The Elevator

Josie slowly opened her eyes, awaking from her nap. She didn’t mean to fall asleep, she was just so exhausted. She felt her head resting on something, then quickly realized that it was Alex. Her head was comfortably relaxing on Alex’s lap. He was carefully stroking her hair, and humming a familiar tune. Once she realized what was happening, she quickly sat up.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, “Did I wake you up?”

“I-I..” she said, “What was that?”

“What was what?” he said back.

She was confident she remembered what happened before she fell asleep. Alex had confided in her, and confessed that he wasn’t the monster she thought he was.

"Never mind." she said, looking at her watch, "It's 7:30?"

"Yeah, you were asleep for a while." he said.

"The party starts at 8." she said.

"I don't think we're going to make it." he said, "Like, to the party. We're not going to die."

She laughed, "I actually might be dying of starvation."

"God, I want Chipotle." he said.

"Yes." she said, "Or a whole buffet."

"It's only been.. 6 hours." he said, "Someone has to come soon."

"Well, soon needs to hurry up because I need food." she said.

Alex pulled out his backpack and started digging in it. He pulled out a journal, blank music sheets, his collection of marijuana, a lighter, and a candy bar.

“Oh my god.” he said, looking at the candy bar..

“You had that the entire time?” she said, eyes wide open.

“I guess I forgot about it,” he said, unwrapping it, “Let’s split it.”

They broke the chocolate bar in half, melting into the yummy goodness. Even though it was small, it was still satisfying.

"I take back every mean thing I said about you." she said.

"You better." he smiled, taking his last bite.

"Hey," she said, "Am I hallucinating or are we having a conversation without yelling at each other?"

"Well, I'll be damned." he said.

It was true that they were having civilized conversation, but they were still far from being friends. Getting along was a lot different than bonding. Josie felt much warmer after waking up from her nap, so she took off her blazer and unbuttoned her shirt, revealing the camisole underneath.

He watched her undo each button, eyes glued to her chest. She removed the blouse entirely and tossed it on the ground next to her, shaking out her hair and pushing it to the side. Her breasts pushed together as she picked up her blazer and sat it next to the blouse.

Alex was completely captivated by her. The way she handled herself, how she was so strong and fierce. He didn’t even know why he said he things he did. He poked fun at her in the beginning, things got heated, and before he knew it, they were yelling insults at each other. He was saying things he didn’t mean just to have the last word, and one-up her. She was so much stronger than he thought.

Everything about this girl made him want to be a better person. He didn’t want to carry on living this lie. He wanted to make amends with everyone he’s ever hurt, including her, and start fresh. He felt horrible for the way he treated her, and desperately craved her forgiveness. He didn’t care if everyone else thought he was a saint, if she didn’t think the world of him, everything would be pointless.

“Alex?” she called out, waving her hand in front of his face, “Are you there?”

“What?” he said, dazed.

“You were staring at my boobs.” she said, “I thought we were past this.”

“N-no, I d-didn’t mean to,” he said, “I just--”

“It’s fine, idiot.” she laughed “Just don’t do it again.”

He laughed along with her, trying not to admire the beautiful girl in front of him.

“Hey,” she said, “When I woke up, what were you doing?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You were touching my hair.” she said.

“Oh,” he said, “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.” she said, “I’m just confused, do you hate me? Do you want to be friends?”

“Well, I know I don’t hate you.” he said, “It’s complicated, okay?”

“It doesn’t have to be complicated.” she said, “Just tell me how you feel.”

“I want to be friends,” Alex blurted out, “I mean, I don’t want to fight with you anymore. It wasn’t getting us anywhere, and we’re better off on the same side.”

“We really need to work together and get the hell out of here.” she said.

“I agree,” he said, “Maybe we could try the emergency door again?”

“Let’s do it.” she said.

Josie and Alex reached up to push on the metal door. It was still locked shut. Pushing on it just made them tired and strained. The metal door had a tiny glass window that they could see through. It was like a tease, they could see the outside world, but couldn’t get to it.

“Maybe we could break the glass.” he suggested..

“That would leave you with a bloody fist and still no way out of here.” she said, “You could never fit through there.”

“You underestimate how skinny I am.” he said.

She laughed, “A baby couldn’t fit through there.”

“Here, let me look.” he said as he peaked through the glass.

He noticed a small security camera in the corner of the elevator shaft.

“There’s a camera in there!” he shouted, “Do you think anyone looks at it?”

“If only there was a way to signal through the glass,” she said, “Maybe someone would see and rescue use.”

“I have an idea.” Alex said, pulling out a small key chain with a flashlight on it, “We can flash it towards the camera.”

“If someone was looking, don’t you think they would have noticed that the elevator was broken?” she said.

“I suppose, but we have to try, right?” he said.

“Okay,” she said, “Hopefully someone is on the other side of that lens.”

“Yeah, hopefully.” he said, holding the light up to the window, turning it off and on.

They both prayed that someone would see their distress call.