"Today was supposed to be a great day. At least, that's what I thought."
I folded the last couple of clothes and placed them into my suitcase. After forcing and squeezing it shut with some effort, I straightened up and looked around. It looked like everything was finally ready. Once I changed clothes and tossed the remaining items into my backpack, I could check out of the dorm with a clear conscience.
Yes, the big day had finally arrived!
It was the first day I would finally live in my own place in Izmir, no roommates, no curfews, just freedom and peace. I murmured to myself with a goofy smile.
"Today is going to be amazing!"
When I grabbed my clothes and headed into the bathroom, I put the cleaning products I'd borrowed from the girls inside the shower and hung my clothes over the curtain rod. While shampooing my hair, the sudden strawberry scent hit me so strongly that I grabbed the bottle again and stared at it in disbelief.
"Come on, Gözde! Strawberry shampoo at this age, seriously?" Since I hated fruity-scented shampoos and products, I rinsed off quickly and stepped out of the shower.
Because the weather was unusually warm for November, I didn't need to dress too heavily. I put on my dark skinny jeans and black short Converse under my red-and-black plaid shirt, then braided my hair loosely. A touch of makeup, just enough to hide my ghost-pale complexion, and I was finally ready to go.
After saying goodbye to all my roommates, I put on my black leather jacket, swung my backpack over my shoulders, and headed downstairs. Since the girls had been kind enough to carry my suitcases downstairs while I was showering, I happily called Feyza to tell her I was ready.
Ten minutes later, a car pulled up in front of the building. Feyza stepped out first, followed by a tall, well-built guy. When they both walked up to me, Feyza introduced us.
"Atlas, this is my close friend Duru. Duru, this is my boyfriend, Atlas."
He reached out his hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Duru," while I was busy studying him closely. Up close, he looked pretty handsome: dark brown hair trimmed short on the sides and longer on top, blue eyes, sharp features, and a muscular build obvious even under his clothes. But I couldn't say the same for the endless tattoos covering every exposed patch of skin, stretching from his arm all the way up to his neck.
"Nice to meet you too, Atlas. Wow, you look like a Renaissance painting." Thinking out loud was probably my worst habit.
While I rubbed my arm where Feyza pinched me for my bluntness, Atlas was laughing at us.
"Your friend's adorable, Feyza."
Feyza shot me a sharp look. "You should see her when she's quiet, sweetheart."
Not missing the threat under her tone, I flashed her an innocent smile. "Shall we load the rest of the stuff? You two must have places to be, I don't want to keep you."
I grabbed the box filled with my books and placed it on the back seat. Once Atlas put the suitcases in the trunk, we all got in the car and drove off.
While giving Atlas directions, my curiosity got the better of me. "Are you in school too, Atlas?"
He smiled at me through the rearview mirror. "Yeah. Senior year, psychology."
I smiled back. So even studying psychology didn't solve everything, apparently. I mean, someone with that many tattoos couldn't be entirely normal.
"So… do you live with your family?"
"No. I live with a female friend from my department."
I snapped my eyes wide open and turned to Feyza. She just shrugged and smiled as if he'd said, 'I live with five brothers,' instead. At that point, I was convinced this girl wouldn't panic even if the world caught fire. Okay, sure, I wasn't the type to flip tables out of jealousy, but this level of chill was definitely not normal.
When we stopped by the garden gate of the apartment building, Feyza was laughing and telling Atlas something. Since I hadn't followed their conversation at all, I got out of the car, grabbed the box, and turned back to them with zero context. Meanwhile, Atlas had already taken out my suitcases and was carrying them toward the entrance.
I hurried after him and said, "You can leave them here. I'll take the rest up with the elevator. You two go enjoy your date." Feyza had joined us by then.
"Are you sure? I can take them upstairs for you."
"That's really kind of you, but no need. Thanks for bringing them this far. And if we ever meet again, drinks are on me."
Feyza, amused by my excitement, grabbed Atlas's hand with a cute grin. "Let's get going, darling. All she wants is to be alone in her new place and enjoy herself."
This was the beauty of close friends, they understood you instantly.
After seeing Feyza and Atlas off, I carried the book box and the suitcases into the building one by one but when I opened the tiny elevator and shoved the suitcases inside, there was unfortunately no space left for the box.
I took whatever fit upstairs, opened the door of apartment number nine on the second floor, and pushed the suitcases inside. After closing the door and getting back into the elevator to go down again. Right as I was about to press the ground floor button, the elevator suddenly started going up to the sixth floor. And my mood dropped instantly.
When the elevator stopped, I didn't even look to see who got in. Just kept fiddling with my keys. Because my mind was on the poor books I'd abandoned downstairs. God forbid someone messed with my precious books.
I was waiting impatiently for the elevator to go down when the giant metal box jolted to a stop with a loud, blunt thud, making me flinch.
I lifted my head in confusion. The guy next to me was staring at the firmly shut doors in the exact same way.
"Please tell me we're not stuck in here!"
Unlike me, he didn't look confused, he looked pissed.
"I think we are."
I squeezed my eyes shut, exhaled sharply, and muttered a quiet curse. When he looked at me like I was some endangered species of panda, I snapped irritably: "What! Swearing under stress reduces pressure, okay? It's scientifically proven!"
He smirked, shook his head, and pressed the emergency button.
"If the line's connected, someone will notice and call for help."
I nodded briefly, and he pulled out his phone to try something. He was probably trying to call someone.
