"No really. Hold it still."
Adrienne shifted her weight on to her other leg and steadied the flashlight in her hand as her and Nick knelt in front of the breaker box. Nick poked and pried at the fuses inside the box with a screw driver before retreating to using his finger.
"You're only gonna electrocute yourself that way."
Nick sighed. "Will you just hold the flashlight steady?" Adrienne's face was cast in a soft shadow, barely visible from the light the flashlight gave off. But he could still make out the scowl her lips were curled into as she jerked the flashlight back up to the breaker box.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you."
"Listen, being this is my house, I'm pretty confident that I would be the one out of us to know how things work here. And I'll touch it if I want." To prove his point, he grabbed on to the tiny fuse and pulled. "Shit!"
"Told you." she chuckled, as Nick shakily sat upright.
He just glared at her, holding the hand the electrical currents had traveled through.
Adrienne just shook her head and shined the flashlight back at the fuse box. "Well, you had to go and do that. Now you've eliminated any chance of having some electricity tonight." She sighed and slammed the fuse box shut. "I hope you're satisfied."
"Oh shut up." Nick sneered, stumbling to his feet.
She growled in frustration and sat back against the edge of the couch. "This is insane." She closed her eyes and rested her head against the cushioning the couch provided. The wind still howled outside and the rain still pounded with a vengeance on the roof top. She tensed when a roar of thunder shook the house on its foundation. Her eyes flew open and she frantically searched the room. "What's that?" A form standing upright in the corridor. Not Nick. More of a feminine form. Small. Fragile. "Mom?" A flash of lightning illuminated the entire room. Adrienne cast a glance back up at the corridor. Nothing. She shuddered and scanned the room once more. "Nick?" Her voice cracked as she called, and she cleared her throat.
A muffled reply from the kitchen called back and a moment later the beam of a flashlight could be seen bouncing towards her. Nick flopped into the loveseat and shut off the flashlight before placing it in front of him on the coffee table. Adrienne quickly snatched it up from the table and turned it back on. Slowly, she traced the room with the beam of light which shone from the tiny object she held fast in her hands. "No shadows......."
"Turn it off. You'll wear the battery down."
She turned and shone the beam of light on to Nick, who sat picking at something that rested on a plate between his legs. "Practice what you preach." she spat, hoisting her body up on to the couch. "I'm sure your mother is going to be so pleased when she finds out exactly why she couldn't get a hold of you earlier."
"I should have never told her." Nick grumbled to himself, not looking up from his plate. "Just turn it off so we can have some light later."
Adrienne paid no attention to his direction and shone the flashlight downwards at his plate. "What are you eating?"
"Some pizza I found in the refrigerator."
"You're eating cold pizza?"
"Yeppers."
Adrienne gagged. "Not only does the guy not have enough sense to not stick his finger into the middle of an active electrical charge, but he insists on giving himself ptomaine poisoning." She tilted the beam up towards his face. "How can you stand to choke that down cold?!"
He gulped down a mouthful of pizza before he answered. "How else am I supposed to heat it without electricity?"
"Oh, I dunno. Maybe you could make like a Boy Scout and break the legs off your kitchen table to rub together for a fire."
Nick took another bite of his pizza. "Mmmm, funny." Chewing slowly, he swiped his sleeve across his chin to remove the thin strings of cheesy goo which hung from his mouth. He gulped loudly, just to agitate Adrienne more than she already was. "Want me to get you a piece?"
She just lay back on the couch and said nothing.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself. I'm gonna go grab some milk to swallow this down with."
Adrienne lifted her head from the throw pillow it rested upon and watched as his shadowy form disappeared around the wall. Inhaling deeply, she buried her head underneath the pillow, drowning out the rumble of thunder and the pounding of rain on the roof. "I don't know if it was the electrical shock his body recieved earlier, but I don't understand that boy." She sighed as she rolled over, her body facing the couch. "And there's no way he's gonna get this girl to try and choke down a plate of cold pizza."
