Elevator ➵ J.M.

15. I'll Just Put Concealer On It!

f i f t e e n

I WAKE UP IN A TANGLE of limbs, pillows, and cloth and with a pounding head. Rubbing my eyes, I slowly sit up. I carefully extricate myself from the mess, not really paying attention to what I'm doing. I stand up and stretch, loosening the cricks in my back. Breathing a sigh of pleasure, I walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a shower.

Walking into the bathroom, I face the mirror that covers the full wall in front of the faucet. My hands drift around my bag, seeing if there's an Advil inside. My fingers graze a bottle and I pull it out, opening the cap. I grab a cup sitting nearby on the counter.

Turning the faucet on to let the water heat up, I sigh and put my hands down. My eyes wander up to my reflection.

"OH SHIT," I gasp, staring at my collar bone. "Nononononononononononononono!" I shriek, running my fingers over the tender skin. I look down to find it's bigger than I thought it was in the mirror.

"What happened?" a groggy voice calls from the other room. Running my fingers over my swollen lips, I storm out of the bathroom.

"What'd we do?" I ask worriedly.

"Um..." he says for a moment, resting his head in his hands, "I think we drank the mini-drinks."

"That explains the pounding headache," I reason. "But what about this?" I ask, gesturing the the purple mark on my collar bone. "And that!" I yell, pointing at his neck.

"Oh shit," he breathes out, remembering everything. My eyebrows knit together in confusion before I remember it all.

"We screwed up," I mutter.

"Big time," he adds, rubbing his neck.

"I'll just put concealer on it!" I chirp, rushing back to the bathroom.

"Me too!" he shouts, jumping up after me only to stop and cradle his head for a moment.

"Here," I say, handing him and Advil and a cup water. Taking one myself, I drink the water and feel it's cool texture flowing down my throat.

"Okay, before we change, can you put the concealer?" he asks worriedly.

"Yeah," I reply, shooing him out so I can take a shower.

[]

"I really hope this works," he says, pulling down the fabric from his turtle neck.

"You and me both," I whisper right before the room falls into an eerie silence.

It was like we were both thinking the same thing: Do we really want it to work?

"Thanks," he says after a while when I finish.

"No problem, Hoenah," I reply, winking and walking away.

"Hey!" he shouts, pulling my wrist towards him so I almost fall on him. "Don't call he that," he growls.

"Okay... Hoenah," I say after I get out of his grip, my heart racing. Giggling, I grab a suitcase and run out of the room.

"NO!" he shouts, his thumping footsteps following me.

Still laughing, I race down the short hallway and push the button for the elevator to come up. Tapping my foot, I worry as he starts nearing but the elevator shows no sign of coming up. Just as he's three feet away, the elevator doors chime open and I jump in, quickly pressing the "Lobby" button and the one to close the doors.

Dinging in response, the doors start to close when Jonah's foot makes in. He leaps in, struggling to catch himself and the bag. His forearms slam onto the wall of the elevator, right next to my head.

Chuckling, he grabs my hands and whispers, "You didn't think you were going to get away that easily, did you?" My only response is my eyes widening and my heart beating out of my chest. Like could he not hear it or something?

"Look who finally became friends!" Tyler shouts from the lobby. I guess we didn't notice the doors opening.

"Yup. Best friends," Jonah says, staring into my eyes for a split second longer before turning around and walking away.

"That's not possible!" Daniel says, his probing gaze fixed on me. "I'm her best friend!"

"That's true!" I sing, slinging my arm over Daniel's shoulder. "He's my bestest friend ever!"

"'Bestest' isn't a word!" Jack says.

"Oh shut up, Grammar Police," I retort, rolling my eyes.

"Isn't that spelling?" Zach questions.

"No, it's Grammar," Jack replies, "not that we'd expect you to know the difference."

In response, Zach hits Jack's arm only to wince in pain afterwards. "That's right, this is all muscle," Jack brags, flexing.

"Or is it bone?" I question, poking a hole in his statement.

"I think it's bone," Zach says, playing along.

Simply rolling his eyes, Jack walks onto the bus. We all laugh and follow him.

Daniel pulls me back.

"Okay, what are you not telling me?"

Hey! Hope y'all enjoyed! No more updates until Friday, probably. Sorry my lovelies. I love you all with all of my icy cold heart. Have a great day! Vote and comment.

Q. Will Amber tell the truth or lie?

Q. Are you hyped for Season Two of Thirteen Reasons Why?
A. A little, I'll admit. I liked Season One to a certain extent and I'm curious to see what they'll do this season.

Dedicated to ErynToran thanks for 99% of the time being the first voter ily <3