Considering how tense he seemed, instead of asking 'Are you stupid?' I tried warning him nicely.
"Have you never seen a movie? Phones don't work in elevators!"
"And you, got a better idea, genius?"
"It's Saturday, and this is a mostly-student apartment building. Someone's bound to come by soon. We can yell for help when they do."
"In case you didn't notice, Einstein, yelling in a tiny elevator wastes oxygen and speeds up how fast we run out."
Only then did I realize how bad the situation actually was. I glanced around in panic before pointing upward.
"Okay. In movies they always open that top hatch and climb out. You're tall enough. You should try it."
He raised an eyebrow and gave me a crooked grin. "Do I look like Jason Bourne to you? I mean, I'm hotter, sure, but I don't crawl through elevator shafts murdering people in my free time, shorty."
"Being handsome doesn't get us out of here!"
His lips curled into a satisfied smile. "So you are admitting I'm handsome."
I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Are you serious? That's what you're focusing on? Right now?"
He pointed to himself, then to the elevator, grinning. "You can't tell me you hate being stuck 'in this situation', with someone as attractive as me, sunshine."
"God, he literally breathes ego."
He laughed at my mumbling and returned to his phone.
I leaned back against the elevator mirror and slid down to the floor helplessly. I pulled my knees up, wrapped my arms around them, and rested my chin on my arms. Sadly, the only thing my brain could come up with was that classic 'depressed girl sitting pose'.
He sat opposite me, stretching his legs as far as the cramped space allowed. With his palms on the floor and head tipped back, he closed his eyes.
While we sat in silence, I discreetly started studying him. The first thing I had noticed when he spoke were his ocean-blue eyes, the kind that made you stare at them forever.
Plus, he was really good-looking. He had full lips, sharp features, and his dark brown hair was falling over his forehead. With his above-average height, broad shoulders, and the muscular frame visible under his shirt, he looked like he'd walked out of a modeling catalog.
"Enjoying the view, sunshine?"
I jerked my head up. Weren't his eyes supposed to be closed?
"Stop calling me weird nicknames. My name is Duru. And for the record, I'm not interested in you, at all." Wow. I was apparently fantastic at lying.
In a sudden movement, he shifted and leaned forward, right in front of me. He stared at me with a challenging expression, way too close to my face.
"Still not interested?"
Had the elevator suddenly gotten hotter?
I blinked at him, thrown off. "What are you doing?"
One corner of his mouth lifted, but he didn't move back. "From here, you look pretty affected."
Nope. I was absolutely a terrible liar.
But was I going to let that slide? Of course not. I placed my hands on his shoulders and leaned in just a little. His gaze immediately dropped to my lips, and I murmured with a half-smile of my own:
"Stop fantasizing. Now back up before I hurt you." I pushed lightly and made him back off a few inches.
Wow, look at me being all brave! This has to be a sign of oxygen deprivation.
He laughed and then sat down beside me. Wanting to cut the topic short, I spoke before he could.
"Shouldn't someone have noticed us by now? It's been almost an hour."
"What, bored already? If you've got other elevator movie scenes in mind, I'm open to them." Ignoring his shameless grin and the implied meaning, I tucked my hands between my knees to warm them.
"Actually, I'm a little cold." Then I yawned and leaned back. "And I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'm getting sleepy."
"How can you be so different from one moment to the next, Sunshine?" Even with my eyes closed, I could tell he was laughing.
"Today was supposed to be amazing. Being stuck here is completely unfair!"
"Why, missing a date?"
"Better! I finally escaped the dorms! I just moved in here, and right now I should've been in my own warm, peaceful apartment enjoying life. I don't even have a boyfriend." The last part came out as a mumble. If he answered, I didn't hear it.
A few minutes later, when I realized I wasn't cold anymore, I smiled and let myself drift into a peaceful sleep.
I tried not to open my eyes when a loud noise, like a door being forced open, dragged me out of my sweet dream.
"I'm sure my shoulder is very comfortable, but you need to wake up, sunshine. My arm is numb now. And they're about to open the door."
That voice… I snapped my eyes open and lifted my head, coming face-to-face with a pair of blue ones. I stared at him, not sure what to say, feeling my face heat up for some strange reason. Strange, because I wasn't exactly the blushing type.
"Sorry, it wasn't on purpose. My bad." When I looked down, I noticed the jacket draped over me and froze. So that was the warmth I'd felt. He didn't exactly look like the type to do something that thoughtful.
I handed him his jacket with a polite smile. "Thank you."
When he took it, I jumped to my feet and straightened my clothes. He stood up too, smiling. But once he slipped the jacket back on, his expression returned to that original cocky look.
"You owe me, shorty."
"For what?"
He raised an eyebrow like the answer was obvious and I was just pretending not to know. "I let you use my shoulder and my jacket."
"You're kidding. Right?" This guy was definitely troubled. Who would expect something in return for such a thing?
He clicked his tongue and gave me a crooked smile. "Dead serious."
Whatever. No point dragging it out. "Since I'm never seeing you again, I guess it won't matter." Right then, the door opened. I was just about to step out when he spoke again.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that… Duru Ulusoy."
What?!
This guy I had never spoken to before, who I was certain I didn't know from anywhere, had just called me by my last name?!
But if I hadn't told him… how the hell did he know it?
I froze where I stood in complete shock.
He left the elevator with that crooked smile, leaving my name echoing in my ears.
He shouldn't have known it.But somehow… he did.
And for the first time today,I wondered if moving here had been a mistake.