he leaned in and did it anyway.  Seconds into the kiss, the lights flickered off and on.

“Woah!” they both exclaimed, pulling apart.

“ZzzZZZ” the lights hummed too loud to go unnoticed. Electrical currents flow through the fixtures, water faucets turned on, pouring out water and overflowing the sinks.

“AHHHH!” Erica screamed.

“What the?! We have to get out of here!” yelled Octavious.

“Right!”

BOOOMMMM!  The bathroom door slammed shut.

“AAHHHHH!” They both cried.

Both trying to tug open the door was like trying to sway a T-Rex to go vegetarian.  It just wasn’t happening!

“This door isn’t budging!  Erica, what have you gotten us into?” He said with a nervous chuckle. 

Octavious still had that sense of humor, even in the midst of trouble. “I don’t know about you, but I think it’s gotten darker in here,” Octavious said while looking up at the light fixtures.

“Wait, shh, you hear that noise?”

“What noise, which one?”

“That one.”

Coming from the stalls, was a gurgling sound followed by numerous voices whispering words from another language. It sounded frightening, like something right out of a horror flick.  The closer it came, the louder it grew.

Both of them rushed to the door, pounding on the bathroom door, shouting “Help! Let us out! Please, help!”  Unfortunately, the rumors that Octavious had heard were true—no one entered this wing of the school—so their cries went unheard. 

Octavious picked up a trash can and pushed Erica behind him as he backed into a corner. There was nothing more for the both of them to do but wait for the inevitable to arise. 

“Help! Let us out! Please, help!” They yelled.

He picked up a trash can, pushed Erica behind him, and backed into a corner. 

The toilets shattered, tons of cold water pushed out.  

“Erica, this is getting pretty ugly, I hope you know how to swim.”

“I can swim.” She huffed, as the water rose past her knees.

“Let's try opening the door again!” Octavious ordered.

By this time they could hear someone shouting from the other side!

“WHAT’S GOING ON?  WHO’S IN THERE? WHAT’S HAPPENING?” 

“HELP US!” They pleaded. “The door is stuck, it won't open!” Octavious protested. 

“I'm trying.” Said Principal Veedra in a panic. “It won't budge! I'm going to get help!”

Paddling in a frenzy to keep their heads above the water, a current churned the waters making it hard to stay afloat.

The toilets had already gushed out tons and tons of cold, water, making it hard for them to answer as they swam, trying desperately to keep afloat.  For several minutes, they did manage to raise their heads above the rapid current, but something from beneath kept pulling them savagely under as if trying to drown them.

“Erica, somethings down there pulling at my legs!”

“Maybe it's the drain, sucking out the water.” 

He went under!

“Octavious, Octavious!”  Erica cried out in a frantic search for him. Seconds ago, they had each other within arm’s reach, but they quickly lost touch. 

“Octavious, OCTAVIOUS! Where ARE you?!” she pleaded in desperation, submerged. Underwater, thoughts ran through her head that this may be the end.

Frozen in thought, it all came terrifyingly together.  “I’M ME, IT’S ME!  I’M ERICA!  BUT I’M ERTIFFERRAH!  I’M REALLY ERTIFFERRAH!  I DON’T THINK THIS DREAM WORLD IS REALLY A DREAM AT ALL.  I THINK IT’S REAL!!  OH, MY GOSH! IT’S REAL!!!

Octavious saw her go down as he was on his way back up.

“Erica!  Erica, I’m coming!” He shouted after taking what would be his last breath of air. Diving down into the waters, he spotted what pulled him down -it wasn't' the drain but some kind of sea creature. It looked like an overgrown seahorse! It was now circling Erica. He knew he had to keep composed because, if he didn’t, his outcome would be as grim as Erica’s. He tried to find a way to divert the creature’s attention long enough to save her.  Octavious could think of nothing else to do but kick the creature to keep it away from her.

The razor-sharp teeth of the creature were in full view now, and it lashed out violently at Octavious, turning its attention from Erica and focusing wholly on Octavious.

He gasped and choked on a mouthful of salty water.  It was all too confusing, too unreal; assuming that time ran out for Erica because she had to have been under for more than three minutes.  Who knows, he thought, it really could have been only a few moments.  

The razor-sharp teeth of the creature were in full view as it lunged at Octavious in rage. 

Erica, if we make it out of this, I promise to make you queen. The creature grabbed hold of his pant leg and opened its jaws wide enough to bite off his foot.

As he slowly closed his eyes to brace for the bite, a gleam of light caught his eye.  What?  No, wait a minute…a, a Protector’s Pendant! Where did this come from?! There’s no time to think about this right now, I’ve gotta get us the hell outta here! Spotting the pendant gave him a burst of energy and in the nick of time too!  He bolted towards the pendant, floating a ways behind the creature while chanting something inside his head.  He reached, stretching for it with determination while the creature circled, preparing to make another vicious attack.  Then, Octavious grabbed hold of the now-glowing pendant and dove towards Erica.  Almost out of oxygen, Octavious fought harder to reach Erica before it was too late! He grunted out of sheer desperation as his head and chest felt ready to explode at any second.  Uhhhnn, al-most…there!  Uh…GOT HER!!

Just by touching any part of Erica with the Protector’s Pendant was enough to send them both out of harm's way and back to safety, so without an ounce of hesitation, that’s exactly what he did.