And then he stopped. Shane leaned his forehead against mine, breathing heavily, our eyes still closed, and he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Astra," he mumbled against my lips. "Please don't hurt yourself."
And all at once, his body fell l...
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C H A P T E R F I F T E E N
A s t r a *.✧
Blinding lights shone through the window, black spots dancing in my vision. A mechanical whirring noise filled the air, and I clenched my ears with my hands, the horrid noise vibrating all the way through me.
"The hell?" Shane yelled, backing into a corner. The noise seemed to be growing louder and louder with each passing second.
I backed up further into the cold wall, my heart in my mouth, my mind racing at the endless possibilities of all the ways this was about to end.
Crackles and static noises, even louder than the other awful sound, overcame the whirring and I hissed, rubbing my throbbing ears.
My poor eardrums.
A voice and a harsh squealing noise suddenly blared out through something, even louder than the whirring and the static and the crackling.
"Dave, I swear, you can't do shit right! Can you hurry up and turn this fucking thing on! Some people, unlike you, have a reputation to uphold!"
"Sir," a small voice whimpered. "It's on."
"Oh."
The man who was not Dave cleared his throat. "Kids!" He called out. "What are their names again?" He hissed to Dave.
"Astra Thatcher and Shane Doughtry, sir."
"Astra Thatcher and Shane Doughtry!" I imagined him smiling, glad they were finally getting somewhere. "Never fear! My name is Jamie Hudson and I'm a reporter for CNN! I see you've been trapped in an elevator, eh?"
"Well nah, Sherlock!" Shane yelled, even though they probably couldn't hear him.
"The building has been evacuated! New York's finest firefighters are trying, as we speak, to get you out, but they told me to pass on the message that you're going to have to wait until the blasted storm passes ov - whoa!"
The lights swerved a bit to the left, quickly moving back to their original position.
"Dave! For fuck's sake! Keep the damn thing still! I'm talking to your manager as soon as we get back! It's not that hard to fly a helicopter and hold a microphone and record in the middle of a storm at the same time!"
"Sorry, sir." Dave squeaked out.
Jamie cleared his throat again, resuming. "Until this blasted storm passes over!"
Why couldn't they just break us out right now?
"You're probably wondering why they can't just break you out right now!" Jamie announced. Talk about telepathy. "They're worried that it'll come crashing down, killing you! Also their helicopter teams have had a recent outbreak of the flu!"
"Although I don't think it would matter much if two stupid teens died," he muttered to Dave. I sucked in a sharp intake of breath.
"Line," Jamie hissed.
"Um, just reassure them that their teacher… Mrs Smith… hasn't left them, and… that this will be going on national television. Give them hope."
"It's going to be o-k-a-y!" He said exaggeratedly. "The world is with you! Rest assured, your teacher Mrs Smith hasn't left your side! You're being recorded right now… although we can't even see anything," he muttered, "and it'll be going on national television! Hope that's alright with both of you!"
"Nothing about their families?" He mumbled.
"None, sir."
"Weird. In cases like these, the families are always such a piss." He scoffed. "Tell my beloved daughter I love her, blah blah blah!" he impersonated in a squeaky voice.
"We must depart now!" Jamie called out a few seconds later, in an overly exaggerated tone like he was talking to a bunch of five-year-olds. "I'm sorry to leave you!" He wasn't. "The storm should be over by morning! We'll see you then!"
The helicopter began descending slowly, and the intercom was still on so everything being said was still loud and clear.
"Stupid teenagers. Why'd they even come up there in the first place!"
"No idea, sir."
"Horny bastards." Jamie laughed. "Why's the microphone still on?"
After what seemed like forever, the sound had dimmed down to no more than a faint buzz in the air. The elevator quickly returned to its dim atmosphere. I quickly pulled my sleeve down again, taking in a sharp breath as the fleece inside my hoodie rubbed with it. Shane was watching me with narrowed eyes.
I spoke first, breaking the tense silence between us. "Well… that was…"
"Stupid." Shane said. "What the heck? That Jamie dude was a total idiot! Some rescue team," he scoffed, falling to the floor. He sat against the wall, knees tucked in. I copied him, sitting across from him and put my head in my knees.
He sighed. "So what now?"
It was my turn to sigh.
"We wait."
*** IM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS BREAK. JUST TWO WEEKS LEFT TO GO!!!!!
