“If you’d stop rambling for just a few seconds, I’d tell you I keep them in the cupboard downstairs,” Nick stated. He seemed calm, but inside, he was furious. He was trying to finish something so he could go to sleep, but she kept coming in complaining about something new. “Besides, it doesn’t matter if the power goes out because it’s one o’clock in the morning, and it’s time to go to sleep!”
She watched him for a few moments before touching his shoulder. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go down and get them!” she ordered.
“Wait a second, who’s the one who wants candles in the first place? Not me!” he said. “Go down and get them, yourself. I’m not your personal servant, you know.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it and stormed downstairs.
After they cleaned the refrigerator, Michelle had gone back to being her usual, bitchy self, and Nick couldn’t stand it. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Maybe that was her defense mechanism. She didn’t like letting people in, and to avoid having that happen, she wouldn’t let them let her in. Of course they weren’t going to want to be friends with her if she acted like that. Maybe he just had to get to know her. That was going to be his new goal for while she was living with him. A bitter snicker escaped his lips. Like he was ever gonna achieve that one.
“What’s so funny?” she muttered as she came back upstairs.
“Nothing, never mind,” he stated.
“Whatever. I’m going to my room,” she groaned, setting a candle down on his desk and softening slightly. “Here’s a candle if you need one.”
He couldn’t conceal his surprise that she had actually been nice. “Wow, did you hurt yourself?” he almost said, but he choked it back, realizing that wasn’t going to help him get through to her.
After she left, he finally was able to finish the drawing he’d been working on. He looked carefully at it and frowned. How had he managed to draw a picture of a girl that looked so much like her? The mouth was the same, and so was the nose and the hair. The eyes were different, and the girl in the picture had a more mature figure, but it still reminded him too much of Michelle. He crumpled it up and threw it in the garbage before crawling into bed and dozing off. Just as he was beginning to dream, he was awakened by a tap on the door, then the creaking as it opened. “Nick?”
He took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. “Yes, Michelle?” he said through clenched teeth.
“Sorry to wake you up, but the lights went out, and there’s thunder and lightning. I really don’t like thunderstorms.” Her voice was childish, needy, and he almost felt bad.
He could tell she had too much pride to say she was scared, so he rescued her. “Do you want to stay in here tonight?” he asked.
“Would you mind?”
“No, of course not. I’m in my boxers again, though.”
She giggled. “I guess I can deal with that. Thanks.”
He pulled back the covers and allowed her to slide into bed next to him. He reached out to hold her, but she shrunk back. “No funny business, buddy.”
“Okay, relax. I just thought maybe you’d want – ”
“Sorry. I’m a little tense.”
“I can tell,” he said. “Good night, Michelle.”
“Good night,” she replied.