Blackout

The narrator of this story, Nella, is stomping out a fire when a girl walks into the Althea House senior center with her dog. Nella does not realize she is ogling the girl, Joss, until her buzzing phone jolts her back to reality. Mimi, the director of enrichment, announces to the seniors that the card game that sparked a fire is over.

Joss introduces herself and her dog, Ziggy, to Nella and tells her that her Grandpop Ike is her favorite resident. Nella realizes that Joss has lived up to her Grandpop’s description of Joss as pretty, sweet, and smart. Joss is the reason Nella avoids visiting him on Tuesdays, for fear of falling in love with another girl only to get rejected.

Nella flops onto the couch and listens as some of the seniors argue with one another; many of them have been cranky ever since the power went out. Nella explains to Joss that the seniors were playing cards in a room full of candles when things got heated and someone threw their cards, which caught on fire.

The group moves into the living room, where Joss begins playing piano. As she plays, Nella gets another text from Bree, who has heard about the blackout in the city. Nella responds quickly, not wanting to think about Bree. She gets another text from Twig, her cousin, asking her to pick up some cups for his party later.

Watching Joss play, Pop tells Nella that he met her Grandma Zora during the 1977 blackout. At Joss’s request, he tells the story of how he met Zora when she first moved into an apartment building where he was the super. When Pop reaches into his pocket to retrieve a photo of Zora, he realizes that it is missing. When he makes to go look for it, Nella offers to look for it. At Pop’s suggestion, Joss joins Nella in the search. As they look through Pop’s room for the photo, Nella and Joss get to know one another, though Nella is self-conscious and nervous. When Joss finds a photo of Nella’s mother, she comments that both she and Nella are gorgeous. As they continue to search, Nella tells Joss about Bree, her straight best friend spending the summer in Haiti whom she is also in love with. Joss assures Nella that she is beautiful, and anyone would be lucky to be with her, but Nella has a hard time taking the compliment to heart.

When Joss brings up her non-binary ex, Nella asks if she always knew that she was queer, to which Joss responds that she did not know prior to being with Taylor. The two get so deep into conversation that they forget they are supposed to be looking for the photo.

Back downstairs with the seniors, Joss asks Pop for his wallet, thinking that Ziggy might be able to recognize the scent to help track down the photo. After sniffing the photo, Ziggy leads the girls through the sliding glass doors and out to a small balcony at the back of the house. Nella tells Joss about how her grandparents walked across Manhattan during the 1977 blackout, eventually getting ice cream together and falling in love. In the middle of the story, Nella gets another text from Bree, who wants to talk on the phone. Nella declines the request and tells Bree she broke her heart by rejecting her. Noticing she is upset, Joss offers to give Nella a hug.

When they continue their search, Nella tells Joss she does not need to stick around, still clinging to her assumption that she must seem pathetic and helpless. Joss assures Nella that she is not pathetic, but rather vulnerable and kind. Joss continues to shower Nella with compliments, making it clear that she is interested in her romantically. Deciding to be brave, Nella steps forward and kisses Joss. After the kiss, Nella is surprised to find Pop standing in the doorway, who came up to see if they wanted pizza. When Joss hands him back his wallet to pay for the pizza, the girls are shocked when Pop pulls out the photo of Zora they have been looking for all day.

Back downstairs, everyone is smiling at the girls. Nella invites Joss to Twig’s party in Brooklyn. Hearing the invitation, the owner of the house tells the girls she will give them a ride to the party.