WHO: Sally Rogers, Max Kingman, and Jude Maraschino. WHEN: Day One, shortly after THIS but before THIS. WHERE: On the beach before heading into the hotel. SUMMARY: This motley crew heads inside to clean up and find themselves stuck in a frustrating situation when the elevators don't respond to their touch and the stairwell doors won't open either. WARNINGS: Eh. Language. Sally's rage.
Max glanced toward the water and then up toward the sun. It didn’t feel as hot as it had when they first arrived on the island. He wondered if that meant they’d acclimated. Then again, Texas in the summer was as hot as it got, so he shouldn’t have been surprised.
After leaving Mordy to look for his vape, he’d wandered toward where he’d last seen the others. It had been a great idea to stay outside and watch the stars. But the thing was that he didn’t remember seeing any. He must’ve fallen asleep early, which really bummed him out. He was usually the first to suggest staying up late or waking up early to see the sunrise or watch for meteor showers. He might live in what he jokingly referred to as ‘The Wild West’, but it was still usually too bright to see the stars well enough from home or his college dorm.
It was probably late enough that they’d missed breakfast. They could probably grab something quick and easy before heading out for the day. But that meant he should shower and change. The last thing he wanted was someone complaining that he smelled.
“Hey,” he called toward Sally. “I’m going to head inside to grab a shower and something to eat. You wanna come?”
"Oh right, food," she said, looking up like she'd forgotten such things existed. What time was it, anyway? She'd definitely forgotten her watch. And… her phone, apparently, dammit.
Shielding her eyes with her hand, Sally squinted at the sky, which was still bright enough even if the day seemed cooler. Coolish. Based on the position of the sun, it was… well, late enough that it probably was time for a food even if she wasn't really hungry. She'd be starving soon enough, so might as well get a head start on it while her stomach was still asleep.
Scrambling to her feet, she said cheerfully, "Sure! I wanna change anyway, I feel like I've been wearing this forever."
Seeing Sally and Max about thirty feet away, Jude ran up to catch them. “Headed back?” he asked, though he’d missed the conversation. “Mind if I join?” He glanced around to make sure none of the other frat boys were following. Jude was making new friends.
“Mm,” Max hummed in agreement. “Changing feels like a great idea. I’m sure there’s sand somehow everywhere.” As the taller boy ran to meet them, Max arched his eyebrows in surprise, but grinned widely. “Of course you can come, Jude. We’re just headed in to shower, change, and grab something to eat.” He gestured back toward where he’d seen one of the other frat boys. “Your friend want to come, too?”
"If you think you can keep your hands off me, anyway," Sally added, rolling her eyes at the idea. The pool incident was still pretty fresh in her mind, but nothing had happened, then or since, so there was no reason not to joke about it.
Jude wasn’t at all hungry, but it didn’t matter. “Great!” he grinned. He didn’t seem to hear what Sally said, or maybe he ignored it because it was a touchy subject. At least both he and Sally knew that nothing had happened. He shook his head. “*You* guys are my friends.” He wrapped an arm around each of them, patted their shoulders, and grinned goofily at each of them like they were all best mates. As far as he was concerned his fraternity brothers didn’t even exist anymore at this point.
He looked at Max and raised an arm. “Lead the way!”
Max wasn’t entirely sure what either one of them were talking about, but some weird stuff had been happening on the trip anyway. He’d just let it go. He threw a glance back toward where the rest of his friends were, but they knew how to get back to the room. They’d follow when they were ready.
The sand felt easier to trek through than usual, but maybe it was his sheer determination to get back to the hotel. He was ready to devour a blueberry scone--hopefully--and free himself from the sand that was most definitely in his sneakers. And his pockets. And still in his hair.
As they climbed off of the beach, finished navigating the path through the jungle, hiked the hill, and finally made it to the automatic doors of the hotel, Max paused to let someone else go in front of him. The doors slid open with a gentle hiss and he followed behind, already embracing the rush of cool air as it burst out to meet them. “Sunscreen,” he reminded himself. “I’m almost out. Remind me to steal some of Teddy’s if they’re out in the hotel’s store.”
"Just steal his anyway. Or Cady's, you know she'll have the good stuff, being all modelly and ginger." Sally wasn't all that worried about it herself. She liked being a little tan, even if it was technically bad for your skin and overall health or whatever.
