Page 26 of Aftershock

Grabbing my phone from my purse, I pulled up Netflix and loaded into an episode of Friends. This wasn’t just any episode, though; it was the one I told her about earlier. I shifted so that I was sitting next to Lexi and propped my phone up on my bag. Tapping on the screen, the opening theme song began to play.

***

We allowed ourselves to get lost within the episode as we compared the similarities between Chandler's situation and our current one. He had just walked into an ATM vestibule when suddenly the power went out, causing him to get stuck. The doors were automatic, meaning there was no way out until the power came back on. When he looked around, he realized that he wasn't alone and Victoria’s Secret model, Jill Goodacre, was trapped with him. While repeatedly failing to impress her, Chandler eventually decided to try and blow a bubble with a piece of gum, but to no surprise, he failed again. Jill watched in horror as the gum flew out of his mouth and across the room.

“What if, when we were first trapped in here, I accidentally spit my gum across the room while trying to blow a bubble? Would that have gotten your attention?”

“Well, maybe. But not in a good way,” she laughed. “We probably wouldn't have talked as much as we did today.”

“Oh, come on! Really?” I let out an exasperated puff of air. “I think I would’ve peed my pants after seeing you stuck in here with me, and I think you would’ve peed your pants after seeing my gum fly across the bathroom. Honestly, that would’ve been a nice icebreaker for the two of us.”

Lexi howled with laughter and replied, “Why on earth would—” Before she could continue, we heard a loud mechanical buzzing, followed by a thud right outside the door. There were several loud banging noises. The sound caused me to jump in the opposite direction of the door, which happened to be closer to Lexi.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. My back was fully pressed against her chest as she stifled a gasp at the sudden movement. Pushing my palms against the floor, I lifted myself up and away from her. Putting the distance back between us, I turned my attention back to the door as another jolting thud could be heard just outside.

“I think we’re about to get out of here,” she said.

Freedom

Lexi stood up for the first time in an hour as she extended her hand, prompting me to take it.

“Well, I guess this is it,” Lexi said as she grabbed my hand to help me off the ground.

I nodded while looking at her face, searching for any sign of emotion that she held.

Does she want to stay, too?

After she pulled me up, neither of us loosened our grips. My lips quivered slightly as I removed my hand from hers, eliciting a shocked expression on her face. Immediately after letting go, I pulled her into a tight hug and wrapped my arms around her. Lexi tensed for a minute before realizing what was happening. She then relaxed into my arms as she squeezed back tightly.

“Thank you for everything.”

“No. Thank you.”

“You know how earlier you said if I wanted a picture, all I had to do was ask? Well, can I have a picture now?”

“So long as you delete that other one you took,” Lexi smiled.

“Deal,” I agreed. We shifted closer together so that we fit into the frame as I snapped a quick picture. “I'm gonna get this framed so I can sleep with it at night,” I chuckled while glancing down at my phone.

“That's nothing like the real thing, I hope you know…”

Lifting an eyebrow, I teased, “Well, we can do a test to compare…”

Lexi bit her lip as she pulled out her phone suddenly, then asked, “What's your Instagram?”

“Autumnisfalling,” I replied while leaning down to pick up my bag.

“HA! That's a good one.” She rolled her eyes while typing away on her phone. A few seconds later, my phone dinged, signaling a new notification. I gazed at my screen with a slack jaw as I read the new alert.

LHarlow is now following you on Instagram.

“Just in case you ever need to talk to someone,” she smiled. “I mean, I know we aren’t trapped together, so we aren’t forced to talk to each other anymore, but that doesn’t mean we have to lose touch.”

A muffled voice from beyond the door became clearer and was followed by the sound of squeaking hinges. The door had flung open, freeing us from the prison we were once in—only it never felt like a prison to me.

“Lexi, are you okay?” A large man asked frantically. Another tall man quickly approached us as the two of them stood side by side.

“Brian, for the thousandth time, I’m fine,” Lexi groaned.

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