Chapter 13: Late Night Texting (Part 3)

Jacky

Jacky couldn't be sure if he'd done well on his Statistics midterm. All that mattered at the moment was getting upstairs to take a nap. His shoes felt like they weighed twenty pounds each. When he entered the dorm, he looked at the stairs he would have normally taken, then at the elevator. It was an easy decision until –

"Hold the door!"

Jacky recognized that voice. He paused for a moment, his finger hovering over the CLOSE DOORS button, then sighed and stuck his arm out to keep the elevator door open.

Braedyn slammed into the elevator, breathless, carrying a massive piece foamboard and three bags full of what looked like art supplies. He turned and froze at the sight of Jacky there. "Oh. It's you."

The doors slid closed.

"I think what you meant to say," Jacky's tone was pure ice, "was thank you."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks," Braedyn muttered, not looking at him.

Clenching his jaw, Jacky said, "You're welcome."

The elevator lurched with a loud clank and started rattling upwards. "Uh, what was that?" Braedyn asked.

"What was what?" Jacky pulled out his phone. Now seemed like a good time to text Ryan.

"That clanking sound—" The elevator lurched again, lights flickering, and Braedyn shrieked, dropping his foamboard and bags. Jacky dropped his phone and gripped the handrail. The lights steadied on, but the motion stopped. As in no lurching, and also no upward.

"This isn't happening. This can't be happening." Braedyn had pressed himself into the corner and gripped his hair in his fingers.

"Oh, it's happening," Jacky huffed. "Of course it is. I don't have three hours of reading and a paper to write or anything. And why wouldn't I want to be in a stalled elevator with the guy I hooked up with last week who hasn't spoken to me since?" He jabbed at the elevator buttons. Every button. Nothing happened.

"This isn't happening," Braedyn moaned.

"It is happening. But it's fine. Look." Jacky opened the little door under the panel of buttons. "I'll just call for help on the emergency phone..." He held the receiver to his ear. "Why is there no dial tone?"

"This can't be happening..."

He slammed the phone down. "Okay, I'll try my phone. I can look up the number for security or something...." He picked up his phone and unlocked it. After staring at his phone's screen for a moment, he asked Braedyn, "Uh, do you have a signal?"

"This isn't happening..."

Finally Jacky looked at Braedyn, who was hinged at his waist and gasping for air. "Hey, snap out of it!" he shouted. Braedyn flinched and looked up with wide eyes. Jacky enunciated, "Do. You. Have. A signal?"

"Uh..." Braedyn pulled his hands from his hair and patted his pockets for his phone, fumbling it out. "Um. Uh. No." Braedyn collapsed to the floor. "Oh, god. I can't breathe."

"It's fine, they'll figure it out soon." Jacky shuffled his feet, edging closer to Braedyn. "Someone will try the elevator and report that it isn't working."

Braedyn gulped at the air like he was drowning.

Just for fun, Jacky typed out a text to Ryan: Currently trapped in an elevator—

He stopped before typing with a guy I hooked up with last week. He hadn't really considered how he would have to tell Ryan that he hooked up with someone. That this terrible conversation would have to come up if they were ever going to get back together.

He switched over to his text thread with Billy and typed out the full text he'd wanted to send to Ryan, then added Send help.

The text didn't go through, as expected. No wifi, no bars. It seemed like a vast oversight that you couldn't get wifi through the elevator walls. Unless there was a massive power outage.

Jacky looked down at Braedyn, who was full-on fetal position, rocking himself with his hands gripping his hair again.

"You good?" Jacky asked him, trying hard to make his voice sound empathetic.

"I'm having a heart attack," Braedyn gasped.

As much as Jacky was pissed at Braedyn, he understood what it felt like to have a panic attack. And he knew a few tricks from his therapist.

"You're probably just having a panic attack," Jacky said, slowly and calmly.

"We're gonna die in here!" Braedyn half-shrieked.

Jacky gritted his teeth. "Try taking a deep breath."

"I don't wanna use up all the oxygen!" But Braedyn did suck in a massive breath.

"Okay, now I want you to look around and name three things you can see."

Braedyn looked around with wild eyes. "Uh – um – a phone that doesn't work. Buttons that don't work. A closed elevator door."

The intervention wasn't going the way Jacky had planned, but he soldiered on. "Okay, now name three things you can hear."

This time Braedyn took a bit longer to answer. "My breathing? Uh. Your breathing." Jacky's phone buzzed. "Your phone." Braedyn lurched up to his knees and grabbed at Jacky's leg. "Your phone? Is it working? Can you call for help?"

Jacky pulled his phone out. It was a text from Hannah. Who wants to meet up to watch The Student of Prague tonight?

Which meant he had a signal. He resent his text to Billy. Billy responded almost immediately with a string of crying laughing emojis.

"Is it working?" Braedyn picked his phone up off the floor. "I'll call 911."

Quickly Jacky realized that Billy didn't understand the situation. No for real, the elevator is stuck and I'm stuck in here with him.

More cry-laugh emojis.

Fuck you, he texted Billy, before searching for the number for their R.A. Hi Steve this is Jack, the elevator is stuck who should I contact for help?

"Hi, yes, I need help," Braedyn said into his phone. "I'm trapped in an elevator. It's stuck and—"

The elevator shuddered, and lurched. Braedyn screamed, while Jacky threw himself backward until he hit the wall. He dropped his phone again and clutched at the handrail.

Instead of plummeting to their deaths, the elevator slowly began to rise. Jacky held his breath, watching the floor numbers blink from 1 to 2. The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open.

"Oh, thank god," Braedyn gasped, and crawled out, collapsing in a heap on the floor outside.

Jacky released the handrail, picked up his phone, and stuck his foot out to keep the doors open. When Braedyn remained curled up on the floor, Jacky maneuvered around to pick up all of Braedyn's things while keeping the door open with his foot. The way Braedyn's shoulders were shaking and his gasping breaths told Jacky that Braedyn was crying.

Once the elevator was clear, Jacky stepped out on wobbly legs.

"Dude!"

Jacky looked up to see Brockton, a friend of Brandon's, running toward them.

"Dude, are you okay?"

"The elevator was stuck for a few minutes," Jacky explained, exhaling a breath.

"Shit, bro, that's wild. Yo, Braedyn, it's okay. Crisis averted."

Jacky began to edge away. Brockton was patting Braedyn's shoulder, which meant that Braedyn had a friend to help him out. Still, Jacky lingered.

"Let's get you up," Brockton said, hauling Braedyn up. Braedyn keep a hand pressed over his face.

"I'll bring your stuff," Jacky offered.

Neither Brockton nor Braedyn said anything. As they moved down the hall, Jacky struggled to keep the plastic bags on his arm as he picked up the foam board. He eventually managed to get the foam board under his arm and waddle after them.

At Braedyn's door, Jacky watched Brockton sit Braedyn down on the futon and give him a big hug, rubbing his back.

Jacky set all Braedyn's stuff by the door and left without saying anything else. In his room, with the door closed, he kicked off his shoes and crawled up into his bed. He only vaguely felt his phone buzz again before his eyes slipped shut.

___

Have you ever been trapped in an elevator?