Author's Note:
Heya, guys! And welcome back to "Elevator"! Today, things might be a bit different. I'm going to be switching up my writing style just a tad bit. I dunno. I just have this hunch that I use too many words to describe everything. I'm gonna try to use less words. If you read any of my other stories, you might notice the shift there too. Well, let's see some reviews!
Ariza Luca: Thanks! Glad you like it!
Meow Shadow: Got that error fixed. Yeah, it's good to be writing something a bit lighter. It's good to cheer myself and you guys up!
RapidSammi: I'm trying to go for ten chapters at most. This isn't supposed to be too long.
Emily The Avenger: Awesome! Here you go!
Hit it, Crisper!
Crisper: (hits it)
"We're seriously stuck?" Aiden asked.
"Yep." Lukas replied.
"How long?" He asked seconds later. It was bad enough there was no sense of personal space anymore. But if Aiden was going to keep these questions up, Lukas was going to lose his mind sooner than he hoped.
"Until someone finds us." He said, his voice thick with tension. He felt relieved when Aiden didn't ask anything else.
On the floor, Jesse held onto Reuben. If they were going to be stuck for a while (something he hoped wasn't the case), at least he had someone to pass the time with! He felt Olivia sit next to him. He wrapped an arm around her and leaned onto her shoulder. Her sweaty odor made his nose scrunch. Now that he noticed, her shoulder was bulkier and harder than he remembered. That anxiety was doing a real number on her! He'd never seen such a case of fight-or-flight in his life!
"Get off!" Gill shouted in Jesse's ear, pushing him over. Jesse held onto Reuben, glaring at Gill in the darkness. One side of him wanted to shove him back. But the other was too shocked to do anything.
"Sorry. I thought you were Olivia."
Standing on the other side of the elevator, Olivia flinched at Jesse's words. Someone had an arm around her, and it wasn't Jesse! She squirmed out of the mystery-man's hold, feeling quite uncomfortable.
"Aww, why'd you let go, Maya?" Aiden whispered into her ear. Her eyes widened in shock. "You know I liked that." Olivia held back a gag. What had she done to deserve this?
"Aiden, who are you talking to? I'm over here!" Maya shouted angrily. That was quite enough adventure for one day, Olivia thought. She reeled around Jesse and Gill, squashing some unlucky hands in the process as she darted to the other wall. Aiden listened to her go, mouth hanging open with shock and disgust. He was about to cuddle… with her?
"Okay. We seriously need to get some lights." Axel said. That was something even the Ocelots agreed with. They all checked their pockets for something useful. Suddenly, a tiny flame sparked to life! They looked at Lukas who held a lighter at arm's length. He squinted as the yellow glow illuminated his face.
"Lukas, why do you have a cigar-lighter?" Maya asked. Gill snorted.
"It's just a lighter. Doesn't have to be a cigar-lighter." He said drolly. They couldn't tell if he was embarrassed or just annoyed. Her eyes on the flame, Olivia sheepishly cleared her throat. Her skin crawled at the sneers and glares Maya, Aiden and Gill sent her. She barely noticed her friends and Lukas who gave kind looks.
She tried her best to focus on Lukas. "I'm not trying to be rude, but do you mind turning that off? You're… kind of burning whatever oxygen we have left." Shock spelled across their faces right before Lukas snapped out the fire. She felt around her pockets. She did not want to be in the darkness any longer. She turned up with a Redstone block and a button. She placed them down and pressed the button. Warm, bright light filled the room, along with smiles and glares.
"You could've done that a lot sooner, you know." He complained, still upset about their hug from earlier. Though she agreed with him, she wasn't going to give him the pleasure of seeing her frown. Not that she could've anyways. Because just as they started getting comfortable, the lights flickered out. Great. Darkness, again. She jabbed the button. This was going to be a long day.
Aiden was starting to get bored, as if starting was even the word. He'd been bored all day, but at least he wasn't stuck in an elevator like he was now. He needed something exciting to do, to calm his frayed nerves. He glanced around the room before his eyes landed on Jesse. Bingo! A smirk crawled across his face. Bothering Jesse was something that never failed to make him laugh. And it wouldn't fail now, either. He lightly elbowed Gil. "Watch this." He whispered.
Jesse made sure to keep Reuben at arm's reach. Away from those Ocelots. He wasn't too worried about Maya or Lukas. They fought with words, not fists. It was Aiden and Gill who bothered him. Who knew what they'd try! If they laid a finger on Reuben, that was it, Jesse swore. Bye-bye Aiden and Gill.
"Hey, Jesse!" Aiden called in his smug tone. Jesse glared at him, eyes smoldering. His jaw tightened, just a side effect from longtime exposure to the arrogance. "Good to see you keeping an eye on dinner." He said with a chuckle. Jesse groaned on the inside. That's when he realized he wasn't just tired of Aiden. He was tired of his jokes! Aiden only joked about Reuben as food a few-thousand times. His head lolled and he rolled his eyes.
"Oh, how original. I did not see that one coming." He said, his voice full of sarcasm. He turned to play with Reuben. Aiden's nose twitched with rage as he folded his arms. He started to walk towards Jesse, ready to roast him to kingdom come, but Gill grabbed his arm, holding him back.
"What, Gill?" He growled through clenched teeth. Gill pointed across the room to Lukas who gave them both an icy, blue-eyed stare. But this wasn't just any stare. It was the Mom-Stare. It was something cold and ugly that would silently burn anyone into perfect order and submission. But Aiden's will would not be broken so easily. He shrugged with a glare, trying to get it across that he'd done nothing. The blonde's stare intensified, making even Gill squirm. Lukas was not about to play Aiden's innocence-game. Aiden gradually looked away, folding his arms like a child. Like everyone who'd seen it, Aiden could not stand firm under the all-powerful Mom-Stare.
