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I rolled to ravel, and my elbow screamed in pain
"Addie, are you okay?" Rowan sprinted around the car to help ed My bare foot throbbed as I sprinted for the store, butme the twenty-second countdown This was no tiood five seconds stuh the aisles of unfa there was no restrooister An older woman with braids wrapped around her head had her hip to the counter "I told her,to aze onto erly Save me, his eyes pleaded "What can I do for you?"
"Wheresthebathroom?" I didn’t have time to space out the words; the situation was too desperate
He understood the urgency, barking out directions in admirable alacrity "Toilet’s outside, around back Just that way"
I sprinted past Ian filling up a basket with neon-colored caffeine bo Finally, I made it to the back, but when I yanked on the handle of the wo my fists on the door
"Occupied," replied a cheery Irish voice
"Could you hurry up, please?" I jiggled the knob desperately I was going to peeto pee my pants
Suddenly, the men’s room door shifted, and I hurled myself at it just as a bearded man stepped out "Oh Men’s room, love," he said nervously
"I’s I’ender conventions He seemed to accept it as a valid explanation--either that or he thought I was crazy--and he darted out of my way I quickly locked the door and turned around Even in the awful lighting, the floor was disgusting Damp and covered in wet toilet paper slime I instinctively clamped my hand over my nose and mouth
"Addie, you can do this," I instructed myself motivationally
I had to My only other option was to wait it out in the back of a clown car until Dingle
By the tiain, Roas at the car, his phone pressed to his ear I quickly darted back into the store and picked up the largest box of Sugar Puffs I could find and carried it to the counter The clerk’s situation hadn’t changed much
"--so I told her, if she wants to live in a trash heap, that’s fine She just can’t expect us to--"
"Can I point you to thehis Santa Claus–looking spectacles in the process How long had he been trapped there?
I shook my head "Thanks, but I’m on a road trip We wouldn’t have anyplace to store it"
Interest sparked in his eyes "I took a road trip or two e Where are you headed?" The braided-haired wos from one hand to the other so I’d be sure to knohat an inconvenience I was being
"Right noe’re going to Dingle, but after that we’re going to a music festival"
"Electric Picnic?" he asked
"You’ve heard of it?" Rowan and Ian had said Electric Picnic was a big deal, but I had no way of knowing if theydeal in the real world Real world it was
"Absolutely I’ll pray for your parents" He winked "I’ve never beenI heard only a very censored version of what she did there But, of course, you know the stories"