Nobody should leave the dining hall, stay together and stay calm. There's a small problem with the generator but don't panic. Drink your chocolate and If you're afraid , sing a hymn. The lights would be back soon.

        That was what Matron had been repeating for the past thirty minutes and yet still, nothing had changed. The lights hadn't come back and the rains hadn't stopped.

        The tall glasses of hot chocolate and freshly baked coconut biscuits we had been served with, were however an answer to a prayer.

        Power outages in Saint Margaret were a rare occurence but most girls weirdly didn't seem panicky or even bothered about the situation. Some just teased and laughed at the creepy silhouettes the lanterns scattered all over the dining hall were designing on the walls. Most were asleep. A few others just sipped their drinks quietly, lost in whatever imaginative worlds the outage had forced them to create.

        I had tried sleeping too, but all my attempts had yielded no results.

        "Ugh. I can't wait for the lights to come back so that I can take a hot bath and jump straight into bed," Sin-Jun said tiredly and rested her head on the table.

        Peggy gasped. She looked aghast, as if she were experiencing a sudden epileptic seizure. "Bath? You're planning on taking a shower?"

        Without raising her head, Sin-Jun nodded. "Mhm."

        "I truly admire your courage sweetheart," she shook her head robotically like a wound up toy. "Taking a shower in this weather? Hell no."

        Sin-Jun snickered.

       "What about you Claire? Are you gonna take a shower?" She rested her hand around my neck and squeezed my shoulder.

        "And what's that question supposed to mean?"

        "Oh don't try to act all miss-neat-freak Claire," she lowered her voice to half a whisper, "we both know that showering isn't exactly your best friend."
   
       "Just shut up Peggy," I was too tired to argue, not that I would have won if I had started an argument with her anyway. "Where's Emily?"

        "She's sitting right there, with Vivian." She motioned with her chin to the table in front of us. "Is your vision becoming impaired Claire?" She asked, her voice, one of mock concern.

        I heaved a sigh. "Can you for once in your life speak and act without being so dramatic?"

        "As a matter of fact," she paused and tickled my chin, "no."

        I gave up entirely and started humming.

        "Your roommate is really creepy," she said out of nowhere. "I mean, just look at her, she's basically a shadow of her own self."

        I shot a quick peek at Aspeth, sitting two seats away from Emily. She was the only one awake on that table, everyone else's head was down.

        "She's not creepy. She's just reserved."

        "Okay."

        That wasn't the response I had been expecting. "You're not going to argue or anything?"

        "Nope. She's your roommate and you probably know her best."

        Her reply was the most meaningful thing I'd heard her say all day and I almost gave her a standing ovation. "You sometimes surprise me you know that right?"

        "No I don't. However I do know that you love me." She sounded triumphant, like she had just won a case in court.

        "And what has that got to do with what we're discussing?"

        She knocked her head against mine. "To be frank with you Claire, I don't know and I don't really care." She yawned. "But you love me right?"

        I'd wanted to say no just to annoy her, but an argument was the least thing I needed for the head aching vibrations that had started running through my head.

        "Yeah, I do."

        "Aww, Claire!" She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me hard. "I love you too. I love you with all of my ass."

        "Aw--" I paused when I realized exactly what it was that she had said. "What?"

        Sin-Jun gave her a thumps up and started to laugh.

        "Mhm." She pecked my cheek. She seriously couldn't see the flaw in her statement. "I would have said heart but my ass is way bigger."

***

        The lights finally came back and all was well.

        The bathroom door clicked open and then Aspeth stepped in, her white towel draped over her shoulder.

        "Hey." I turned on the sink and started rinsing my toothbrush.

        "Hey Claire," she returned with a polite but warm smile.

        Through the mirror, I watched her walk to the cabinet to take out a bottle of aspirin.

        "Are you okay?" I turned around and rested my behind on the sink.

        She swallowed two pills and smiled. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Cramps." She winced.

        "Oh."

        A comfortable minute of silence passed before I spoke, "so, how was the talk show?"

        "A ten hour history lesson with Matron would have been way better. I'd wanted to sleep but there was this guy close to where I was seated." She gave a smile so soft that it made me want to kiss her chubby cheeks.

        Pleasantly surprised by Aspeth's sudden openness, I felt a rush of excitement run through my body.

        "Really? Was he cute?" I watched her body language. I couldn't really tell if I was imagining things but she seemed more spirited, more relaxed and her green eyes twinkled as she spoke.

        "Not really, okay maybe a little. I don't know." She whipped a strand of hair over her shoulder with some kind of swanky flourish.

        "Oh my gosh Aspeth, you were crushing on him!"

        Her face flushed, "no I wasn't."

        "Yes you were."

        "No."

        "Yes." I pulled out my tongue at her.

        "No."

        "No."

        "Yes."

        I flashed her a victorious smile. "Gotcha."

        She raised her hands in surrender and laughed, a laugh so sweet and genuine which for a millisecond, made me feel a stabbing spasm of shame for not even trying to get close to her before.

***

        It was more like a relief really, the shedding of a great burden. Having a normal conversation with Aspeth, I felt some kind of peace I'd never felt in our room before and it was refreshing-- like having a chilled glass of lemonade on a hot summer afternoon.

        "Okay your turn." I parted her hair into two and started brushing one side of it.

        "Truth or dare?" She asked, clutching her big green stuffed dinosaur to herself.

        "Truth."

        "Do you like Ellen?"

        "Ellen who? Ellen Bo--"

        "Our roommate."

         I carefully chose my words, "I neither like her nor resent her. I just see her conceited attitude as immature."

        Aspeth didn't say anything for a while and I started to feel uneasy, thinking that that my reply had somehow caused her to crawl back into her shell.

        "Me too," she finally said solemnly, rubbing a side of her arm. "She sometimes makes me feel angry towards my Parents for not having money."

        I was relieved that she hadn't lost her cheerful disposition. "Aw, don't say that." I poked her rib and she giggled. "We--"

        Our bulb suddenly started flickering.

        "Uh, not again." I grunted. "Why--"

        The light went off.

        "Oh for Christ's sa--" I stopped speaking and listened. "Can you hear that Aspeth?"

        "Yeah, someone..." she gasped. "Oh my God."