He saw her. Well, he didn't really see her. But he knew she was there.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"The power went out, stupid," he replied, slowly making his way down the basement stairs. "What are you doing down here anyway? Getting something for that stupid garden of yours?"

"It's not stupid. It's art."

"Yeah. Sure. Remind me when some strategically planted daises started counting as art."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't expect you to understand." She slid down the wall she was leaning on, plopping down on the cold concrete. "I guess I'll just sit here till it comes back on. No use in going anywhere in a storm like this."

She managed to project her voice towards him in the darkness. The room was still. All that could be heard was the soft hum of the water heater and the rain drops beating against the back door.

"Sure. Go ahead. Make yourself at home. You've already invited yourself in. You know, you're lucky my Mom's so nice to you."

"Great lady. Further proves my point that you're adopted."

He dryly replied, "Haha, very funny. You, madam, are hilarious."

"Thank you."

He sat himself down against the bottom step of the stairs, presumably across from her.

"So…what are you looking for anyway?"

"Hmm. Just starting to make conversation, eh? Why do you care?"

"Curious, neighbor. You're stuck here. Might as well keep you company, as charming and helpful as I am."

"Hmph. Well…um…it's nothing."

"Well now I definitely know it's something." He gave a small laugh.

She shifted in her spot without a word.

"Come on, tell me."

"Yeah right, you'll laugh."

"Now, miss, when have I ever been known to laugh at you?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe since I was six and I moved next door? Remember that, genius?"

He cracked a smile that she couldn't see. "Yeah. I do."

They sat in a moment of silence.

"Well if you must know, I was looking for…um…some petunia seeds."

"Petunia seeds?"

"Yeah. Petunia seeds. I was just um…gonna make a…uh…a bigger arrangement. Not just stripes and hearts anymore. Like faces and pictures. You know like those arrangements at Disney World."

He was silent. Then, through stifled laughter, he said, "Wait, seriously? Wow this is a new level of weird, even for you!"

He burst into laughter and she crossed her arms.

"Look at you, Miss Garden Artist! Should we paint some spades on you and have you sing? That is some serious Alice and Wonderland shit right there!" He couldn't stop laughing.

She spoke up, "'Oh no I'm not gonna laugh'. You know what, if I could find your stupid face I'd slap you."

His laughter died down. He felt the silence thickening between them. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

"No you aren't." she rebuffed.

"What if I am?"

"You're not, because you hate me. And you always have," she said. "Since I moved in next door. I was six - a child - and you decided to make my life miserable from the first day we met. You really are something, you know? A total idiot. You take one look at the girl you'll be seeing every day for the next decade and you decide she's your mortal enemy. What did I ever do to you?"

There was a moment of silence as she ended her outburst and he held his head down, fiddling with his jacket zipper.

"You have no idea what you do to me," he muttered, barely audible.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"NOTHING," he says, exhasperated.

"Ugh. You really are unbelievable, you know."

"Hey it's not like you were ever Miss Sweetness!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" she said, her tone angry.

"You're a pain."

"You're crazy! I'm not the problem here, you are!" she yelled.

He inched closer to her, tugging at his hair in aggravation.

"You- you're just- so – so – FRUSTRATING!"

"Frustrating? FRUSTRATING? How the hell am I frustrating? I'm the one who has to defend myself every time you say a word to me."

"Yeah – well. You know what?" His voice softened. "Maybe that's just it!"

She was still seething and now confused. "What's it?"

"The words. I'm not good with the words." He sat back against the wall. "And you. You're just so – so – difficult. I can't talk to you. I've never been able to talk to you. Not when we were six and not now. I just…can't. And you have no idea how hard you make it. I see you and all I can do is act like an idiot. When all I really wanna say is that I think you're…amazing. Your passion and your spirit. The way you treat your little brother and my mom and the janitors at school. The way you quip back at me. The way your hair looks when it's tied up. The way you stick your tongue out when you're gardening. And your smile. Especially your smile. I loved it when you were missing baby teeth, I loved it when you had braces, and I love it now." He looked up, realizing that he had been rambling on. He shook his head. "But I can't say any of that when I see you. And I've hated myself for it for 11 damn years. I guess it took a power outage to tell you, because at least now I can't see you." He paused. "I'm sorry. I am so sorry. For all of it. Everything." He put his head in his hands. A minute went by.

Suddenly, he felt her knee on his outstretched leg. She was crawling toward him, slowly, shakily. She looked up suddenly and her face was a foot away from his. He could hear her breathing.

"What are you doing?" he asked, not moving.

"Just sit still," she said softly.

She tucked her legs beneath herself, sitting next to his left leg. She slowly reached out to hold his face in her hands. She brushed her fingers along his jaw. She was leaning in slowly. Both their hearts were beating fast, his chest rising and falling. As she got closer, they could feel each other's breath on their chins. They were inches away now. Seconds passed, but to them it felt like minutes or hours, or even days.

I can see his eyes, she thought. She couldn't actually see them, but she knew they were there, looking at her intently, big and crystal blue. Amazing.

They kept getting closer, until the tips of their noses barely brushed.

And it was in that exact moment that the power came back on.