The boys wrap it up

(Chapter originally by MidnightWisher at writing.com)

The answer ends up being not long, though it feels like an eternity to Makoto. The boys chat for a few more minutes before one of them sighs, saying “Guess I should head back to class now before teach gets too mad. I don’t want another detention.” The other one sighs as well, “I probably should, too. But, man, class is so boring.” “Yeah, but detention is even worse, bro. See ya later, all right? Oh, and bring some money to school tomorrow, so we can buy some of those pics off Shinji.” “You know it!” The boy laughs. Makoto waits another minute, listening for any sounds that anyone was still out there. She hears nothing.

Carefully, Makoto starts to stand up, the toilet seat shaking and sliding with each little movement. She uses the walls to steady herself. Once she is steady, she stops and listens again. Like before, she hears nothing, but her nerves are on edge. I should see if they’re actually gone first, she thinks, eyes glancing to the top of the partition. Despite standing on the toilet seat, she still isn’t quite tall enough to see over it. The only way she would be able to see over the partition is on her tiptoes. She bites her lip. She presses her left hand firmly against the wall to keep her steady as she rises to her tiptoes, the seat moving even more than before. But even on her tiptoes, she still can’t quite see over the partition. The rest of the bathroom lies just out of sight. Determined, Makoto grips the top of the partition with her right hand and tries to pull herself up. More of the bathroom slips into sight, but not enough. She stops pulling, setting herself gently back on the seat. This time, she knows what to do. She turns toward that side of the partition, bringing her left foot onto the same side of the seat as her right. The whole seat slides over, the outer part of the right-side hovers over the floor, and the seat tilts that way. Again, she rises to her tiptoes. This time, both of her hands grip the top of the partition and pulls herself up. Her toes barely touch the seat below her as the rest of the bathroom finally comes into view.