True Colors

“So, what music video are you shooting in California?”

“Nope, no chance I”m telling that one.”

“Fine,” I relented. “Do you still want to ask questions?”

“Oh, hell yeah! You still know way too much about me! I have to pry some skeletons out of your closet.” She eyed me up and down while letting out a heartfelt laugh.

“The only skeleton I have is the one in my body,” I bantered back.

“Jesus,” Lexi cackled. “You really need to work on your jokes.”

Looking at the grin on her face following her outburst, I countered with, “Well, it made you laugh, so I think I”m doing just fine.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” She gave an upward nod of her head while squinting her eyes at me. “Anyway, what’s your least favorite album of mine?”

“Why? So you can get mad at me?”

She shrugged noncommittally and replied, “Only if you say Papercuts.”

“Oh no, that”s in my top two!” I exclaimed, reassuring her.

“Probably Resilient because I only know like four songs from that album.”

“Which ones?” She prodded back while lifting an eyebrow.

“Resilient, Dauntless, Rule Breaker, and…” I chuckled a bit before continuing, “Surprise, surprise, the song Daddy Issues.”

“Dad’s. Am I right?” She laughed, causing me to smile at her in return. “Speaking of dad’s…do you think you’ll be okay enough to go to the funeral?”

“I don”t know,” I said honestly.

“Hey, just remember, you’re stronger than you think.”

Scoffing at her words, I questioned, “And if I’m not, can I send you my therapy bill?”

“Sure, Autumn. My address is 1234 Go Fuck Yourself Road.” She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “And here I was trying to be nice.”

I looked at her while she shifted positions on the floor. My legs began to tingle as if they were about to fall asleep, so I straightened them out in front of me. I rubbed my hands along the length of my calves and let out a sigh. For some reason, Lexi believed that I would be okay, but I, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. What if going to his funeral pushed me past the point of no return?

“We can survive this, right?” I asked solemnly while pursing my lips.

“Survive what?”

“This,” I motioned with my hands to our surroundings. “Life.”

“Definitely,” she answered with certainty. I smiled at her optimism, but then she ended her thoughts with, “Until we die, that is.”

Shaking my head, I reached into my bag and threw the first thing I could find at her, which happened to be my AirPods.

“Ass!” I yelled out while simultaneously laughing.

Lexi caught the case in her hands with ease and smiled. “You know we suck at doing these questions. We keep going off on random tangents.”

I scrunched my face at her words. “I guess you’re right.” Cracking my knuckles, I took a deep breath before yelling, “Okay, rapid-fire questions. Go!”

“What?” She panicked frantically while scrambling to think of a question. “Uhhh, what’s your biggest pet peeve?”

“People chewing with their mouths open.” I shivered at the thought. “What”s your favorite red carpet outfit?”

She pondered that question for a bit, then said, “The red satin dress with a lace train that I wore to the MET Gala.”

I remember that dress. She looked mesmerizing. People actually still talk about that outfit to this day. Lexi was even named the best dressed by Harper’s Bazaar Magazine. That look was somewhat iconic. Her words pulled me out of my thoughts just in time. A second longer, and I would’ve been drooling.

“What is your biggest fear?”

“Being alone. What”s your favorite color?”

Motioning to her current outfit, she glared at me. “As if it’s not obvious.”

I looked her up and down, taking note of her black attire before responding, “So pink then?”

“Definitely,” she said, her voice oozing with sarcasm. “What is your favorite animal?”

“Cats because they are relatable. I also want to slap people and knock things over.” Lexi tried to hide the beginnings of a smile before it took form, prompting me to ask, “What? Is that not an acceptable answer?”

She shook her head, dismissing my question. “No, it’s not that,” she explained. “It’s just, now that I think about it, you definitely give off black cat vibes.”

“Whoa,” I held out my hands in front of me. “No need to bring race into this.”

Lexi flung the AirPods I had thrown at her earlier back in my direction. I yelped and bent my leg to shield myself from the impact as the headphones hit my thigh with a loud slap.

“Don’t be stupid,” she demanded while narrowing her eyes at me.

“Oh, and now I’m dumb?”

“Autumn, don’t make me come over there and slap you,” she pointed her finger at me. “Cause I’ll do it!”

I smiled and put my hand over my heart before saying, “It would be an honor to be slapped by a fellow black cat.”

“Oh my god,” Lexi mumbled. “You’re impossible.”

I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. “You know what? You were right. We are never going to get through these questions.”

“Tell me about it,” she said while throwing her head back in frustration.

“Okay, fine. Last question,” I announced as I leaned forward. “What is your biggest dream?”

This may have sounded like an ordinary question, but it was so much more than that, and she knew it. In an interview she did a few years ago, someone asked her the same thing, and she replied with, “The gorilla from King Kong.” Because of her answer, it sounded as though she took the question literally instead of figuratively. People ended up posting that clip and tagging her in it for months to follow. The misinterpretation of that specific question was actually one of the things she’s widely known for. Even people who didn’t listen to her music knew about that moment. It had become somewhat of a running gag.

Lexi let out a heavy laugh. “I swear it was a joke! I just wanted to give a silly answer! Apparently, no one understands my sense of humor,” she murmured the latter part of her explanation before also saying, “My actual biggest dream is to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Fuck you for that one,” she shook her head slightly.