Lukas gazed wistfully at the doors, wishing he could Mom-Stare them open. He hoped the power would come back on, and soon! He shifted impatiently, counting to ten a few times in his head. But the longer he stared, the more hopeless it seemed. Bored, he glanced at Maya hoping to find something interesting. And, boy, he did!
She was posing and smiling at her camera-phone, snapping multiple pictures. She then tapped a few buttons and a 'ding' noise sounded. She held her phone out, taking some more pictures. Lukas felt anger bubble to his chest. How could she be so ignorant? Didn't she say her battery was nearly dead, too? He needed to act soon!
He sucked in a slow, deliberate breath that caught everyone's attention. He focused on Maya, who was still absorbed in her phone. "Maya." She looked up, a bit shocked by the firmness in his tone. "Exactly what are you doing?" He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. But his innards were a whole other story.
"Uploading some selfies to FaceBlock." She said casually before her screen went black. "Crap. Battery's dead." Lukas gave a deadpan frown, holding back a groan. Maya looked up to see everyone staring at her as if she'd kissed a zombie. "What?"
"You were uploading selfies." Lukas said.
"Yes…?"
"To the Internet."
"Yeah, that's what 'uploading' means." Lukas stopped to look her in the eye. How was she not catching onto this? Was it really that complicated?
"So there was a signal."
"Yeah." No comprehension whatsoever.
"And now, your phone is dead."
"Yes! Why are you talking in fragments, Lukas?! Is that a new fad or…?" Her voice trailed off, and their glares began to make sense. She looked at her phone, then back up. A ton of sense.
Aiden smirked at Gill, nudging him in the shoulder. Gill groaned quietly, reaching into his pocket and handing Aiden the money from their bet. "Told you so." Aiden whispered.
Maya looked at Lukas. "Maya, we've talked about this." He said shakily, a single tear streaming down his face. Maya's eyes darted around the room. There had to be a plug somewhere. But there wasn't one. Suddenly, the Redstone's red glare caught her eye. She rushed over to it with a wide smile. She placed her phone on its surface, beaming at just how clever her fix was.
"There!"
Jesse and Reuben squinted at her phone. Why'd she put it there? Jesse looked to Olivia for a clue. The Redstone engineer was staring in horror at Maya's knowledge (or lack thereof) of basic Redstone. Never in her life had she seen such a display of stupidity, followed up by another display of stupidity! She gulped, looking right at Maya.
"What is this?"
"It's charging!" She said arrogantly. Olivia's mouth dropped open. She sat, speechless. It was official. Olivia was surrounded by idiots.
Gill smirked at Aiden, nudging him in the ribs. Growling audibly, Aiden shoved the cash back to Gill. "Told you so."
"Maya… that's not how it works." Olivia said. Pouting a bit, Maya grabbed her phone and put it into her pocket.
Lukas wiped away a tear or two. As badly as Maya's deeds hurt him, he knew he needed to move on. Everyone was starting to get tense, and he knew he wouldn't have enough Mom-Stares for everyone. Maybe a game would do them some good. "Okay," He sniffled. "Who wants to play a game or something?"
"Me!" Maya chided. If it was going to take everyone's mind off her mistake and give her a good time, it was definitely a go. Soon, Aiden and Gill agreed to play. Lukas glanced at Jesse. He sat on the floor, with Reuben, of course. But he was frowning, no doubt feeling left out.
"You guys wanna play, Jesse?" He asked, catching Jesse by surprise.
"Why would we wanna play with you guys?" Axel asked with disgust in his tone.
"I could ask you the same!" Gill butted in. Olivia bravely stepped out, smiling at Lukas.
"I'd like to play." She said, followed by Jesse. Gill rolled his eyes.
"If they're playing, I'm not."
"Me neither." Aiden said. They both walked to a side of the elevator, leaning on the wall. Lukas sent them a sorry look. As much as he wanted them to join, though, he wasn't going to force them to play.
"So, what're we playing?" Maya asked.
"Okay, so we're going to tell a story, but we only get to say one sentence at a time. Jesse, you can start us off."
"Alright! Once upon a time there was…." He looked around the room, thinking of something to say. He looked at Reuben and smiled. "A pig!"
"Who died." Aiden snapped.
"And he turned into a ghost and haunted some ocelots." Axel barked back.
"Okay! End of story!" Lukas shouted, throwing his hands in the air. Axel sneered at Aiden. It felt good to have the last laugh, or sentence. Lukas regretted suggesting the game. His plan was already starting to backfire, and they hadn't even gotten started!
"Once upon a time, there was a puppy." Gill said. Aiden sent him a flat look. "What? There was a puppy."
"Then it died as well." Aiden said drolly. Gill frowned.
"Oh."
"Okay, let's tell a different story." Maya said. "And no dead animals, Aiden."
Author's Note:
So, they're gonna tell some stories! About what, though? That shall be answered later! Had lots of fun writing this chapter, and I can't wait for the next one. Also, I think the new writing style's okay. Hopefully, it seems more catered to you readers, and less wordy.
Which part was funnier? The mix-up in the beginning, or Maya's phone incident? Let me know in a review! I'll be responding next chapter! Speaking of funny parts, I lol'd when Aiden and Gill were betting on Maya. Is she that predictable, or were they feeling lucky?
Well, thanks for reading, following and favving, and I'll see you next chapter!
