True As Cheese

October 30: Don't Squeeze Cheese

The sun shines bright as I stare out the window, steam rising from my coffee slowly. The apartment is silent as I watch the outside world, waiting for the moment to be ruined. Whether it's a bird hitting the window or Bear murdering me, this peace wasn't going to last long. Sipping my coffee slowly, I'm suddenly covered in saliva and cottage cheese as Bear spits gunk all over me. Shocked, I turn and face him, his face holding anger and amusement.

"Did you not like your new toothpaste?" My question seems to annoy him as he rolls his eyes, clearly not putting up with my antics today.

"Oh, I loved it," Bear says, rolling his eyes. I smile manically, a bad thought crossing my mind.

"Why don't you just love it some more?" I say. A look of confusion crossed his face before I squeezed the toothpaste hard, causing cottage cheese to fly out and all over his face. Shock made its way across his face before anger replaced it. I immediately regret my decision when he looks down at me and wipes his face off. I scream and run, trying to get away.

I get about 3 feet away before strong arms wrap themselves around my waist, pulling me into a hard chest. I squeal, Bear rubbing his cottage cheese-filled face all in my hair, tickling my sides. I scream and push his hands away, giggles escaping my body. He let his hands fall to my hips, his laughter ringing in my ears.

"Stupid teddy bear!" I say, breathing heavily, smiling. Bear seemed to freeze at the nickname, no longer laughing.

"What did you just call me?" Bear asks, pulling away. I turn, smiling evilly. Bingo.

"Teddy Bear."

And with that, I signed my death certificate.

I screamed, turning and running out of the apartment, slamming the door in Bear's face. I take off down the hallway, hurrying towards the staircase when I heard the door slam. I quickly open the door to the staircase and begin running down the stairs. Getting to the floor below ours, I hurry out the door and quickly push past people getting off the elevator. I repeatedly press the close door buttons, hearing his footsteps get closer. Just as he opens the door and looks around, the doors press shut.

My heart raced as I clicked our floor quickly, hoping the doors won't reopen. I sighed in relief when it started moving up, only for it to stop and begin to move back down. I squealed and pressed the top floor over and over, my heart beginning to race once again. The elevator stopped after a few seconds, the lights flicker.

The lights only flicker for a moment before the elevator doors slide open, revealing a pissed off Bear. He steps in, smashing a random button. The doors shut slowly, leaving us alone in a small, confined space. His chest heaves, rising and falling quickly. He towers over me, his eyes dark. The doors closed slowly, cutting off any chance of help I may have gotten. I smile innocently as I reach behind him, clicking the "open doors" button. He notices, quickly pushing the "close doors" button. I frown and click "open doors" again.

Click.

Click.

Click.

And so forth. We didn't say anything, just kept pressing. The elevator didn't know what to do, shaking slightly from all the commands it was receiving.

And then it stops.

The lights flicker again before completely turning off, then there was a loud 'errrgggg' noise.

No.

No... no, no, no, no. It better not.

And then it did.

The elevator shuts down.

Bear is seething. The elevator starts flashing red, but no alarm sounds. Bear pushes the emergency button, but nothing happens. He slams his hand against it, cursing loudly.

"Look what you did!" Bear turns to me, his glare burning through me.

"Me?! It's your stupid building that broke!" I point my finger accusingly at him, glaring back with my best glare. He growls and punches the door, the sound echoing throughout the small room.

"Why must you be so irritating?" He walks away from the doors and sitting, resting his back the wall.

"Why must you be such an ass?" I frown, doing the same but to the opposite side. He just grunts and leans his head against the wall. I sigh and look around, looks like we're not going to make that meeting.

***

The silence was suffocating, the only sound to be heard is our quiet breathing. The red light still flashes, the same rhythm for the last half hour. The silence is interrupted when a certain idiot spoke.

"Where the fuck is the elevator?" Michael's voice sounds from just above us.

"It might be broken, some idiots must've pushed too many buttons," Leonardo responds.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot!" I yell, crossing my arms. Bear rolls his eyes, standing. I follow suit, my legs cramping.

"Tessa?!" Realization dawns on Leo as he began to call for help, attempting to pull the elevator doors apart. How do I know this is what he's doing? Bear is watching from the security cameras.

With his phone.

I walk over and smack the back of his head.

"Ow! What the fuck, Tessa?" He growls, rubbing the back of his head.

"You could've called for help forever ago!" My scream echoes throughout the elevator, causing me to flinch slightly. Bear glares at me before he continues to watch Leo and Michael. Leo was banging on the elevator doors, shouting for help, unaware that Michael was pretending to spank Leo. Apparently, Leo heard my laughs because he turns and starts yelling at Michael.

"The emergency crew won't be here for a while, we'll have to call and cancel the meeting." Bear's voice holds irritation as he spoke, pulling his phone out.

"Why don't you just video call with them? It's obviously important, you can't risk missing it." Bear looks at me confused for a moment before nodding, sitting on the floor. A few seconds later, voices fill the elevator as the gang discusses business affairs. I lean my head on Bear's shoulder, watching as everyone fiddles around.

"Bear, we might have a lead on Devin." Willie's voice rings through the phone, causing Bear to sigh harshly.

"Apparently he's been spotted hanging out by the old haunted house in the Bronx, we could stop by first thing tomorrow and hopefully get the jump on him." Preston flips open a notepad, writing down the time we plan on going.

"Second, we need to figure out how to get the cocaine in the city without being noticed, after Michael's ice cream incident, we're being watched like crazy. " Leo butts in, glaring at Michael who sat next to him. Michael tries to hide a smile as he looks away, clearly guilty.

"I mean, we could always just put it in a parade float for Thanksgiving, who's going to suspect it?" I joke, but apparently, it was brilliant because they immediately start discussing what kind of parade float and how much it'll cost.

"Now remember, the float isn't actually supposed to go in the parade. We'll send the driver off before the parade ends so it looks like it's just driving home." Jim says, figuring out the escape route. 

"Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'd like to invite all of you to my house for a few days," Jim says, smiling kindly. Everyone goes into a discussion about what to bring and what the plans are.

"Oh, and Tessa?" Bear faces the phone towards me, his father smiling.

"Better bring your game face, because you're going down, little lady."