“I just had to ask the really important questions while stuck here. It may be the only chance I get.”

Our laughter subsided, and we were left in the stillness of the room. We sat silently, and I thought about how peaceful this felt. Just beyond the doors, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people running around, bumping into each other, frolicking about in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Soon, I would be sucked back into the same monotonous routine, too consumed with the demands of my own life to be able to focus on anything that really mattered. Beyond the bathroom, real life awaited me—my dad”s funeral awaited me. Because of that, I never wanted to leave, but real life was calling, screaming at me to return from the safe haven I had somehow managed to find. Lexi had responsibilities to get back to, and so did I. There was no way to escape the impending, inevitable reality that we would soon leave and forget each other.

Is that how my dad felt when he left?

Maybe once he stepped foot out the door, it was easier to forget us.

I guess I”ll never know.

The doctors said he died of a heart attack—stress-induced, probably.Sometimes, I regretted not reaching out. I couldn’t figure out if I pushed him away to spare me the pain and disappointment of when he would inevitably disappear again or if it was to ensure that he knew how it felt to never hear from your family again.

What was that saying? It”s better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all. I didn”t want to look back and wonder, “What if?”

Too late now. Maybe it was for the best that we never spoke again.

“You know, I wonder if all earthquakes lead to this much self-realization,” I thought out loud.

“Only when you”re trapped in a room with the right person.”

My face lit up as I smiled unintentionally while looking at her. Lexi sat across from me with her arms and legs crossed. She caught me mid-stare, and the corners of her lips flicked upwards. I shifted my gaze abruptly. For most of the time that we’d been stuck together, I had probably been eye-fucking her like 90% it.

Wait…how long have we been in here?

I picked up my phone and pressed down on the side to unlock the screen.

10:16 a.m.

“You know, being trapped in a bathroom with Lexi Harlow has made me realize that there”s something I would like to do with you before we get out of here,” I said while still looking down at my phone.

“And what would that be?” I opened my mouth to answer before she quickly cut me off. “Please, god, don”t make me sign your foot or design a tattoo for you,” she begged.

The flat expression I had held earlier was replaced with one of uncontrollable laughter. I clutched my stomach as the pain radiated in my abdomen. I doubled over and cackled like a hyena while hitting my hand against the floor repeatedly.

“No way people ask you to sign their feet!”

“Oh, you’d be surprised…” she trailed off. “This one girl who was waiting in line at a meet and greet did something like that. When she got to the front, she took off her socks and shoes, then forced me to look at her bare feet,” Lexi frowned in disgust. “But it gets worse. Then she stuck a pen between her toes while shoving it in my face so that I could take it and sign her foot.”

“What the hell?” I screamed while crinkling my nose. “There”s no way someone would do that! It sounds like something straight out of a horror movie!”

“Ew, a horror movie about feet?” Lexi joked. “What kind of movies are you watching with that weird fetish of yours?”

“Nope,” I shook my head violently, causing my hair to fly in every direction. “Nope, nope, nope. Please do not force your kinks on me.”

“Ha, yeah, right! More like my PTSD. I wouldn’t dream of watching a movie about feet!”

“Not even the one with the dancing penguins, ‘Happy Feet?’” I asked.

“Nope, not even that one.”

“Yeah, I watch True Crime and even that story is a bit much for me.”

“You mean like Jeffrey Dahmer and shit?”

I nodded. “More or less.”

“Must be why you like me so much, seeing as how you called me insane earlier. You have a thing for freaks?” She asked in a teasing manner.

“Oh, fuck no!” I belted out. “And if you think you’re on the same level as Jeffrey Dahmer, then I don’t think you know anything about what he did.”

“You’re the one who called me insane earlier.”

“Not serial killer-level insane,” I mumbled, pouting slightly. “Honestly, when I first came in here and saw you hiding your face, combined with the fact that two large men were guarding the door, I thought you were in trouble,” I confessed. “Maybe I watch true crime documentaries a bit too much.”

Raising her eyebrows, she questioned, “So, you”re saying I shouldn’t watch True Crime?”

“Oh,” I shook my head. “No, I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying you should definitely watch it!” She smiled at my enthusiasm. “But you have to start with the basics first, so Jeffrey Dahmer or something along those lines,” I suggested. “Then you can dive into something more obscure, like the one about the girl who stabbed a celebrity using a pen she stuck in between her toes.”

Expecting her to roll her eyes, I was surprised when she continued on with the joke. “I’ve actually heard of that last one you mentioned. Yeah, that was a tragic story,” she laughed. “I think that is where the bulk of her trauma comes from. Certainly not her father”s death or her suicide attempt.”

A smile grew on my face. “But really, though, did someone try to hand you a pen with their toes and ask you to sign their foot? Are you making this up?”

“Sadly, I’m not,” she shivered at the thought. “The image of her foot is burned into my brain now.”

“Okay, well, in comparison, my request won’t be so bad then.” She glared at me, expecting the worst. “Can I sign your foot?” She jabbed me with her elbow, causing me to let out a small yelp. I rubbed my ribs before adding, “Kidding! I was just kidding, I swear! I was just going to ask if you would be willing to watch an episode of Friends with me.”

“Oh, yeah,” she agreed with a flick of the wrist. “I can do that, no problem.”

“Yes!” I exclaimed while pumping my fist into the air.

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.