Elevator Talks

The rain beats heavily against the sidewalk, drowning out all sound. 

Figures move throughout the campus. Most are blurs, viciously disrupting the descent of the rain. Others are passive, moving at a steady pace feeling the hard pitter-patter on their shoulders. 

Someone moves swiftly across the courtyard, their umbrella blocking the furious path of the droplets. Their ankle rain boots disturb the heavy puddles, ripples resonate where determined footprints leave. 

Grey eyes hungrily check the wristwatch strapped to their wrist. Their steps pick up in pace as they near an old building, quickly shaking out their umbrella before entering. They look around briefly, searching for something, before briskly moving towards an elevator to click the down arrow.

They wait impatiently, eyes flying to their wristwatch every complete of seconds. The doors ding and they enter, clicking the button for the fourth floor. They relax slightly.

A hand with black painted fingernails suddenly emerges, grasping at the rapidly closing doors. A sheepish woman enters, hair dyed a vibrant blue. 

The squish of her socks in her shoes echoed through the lift as she moved towards the far corner, before leaning against the wall and huffing in a breath. 

They each stare at a wall, the awkward silence expected in the moving box. 

A boom of thunder echoes from outside, shaking the building. Both inhabitants jumped at the sound and spooked again when the light went out in the elevator, leaving them in darkness. The lift jolted to a stop, rocking the occupants as they braced themselves on a wall. 

Everything stopped.

The emergency lights flickered on, and the college students looked at each other with wide eyes.

"You have got to be kidding me." The girl with the blue hair spoke first, her arms still splayed out in a weak attempt to ground herself. She glanced at the other occupant of the lift, who quickly moved from their undignified position. 

Silence rained again. The tension swept into the air, billowing about. Anxiety surrounded them, filled their hearts until they were both rigid. An annoyed huff rang throughout the enclosed space as the blue-haired girl tried to rein in her fear.

"I'm Effie." She glanced shyly at the other occupant in the room, waving slightly. Her new acquaintance narrowed their eyes slightly and blew a breathe heavily out of their nose, their mouth morphing into a small frown.

"I'm Amory." They extended their hand rather professionally to the soaking girl, who crept forward slowly. Each step was occupied with a quiet squish that neither of them paid attention to. 

"They/them pronouns please," Amory added as Effie gingerly took their hand, giving a slight shake before her arm dropped completely. She returned to her side of the lift and slowly sank to the floor. 

Amory regarded her with cautious eyes before plopping down tiredly. 

"Where were you going?" Effie questioned quietly but was met with a blank stare. "Where were you headed to before we got stuck?" She tried to elaborate, small hands flopping ungracefully through the air. 

"To class," was the only response Effie received. The blue-haired girl slightly squinted her eyes before probing more, "Which class?"

"An art class." Was all but hissed at the shorter occupant, "because I'm an art major." Effie smiled slightly, happy to have gotten an answer.

"That's cool." She complimented, propping her arm on her knee and leaning her face on her hand. "How long do you think this is going to take?"

"I don't know, why don't you go ask someone." They grumbled, crossing their arms and readjusted to a more comfortable position against the hard wall. Their eyes fell shut.

Effie glanced awkwardly around and absentmindedly started fiddling with her jacket. She squirmed around, trying to also relax but having a harder time then Amory. Her doused shoes squeaking with every shift.

Amory was staring at Effie, every bit of annoyance they were feeling was displayed in their face. When Effie's eyes finally swiveled around Amory's way, she immediately stopped all of her movements. She smiled sheepishly at her irritate acquaintance. 

"You know I would calm down more if we could have a conversation," Effie suggested, shrugging. Amory rolled her eyes.

"What do you want to talk about?" They pouted.

"Well," Effie thought hard for a moment, eyebrows coming together in concentration. She shrugged once again, this time in disappointment. "I don't know."

"What's your major?" Amory asked softly, causing Effie to smile.

"English." She answered and Amory nodded. 

"What's your favorite book?" Amory questioned again, interested. 

"The Hobbit." An immediate response. A hum was heard from the art major, their eyes inspecting Effie. 

"Lord of the Rings was better." They dropped the metaphorical bomb, Effie's flabbergasted laugh echoed throughout the lift. 

"What are you talking about? The Hobbit is much more fun the read, it's so lighthearted. The Lord of the Rings is way too serious." Effie rambled out, glaring at Amory unbelievably. 

"It's just an opinion, yes the Hobbit is light-hearted and fun, but I like more serious readings," Amory tried to compromise, not wanting to upset the blue-haired girl. 

Effie nodded grumpily, grumbling how Biblo would have poked Sauron in his eye, be it huge or not. 

Amory smiled, growing fond of Effie. They didn't have a lot of friends, always nose deep in their work, they realized how nice it was. Pushing the thought from their mind, they tried to steer the conversion away from one-sided grumbles.

"Why are you soaking wet?" Effie looked mildly spooked from the sudden inquiry, she moved one shoulder in a lazy half-shrug.

"I didn't know it was going to rain." She answered truthfully, a sheepish smile stretching across her face. Amory thought it fit her.

The conversation lolled into a comfortable silence, each growing more tired. Amory was relaxing easily against the wall and Effie had a thoughtful look on her face, eyes glancing every few seconds to her new pal. 

Effie's mouth had just dropped open, a steely look of determination in her eyes when the elevator's lights returned to normal again. The sudden start of the lift caused them both to freeze before Amory sighed with relief. They picked themselves off the floor and held a hand out to Effie. 

Effie gladly excepted the offered appendage and was pulled up easily by Amory, who was quite tall. The doors opened, the empty hallway stretching out in front of them. 

They stepped out of the elevator, each having to go to the opposite sides of the hall for their classes. They glanced at each other, reluctant to leave. 

Amory offered a small smile to Effie, before taking her leave. Effie watched them go, staring at their retreating figure. She sighed and glared at the carpet, before walking after Amory. 

They got trapped in that elevator two more times until it was fixed.