In any case she was more interested in getting to the room and out of her clothes. Just getting inside was a nice step, though, and it was nice that they hadn't cranked up the hotel AC as bad today. But it was still totally crowded, and Sally had to jump out of the way of one man who walked right at her with a particularly determined pace. "Geez, watch where you're going!" she yelled after him. "Douchebag. Didn't even turn around."
Jude, who had paid almost too much attention to his companions on the journey, lightly patted Max’s shoulder with the back of his hand. “I have sunscreen upstairs,” he said. “Use as much as you want.” He could save Max the seven bucks. He rolled his eyes at the guy who’d almost plowed into them. “Some tourists don’t know how to chill.”
Frowning as he watched the man nearly topple Sally, Max stepped up to keep pace with her and an eye out for any other over-excited tourists with a penchant for not looking out for where they were going. At Jude’s offering, Max grinned widely and nodded in appreciation. “Thanks, dude. I watched this video once that showed what happens if you don’t apply and skin cancer is no joke.” He didn’t mind a tan, but he wasn’t ready to be cooked alive. He’d applied sunscreen back at home, but the sun was a little more direct on the island, especially on the beach.
He wandered past the front desk and toward the elevators, pushing the up button. The light didn’t change. He pushed a little harder. Still nothing. “Weird. Maybe this one’s broken.” He headed to the left and stopped just short as a woman with a little boy in tow reached out to push it first. He offered a kind smile and took a step backward to wait their turn.
Once the elevators arrived, he let the woman on before he followed, reaching out to hold the door open for his friends.
Jude took a step back and gestured to the elevator like a gentleman for Sally. “After you.”
She raised her eyebrows at Jude -- she expected politeness from Max, but from one of the Frat Boy Prank Brigade? Sally was pretty sure they were the reason she'd woke up in a tree the other day, and yeah that was hilarious in retrospect (and kinda baffling, because how? had they not woke her up, and why? had they picked her to untangle from the sleeping dogpile of her friends) but it'd been pretty damn disconcerting at the time.
But whatever, she was over it. She gave him an overly elaborate bow in thanks, to which Jude grinned, and hopped into the elevator, and as soon as the doors were shut behind the five of them (whatever time it was, most people were leaving the hotel right now) Sally glanced at the lit-up third-floor button and said, "Seven, please."
The woman didn't budge from her phone. God, what was with people today? She'd gone and stationed herself right by the buttons too, so she'd basically volunteered for the responsibility. So Sally rolled her eyes and reached around the woman to push it herself.
Nothing happened.
Max was going to ask the woman again, just in case she hadn’t heard--or maybe hearing was the problem?--when her small child reached up and wiped both hands along the panel. Immediately, every button was lit.
Normally, he’d be a little annoyed that it would take longer to get to their floor, but it at least solved their problem.
“Hey, thanks, little dude!”
The boy turned slowly to stare at them, locking eyes with Max, before he smiled.
“What have I told you about touching things that don’t belong to us, Walter? You can’t push the buttons next time,” the woman chided.
When the boy didn’t look at her, she reached for him, taking his hand. “Stop that and listen to me!”
He broke his gaze from Max’s and reluctantly followed his mother out of the elevator as it reached their floor. With no one else on the elevator and no one climbing on, Max pushed the button to close the doors. Nothing happened. He tried pushing the buttons to disengage the other floors, but again, nothing happened. He sighed and shrugged at his friends, leaning against the wall.
“I think there’s something wrong with them. Maybe the kid pushed something he shouldn’t have.”
“Maybe you just lack the touch,” Jude said. He made a spirit finger gesture and a ghost sound, “WOooOoo.” But there was a bit of apprehension in his smile under his attempt to joke it off. There’d just been a lot of things weird or off during this trip. But thinking about that made Jude think about how his friends had blamed him for all of it, and Jude didn’t want to think about that. He brushed it all off.
“Stairs?” he asked. He was good with what they wanted to do. There were only a few more floors.
Sally gave herself a shake and turned away from the bright number 7. "Ugh. I guess. I hate when it the elevator stops on every floor. Stairs might not be faster, but at least we'd be moving the whole time." Striking her own determined pace, she led them out onto the third floor (third floor! Who took the elevator just two floors?) just in time for the elevator door to shut on their heels. But when she got over to the door for the stairs and leaned on it to open it, it didn't move.
