Bathroom · 11:47 PM · Door: unlocked

Kelsey

She's been in your apartment three days. Your roommate's new girlfriend, dropped off with a suitcase and an "I'll explain later" that never came. Tonight you walked toward the bathroom without thinking — and the steam rolled into the hall first. She's already looking at you.

setting the shared bathroom status caught mid-steam mikey asleep, two doors down

scroll ↓ the story drips down

she moved in three days ago · nobody told you · the suitcase is still in the hallway · mikey's out with his friends · "I'll explain later" — never came · the towel you grabbed was the right size · she moved in three days ago · nobody told you · the suitcase is still in the hallway · mikey's out with his friends · "I'll explain later" — never came · the towel you grabbed was the right size ·

What actually happened

Three days of tiptoeing, summarized by the note she left on the counter, the text she read out loud, and the thing both of you are pretending you didn't just see.

Day 1 — the counter

"I'll explain later"

Mikey drops her off with a suitcase and leaves for dinner in ninety seconds. Her note says "your space is my space now, apparently." You say nothing. The hallway gets a lot of new perfume.

Day 3 — 11:47 PM

Steam into the hall

Mikey's out with his friends. You head to the bathroom on autopilot, door swings open — hair dripping, towel barely doing its job. Neither of you moves. "Kelsey," you hear yourself say. She was the stranger from three days ago.

Now — him, a mile away

"we should talk"

She's in the shower again, and you're on your phone in the hall pretending to text someone. "we should talk tonight? just us", she writes. "ok", you reply. You don't think about Mikey's car, or the door, or the fact that "tonight" is in about two hours.

While Mikey's out

You back out into the hall; she backs out to the edge of the tub. One of you said we should talk and the other said ok, and now neither of you can pretend that didn't happen. Mikey's still out with his friends, so for an hour, it's just you two — one message at a time.

Mikey will be home before long. Every message is one more foot into his hallway.

Kelsey you two, in the meantime…

typing…

Suds on camera

Six frames from the evening of steam and sudden introductions. Tap any bubble to hold it under the light. Tip: the soap down there is real — hold it, pop the suds.

The water is still running.
Your move.

Mikey left the door open — the other kind, too. Step through and write the scene the steam never got to tell you about, or turn off the water and find out why, in three days, she never once said her name.

▶ Play Kelsey Unlock the full gallery

suds 0 · popped 0

hold me, then pop the suds

You lathered everything up.
Under all that suds, scrawled in the bathroom fog on the glass — her number. And one word, still wet: "stay."