Lights Out

Lincoln and I headed back to his place.
“That was pretty hectic,” observed Lincoln.
“I know. I hope they fix the power soon or there will be more problems.”
“It looks as if the whole city is out.” As we weaved our way through the streets back to Lincoln’s house all the traffic lights were out and police officers were directing all the traffic. Some businesses were being run by generators but a lot of them, especially those that relied on a lot of power, had closed for the day or until the power problem was fixed.

“Mum?” Lincoln called as he opened the door.
“In the kitchen!” Mrs Cooper called back. We found her busy cooking dinner. The Cooper’s had an old gas stove, so lucky for them they could still cook something. “You’re home early,” she said to us as she looked at the clock.
“School closed because of the power outage.” Lincoln explained. Lincoln and I had made it home only about half an hour earlier than usual since we decided to walk all the way home.
“Yes, well I hope they get it working again soon. So you can get back to school and everything is back to normal. It’s very inconvenient.”
“I don’t mind so much,” Lincoln admitted as he dipped a spoon into the pot of stew cooking on the stove and tasting it. Mrs Cooper slapped his wrist.
“Get out of it,” she told him off. He smiled at me. I was leaning on the marble bench top. “Are you staying for dinner, Alyssandra?” Mrs Cooper had always called Lincoln, Max and I by our full names as long as I had known her. I had always called her Mrs Cooper and Mr Cooper, Mr Cooper. Before I could say anything Mrs Cooper continued. “You might as well. We can cook a proper dinner since we have the gas cooker. Max will only eat some sort of ridiculous junk if you eat at home anyway.” She looked her cooking for a moment. “Where is that boy anyway?” she asked.
“Playing football,” I informed her.
“Ah I see. I thought you would be there too?” she asked her son.
“Why would I go and run around a muddy oval with some sweaty boys, when I could be here hanging out with the two prettiest ladies around?” Lincoln flashed his charming smile. He had successfully made Mrs Cooper and I blush. He was always throwing random compliments around.
“You get me every time,” I tell him shaking my head. I swear that boy could wrap anyone around his little finger in moments. Luckily I knew how to get him right back. He hated it when I pointed out how gorgeous he was. “I think it’s those cute little cheekbones,” I poked at his face and looked at Mrs Cooper for back up. “Or maybe it’s those perfect lips of yours.” Lincoln’s eyes met mine and we paused for a moment, my finger on his lips. He seemed to be trying to get something across in his gaze. I didn’t like that look. Mrs Cooper laughed at us and then the moment was gone. I quickly put my hand down and looked away so they couldn’t see my cheeks turn an obvious red. Lincoln didn’t look away. He didn’t blush. I hated him for that. He was always in control of his emotions, or at least seemed to be. He had never been afraid of how he felt about anything. And yet I was so confused about that moment. I didn’t understand it. There had never been anything romantic between us. Lincoln and I teased each other like that all the time. He knew that I, well everyone actually, thought he was amazing looking. It didn’t mean anything.

“You two are so funny,” Mrs Cooper laughed. “Only you could get away with that, Alyssandra.” Lincoln returned to his normal self, much to my relief.
“Oh no. Not even she can get away with it.” I saw Lincoln’s hand rest on a glass of water sitting on the bench next to him. Then I ran straight for the door.
“No, Linc, no!” I squealed as he chased me around our front yards. I ran towards my door but he grabbed my wrist with his free hand before I made it inside. The people walking past gave us strange looks, but when the saw me laughing and Lincoln holding the glass of water, they started to smile as they realised my fate. Lincoln held my wrist and I kicked and yelled at him as he slowly raised the glass of water over my head. I managed to twist free before any water fell on me. I acted quickly and tried to tackle him to the ground. Since he was about twice my size I didn’t think it would actually work, but obviously I misjudged his balance. We both fell to the ground and the glass of water fell over both of us.
“Well, that plan didn’t work out precisely how I wanted.” Lincoln said as we lay on the grass out the front of my house laughing.
“Well, it half worked.” I said standing up and showing off the wet mark over my shoulder.
“Maybe my plan was just to stay dry?”
“Well then it didn’t work at all.” I laughed. The front of his shirt had been soaked. Who thought one little glass of water could do so much damage.

