Surprised, she let herself in the front door, and flicked the switch for the hall light.
Nothing happened.
"HEY! Is anyone home? Why are the lights not working?" She wandered into the living room looking for her housemates.
"You don't have to yell, you know. And by the way genius, we are in the middle of a power failure. No power means no lights."
It was her older cousin, Lindsey, who was coming down the stairs in her pajamas.
"The power has been out for the past three hours."
"Oh, sorry Linds. It was just a little spooky walking into a dark house."
Both girls picked their way through the furniture and walked to the kitchen where they found two more of the girls who called this place home.
The youngest, Olivia, was making hot chocolate on the fireplace while Erika, Lindsey's best friend, was standing on the counter looking in the top cupboards for marshmallows.
"Be careful up there Erika. Remember what happened last time…"
The girl in question turned and nearly lost her balance as she tried to glare at Amanda.
"It's about time that you got back. And don't lecture me young lady. Just because I fall one time -"
"Twice!"
"One or two times," Erika stuck her tongue out at Liv for the interruption, "doesn't mean that it is going to happen again."
"Well, at least we'll be here this time, Klutz."
Amanda couldn't help but laugh at the memory of Erika lying on the floor with a broken ankle waiting for someone to come home and find her.
"Remember what she said when we got there? 'Help me! I've fallen and I can't get up!'"
The three girls all burst into gales of laughter as Erika, disgusted, climbed down from the counter.
"Okay, okay. I get the hint," she mumbled as she brushed off her clothes.
"So, Miss Amanda, where have you been? Hmmmm?" Erika tried to take the focus off of herself.
"You said that you would be home by five, and it's almost ten." She took a whiff of Amanda's clothes. "And you stink to high heaven and back. What were you doing?"
"Yeah," Liv butted in. "You said that you were going to meet that girl you were going to be tutoring. P.J. or something like that."
"Actually, it's B.J., B.J. Carter. And I was at her house this whole time. Her mom invited me to dinner and after we ate, her brother and some of his friends wanted to play basketball, and I played to even out the teams. Then I came home. Okay, Mom?"
Liv picked up on it. "Her brother and his friends? How old are they? Are they cute?"
Laughing, Amanda said, "Her brother is older and I think that his friends are older that what he is. They were pretty cute."
As the girls pressed Amanda for details, the lights suddenly cam back on as power was restored. The girls raced around the house turning off lights and radios.
Amanda took advantage of the distraction, said her good nights, and went up to bed.
As she brushed her teeth, she looked into the mirror.
I had a really great time tonight at the Carter's. Taking this tutoring job was one of the better decisions that I have made. I know I will see Nick again, but I hope that the others come over when I am there again.
She climbed into bed and set her alarm. She quickly fell asleep and dreamt of a basketball game with three incredibly cute guys.
The next morning came too early for all the girls. Amanda was the first one up and made herself a quick breakfast, then jumped in the shower.
She could hear Liv's radio playing as she got out of the shower and dried off. "Quit Playin' Games With My Heart" by the Backstreet Boys was playing as Amanda got dressed and gathered her materials for her presentation that morning.
She smiled and walked out of the house.
[ chapter 07 ]
