Chapter 5 HIDING

MICHELLE's P O V

‘‘Nice shit…?’’ the huge guy finally questioned with an eyebrow raised. His voice was deep and guttural, which matched his big frame, and I had a hard time concentrating on what he was saying.

‘‘Excuse me…?’’ I asked the question before my gaze moved from the water that was dripping from his dark hair to his shoulders.

‘‘You just walked out of the stall, and you seem contented? It seems like you got a nice shit there...’’ he continued, his lips curving over the vowels in such a unique way that it was difficult for me to still concentrate on what he was saying.

‘‘Are you questioning me about my... my activities in the bathroom?’’ I squeaked out while wincing at the extremely loud decibel.

The weird man looked at me for a moment before shaking his head in a dismissive manner and making a motion as he walked by me. I had the forethought to step back a little bit so that he could pass by without knocking me over, and his hand was holding the corner of the towel together at his waist. ‘‘Forget it, little guy…''

Again with the little guy…

‘‘I… Please forgive me, I didn't intend to...'' I trailed off as I tried to get away from his eyes, which seemed to be devouring me whole. ‘‘I wasn’t doing that. I mean, not shitting. I… I was… peeing.''

He scowled and strained his eyes while furrowing his brow. ‘‘You piss sitting down?’’

I looked up at him, bewildered, and then blinked my eyes a few times. How did boys pee anyway? My lips parted, but I was out of my league. I was so eager for the conversation to move onto something more appropriate that I hastily changed the subject. ‘‘How was your shower?’’

I blushed at my slip, so I turned to face the mirror, and checked if my appearance was still as normal as before.

‘‘Wet…’’ he answered, merely lifting a shoulder. ‘‘And hot…’’

I could only stare back at him in the mirror. When I didn't respond, he made a frowning face, and I became concerned that I had offended him.

‘‘Oh…’’ was all my brain could come up with as I cleared my throat and used all of my willpower to keep my eye on his face. I failed, but at least I tried. ‘‘That sounds… nice.’’

His upper lip curled forward into a lopsided smile. ‘‘I guess…''

‘‘Um, I’m Michael…’’ I offered quietly, because I was at a loss for words and didn't know what more to say.

‘‘Kaden...’’ he began, and then one of his hands appeared out of thin air. I jumped backwards and braced myself for the hit, but instead he just slapped my shoulder in a light-hearted manner, the non-threatening gesture putting me flying for a second due to the intensity of its impact.

I managed to restore my balance with a cough while simultaneously concealing my lips with my shaking fingers. ‘‘t's a pleasure to meet you, Kaden...’’

‘‘You too, Michael…’’ he smiled back. ‘‘Guess I’ll see you around…’’

He turned before I could react, and I gave him a small wave as he swung the door open. He was strolling with the towel slackly held in one hand while walking with no concern for his nearly naked state. It was as if going through a very busy corridor was an everyday occurrence for him, and he didn't even bat an eye.

I could only fantasize about being so courageous like him someday.

After taking a quick glance around, I realized that there was nobody else in the restroom, so I immediately closed and locked the door before stripping down. After removing the bindings that had been wrapped around my chest, I took a deep intake of air for the first time since this morning. I got in the shower as quickly as I could, and as soon as I was done, I put back my binds and my shirt once more, then slowly stepped out of the bathroom with my head held high.

When I got back to the room, I looked all over for Devon, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I noticed that it was getting late, so I made use of the fact that the room was unoccupied to get ready for bed.

It made me dizzy just thinking about Devon strolling in while I was changing, so I hurried into the confined closet to put on my pajamas as quickly as possible. Even though it was difficult to move around once the door was shut, and there was no light for me to see what I was doing, the danger was significantly reduced.

As soon as I took off my clothing and unwrapped the binding once more, I felt an immediate sense of relaxation. I let out a sigh before forcing a grimace on my face. The scent of stale socks permeated the closet.

It was a gamble to sleep without the binding on, but I was willing to take that risk because the alternative was slowly drowning myself each day they stayed on and restricted my breathing.

I changed into the pajamas that Rina had purchased for me in a black flannel pattern. Despite the fact that they draped over my arms and pooled about my feet, Devon could not possibly have guessed that I was a girl because my clothes concealed any trace of a form.

I gave an appreciative smile while flapping the oversized sleeves at my sides.

My joyous celebration was abruptly put to an end when I heard the click of a door unlocking, and as the door opened, my body went rigid. The sound of footsteps entered the room, and each one was identical to the thumps that my heart was making. The door then slammed shut with a loud click, the sound of a footstep pausing, and a low sigh could be heard coming from the other side of the door.

My heart skipped a beat. Devon was back. I cautiously inched my way closer to the door before leaning my hands and my right ear on the wooden frame in order to listen. Was he just popping in to see if there was anything he needed? Was he going to spend the night here?

As I stayed perfectly still and listened to Devon walk around the room, the seconds seemed like hours to me. Finally, I heard the unmistakable sound of his shoes being taken off and thrown away, and discarded my ears. I had the want to slam my head against the door for not emerging from the closet as soon as he entered, but I refrained from doing so.

If I walked out of the closet at this point, he would realize that I had been hiding on purpose. Any reasonable individual would have announced their arrival by this point in time. Did that imply that I would have to spend the entirety of the night hiding in the closet? The whole concept made me sick to my stomach with dread.

As the footsteps came closer to my hiding spot, I put my hand over my mouth to stifle my rapid breathing. I could hear the footfall approaching. Should I cut my losses and run, pretending that I hid in here to scare him?

My eyes darted around in the pitch black, but there was no place to hide in the cramped little cube. I noticed that there was a bag hanging on the doorknob, but it was far too little for me to fit inside of it. If it's the only way---

Before I could finish my thinking, the door of the closet swung open, and because I had completely forgotten that I was leaning against it, my body rapidly followed after it.

My arms flailed for purchase against anything---and one might’ve knocked against something soft—but I missed and went sailing towards the carpet.

‘‘What the fucking hell is going on?’’

I was knocked to the ground and landed on my palm, which was immediately throbbing from the blow. My senses were overpowered with horror, and I found that I was unable to muster the strength to look into Devon's eyes. If only the ground felt so inclined to swallow me whole.

Devon cleared his throat as he stood over me, sounding confused. ‘‘Michael?’’

‘‘H-hi…’’ I squeaked out against the floor as I stood frozen near the foot of his bed, having no motivation to move at all. If I stayed here for a sufficiently lengthy period of time, he could finally give up and leave.

‘‘Are you okay?’’ he inquired, and one could detect a trace of concern in the tone of his voice.

After clearing my throat, I dared to look at him for a moment. His blue eyes were sparkling with amusement, and he had his arms crossed over his chest. ‘‘I... I'm fine.’’ I responded, putting on a fake smile.

He gave a sideways peek to the door that was propped open behind me as another awkward beat of stillness passed. ‘‘What… were you doing in the closet?’’ he asked slowly, and I couldn’t blame him.

What thoughts would be going through my head if he had just emerged from the closet? I'm pretty sure I would've peed myself.