“What are you doing?” Max asked standing on the foot path out the front of the house. He was looking at us like we were mad.
“It’s called having fun,” Lincoln teased.
“Right...” Max was covered in dirt and his hair had a leaf sticking out of one side.
“If I were you I wouldn’t go looking at us like we’re crazy.” I told him. He looked down at himself and smiled. “Go get cleaned up. We’re having dinner at Linc’s.”
“Yes! Mrs Cooper’s cooking!” Max raced inside. Since neither of our parents could really cook, Max and I looked forward to a decent meal and Mrs Cooper’s were definitely something to look forward to.

“So how was your day?” Mr Cooper asked us all. We were sitting around the Cooper’s dining table enjoying Mrs Cooper’s stew by candle light.
“It was pretty crazy once the power went out.” Lincoln and I explained to the rest of them about the car crash we had witnessed earlier.
“Wow, wish I had walked home with you guys.” Max mumbled through his food. He was shovelling it into his mouth, barely stopping to breathe.
“Swallow before opening your mouth, Maxwell. No one wants to see your half digested food.” Mrs Cooper told him. Max stopped and swallow.
“Because of the power outage we couldn’t use half the [power tools at work today. We used the cordless ones until the batteries ran out. Then we had to do what we could with the old hammer and nails.” Mr Cooper told us about his unusual day at work. “People don’t realise how much a loss of power can affect people these days.”

Max and I thanked the Cooper’s for their hospitality and they leant us a torch so that we could see in the dark. Mr and Mrs Cooper offered to let us stay the night, I did have my own room at their house after all, but we declined. We did live right next door after all. Max and I made our way inside. Max headed straight to the kitchen.
“What are we going to do with all the stuff in the fridge?” Max asked. I hadn’t thought of that. With the power out the fridge wasn’t working. “I guess we’ll have to eat it all.” He said with mock disappointment. We looked at each other and dived for the freezer, racing to get to our favourite chocolate chip ice-cream.
“Share?” I asked.
“Alright,” Max grumbled pushing the tub of chocolate chip towards me. We sat on the cold, tiled floor until way past our bedtime eating all the food out of the fridge, the food worth eating that is.
“Well we had better go to bed,” said Max getting up off the kitchen floor. I must admit I was shocked. Then I realised this must be his attempt at showing me how responsible he was. I was really tired so I decided to just go along with it.
“Yeah it is getting late,” I agreed. We said our goodnights and closed our bedroom doors behind us. I slept easily, forgetting about all the drama of the day.

That was until the next morning. I awoke on time and stumbled downstairs to the kitchen, still in a sleepy daze. The TV wasn’t on so assumed the power still wasn’t working. I flipped a light switch. Nothing happened. The power was still off. I sighed and got a glass out of the cupboard. I headed for a nice glass of tap water. I always preferred water from the tap. I didn’t like cold water. I preferred it room temperature. I waited for the water to come flowing out of the tap. I stood there waiting for a minute or so before I realised nothing was happening. I had just woken up. It wasn’t one of my sharpest moments. I turned the tap off and on again. Still nothing.
“Andy!” Max called my name from upstairs. I realised what the problem must be. Max was standing in the doorway of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Let me guess; no water?” I looked at him questioningly.
“How’d you know?” he asked.
“It’s not working anywhere in the house.”
“Great,” Max sighed. “No power, no water, what’s next?” He headed down the hall to his bedroom.
“I’m going next door,” I announced. Max just nodded and closed his bedroom door behind him. I raced out the front steps, out the gate and across the front lawn. I was still in my favourite pyjamas, the bottoms were white with midnight blue and silver checks and the top was a midnight blue singlet. I didn’t care. What was the point of having super cute pyjama’s if no one saw them?

Lincoln answered the door. He was wearing black boxer shorts. I was distracted by his extremely toned body for just a moment. I still wasn’t entirely used to it. I shook myself.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” he greeted me sounding wide awake. “No water?” I shook my head.
“Can this get any worse? There is still no power and now the water is gone as well. What are we going to do, Linc?” I asked as we sat down in the living room.
“Do you have any water at home?” he asked me.
“We have a jug in the fridge, that’s it I think.” I thought about it.
“We have a few litres in the fridge. I always keep some for after football.” I nodded.
“Well that might last us a day,” I was deep in thought. “But the power has been off two days, and now the water is too. It doesn’t look like it will be getting fixed any time soon.”
“So we need to prepare for a few days. Just in case.” Lincoln seemed to be following my train of thought.
“Idea!” I exclaimed. “Get dressed. We’re going shopping!” Lincoln caught on immediately.
“On it,” he said racing up the stairs leaving me in the living room. I raced home to get changed.