“Stairs works for me,” Max chimed in, following after Sally as she led them to the door hiding the stairwell. He canted his head to the side. “Is it locked?”
"It can't - be," she said, gritting her teeth as she set her shoulder against the door to absolutely no effect. "It's illegal to lock a marked exit. Fire safety." She kicked the door, which thankfully didn't break her toe, and threw up her hands. "It must be stuck. But you're welcome to try yourself if you don't believe me."
“Maybe if we all tried together?” Jude suggested. If it was stuck maybe it just needed a bigger push.
He believed her, but the idea of them all trying together seemed like it might work. Max shrugged in agreement and moved to wedge his arm against the crash bar next to Sally’s. Nothing happened. He dug in his heels and pushed really hard, but still, no change.
“Is this the only set of stairs? We can always head back to the elevators, if so.”
"I don't know, I didn't memorize the hotel map," Sally snapped. She'd been more interested in what she could find outside, and these were just the stairs she'd seen.
“I think there’s a set at the other end,” Jude said. If he remembered right. One set on the east. One set on the west. He started to walk that direction. A third-floor guest walked by him toward the stairs. “Hey, the door’s stuck,” Jude called. The guest ignored him and walked right to the door and swung it open.
Max’s surprise cost him as he took too long to reach the door. What surprised him infinitely more was the fact that when he reached to catch it before it closed, the door closed on him anyway. As if his hands did nothing. He stared at the door for a moment longer, leaning down to stare at the metal bar before he pushed his fingers against it. The door didn’t move in the lock. The metal bar didn’t squeak with his attempt.
“It’s just a dream,” he muttered to himself. “You’re fine, it’s just a dream.”
Turning, he took several steps back toward the group. “Maybe she had a keycard or something to activate the lock. Let’s try the other stairs.”
"Never gave us special keycards," Sally muttered, but she followed along anyway.
It had looked like Max caught the door. That was….weird. Jude blinked. But a moment later he shook his head. He was closer, so he lead the way to the other stairs. “While you get your sunscreen, I'll look for Cassidy.” If she wasn't at the beach, Jude reasoned she'd be with the others. Though there had seemed to be a lot more people on the beach than Jude would have expected Tex and Co to recruit. Frat prank or no.
Max followed Jude toward the other set of stairs. It didn’t make sense that the door wouldn’t open. Then again, he’d had dreams exactly like that. No exit. Stuck in an elevator or in a room, unable to leave. Usually, he came up with a plan, but he didn’t feel like he was sleeping. As they approached the door to the set of stairs, he pressed a hand against the bar. As expected, it didn’t open. He stepped backward, crossing his arms against his chest. “I don’t know, guys. Maybe all of the stairwells are locked today?”
"They're not locked," Sally said, and, "they can't be locked, it's illegal," stabbing her finger accusingly at the door which had ganged up with its ugly twin to make goddamn fools of them all. Well she was no fool, and she'd had enough; her voice started sharp and it rose rapidly, like a spaceship jumping to hyperspeed. "That jackass walked right through the other one without stopping or thinking about a card, and anyway they don't have stair keycards or we'd have got them too. They're not going to give extra stair privileges to the highest payers, they're just stairs, they aren't special. It wouldn't make sense!"
Her fists clenched at her sides, white and reflexive. Her voice was so loud it was a wonder no one came out of their rooms. "None of this makes sense!" she shouted, and the lights flickered.
Jude looked up as the lights flickered. That might have explained it. Maybe the doors were electric and the hotel was glitching. There was a lot going on right then. The frustration with the elevator. Then the stairs. Then the other stairs. Max was impressively calm. Sally was impressively...spirited.
If he'd been by himself, and he hadn't woken up on the wrong side of the sand, Jude's reaction would have been a lot different. But listening to Sally and watching them both, Jude's main emotion wasn't shared anger or even frustration at the door.
Instead, the more Sally vented, the more Jude's expression toward the two Texans softened and warmed.
When Sally finished, Jude's facial response broke with genuine appreciation. “Thank you for not just blaming me for this.” Jude hugged them both.