My favorite red head.

Lightbulb

"10 seconds. Jacob shouted in the break room. Everyone rushed to finish what they were doing so they could watch the morning news.

Confession: The Action news is everyone's favorite time of the day. It's always like a breath of fresh air after dealing with idiots in traffic. Nina nodded.

Everyone sat in silence around the tv as Jim Gardner went on about the sweltering heat in Philadelphia.  Everyone laughed at the tv as a video of a small dog driving in a car came on.

Jacob complained about Melissa's branzino, and it's strong smell. "Don't touch it. I'm making it tonight at my cousin Annete's. She said, touching up her makeup. "She thinks she's the best cook in the family. I'm gonna show her, in a non-threatening way. I'm gonna look cuter than her too." She added smiling at Nina. "I'm sure you will, Mel." Nina smiled back at Melissa. "Don't go flirting with me." She replied, arching her eyebrow. Nina was about to reply, but Janine came in complaining about the lights.

"Guys, the lights in the hallway have been out for weeks, and we need to do something about it.  She said. "You know Melina from your class." She looked at Melissa. "She's scared to come to school, she said it looked like something from the shining. I don't even know how she gets that reference." Janine shook her head. "She loves The Shining." Melissa said. "It's a classic movie. Nina nodded.

"No guys this isn't ok. I already talked to Mr. Johnson and he said there wasn't anything he could do about it." Janine sighed. "What do you want us to do about it?"  Barbara questioned.  "Well, it can't be hard. All we would need to do is screw in some new lightbulbs." "Janine there's not really anything we can do. Do any of us look like electricians?" Nina cut her off. "I don't think you should worry so much about it. It'll only cause you stress." Nina said. "Exactly. The only thing we can do on a hot day like this is our jobs." Melissa agreed.

"I know that's right." Ava came in. "Why is it that February is hotter than the devil's booty hole." Ava asked." Jacob began talking about the effects of climate change but Ava made fun of him. Janine requested that Ava should send electricians to help with the lights.

"Girl no. Do i look like the Kool-Aid man? You know we don't have the funds for all that. They'll probably come in the summer." The bell rang. "In the summer?" Janine repeated. "Tough break." Melissa said before exiting.

Confession: "Janine always wants to do what's best for her kids, and i get that. But some things, we just can't control." Nina shook her head.

Nina was in her class, going over vowels when suddenly the lights cut off. It wasn't long before all her children began screaming. "Hey, everyone calm down. I'm sure it's nothing." She reassured.

Nina exited her classroom to find Janine standing on a ladder. "Janine, what now?" She said exasperated. "Can someone help me down?" Janine asked. "Yeah? And why would we do that when clearly you're the one that caused this mess?" Melissa replied. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect all the power to go out." Janine sighed. "Well, all the power isn't off. It's still on in some places and off in others." Barbara replied. "It's on in the Gym." Ms. Smith (random P.E. teacher) added.

Gregory came out. "Well, the best thing to do in these situations is to stay calm an-" Ava came running around the corner frantically. "Okay. This is it yall! The end times!" She yelled. "Gregory is the only one that can stay in my bunker, so stop asking." "Ouch." Nina responded.

Barbara explained to Ava that the power had just gone out. She directed all teachers without power to the gym until the problem had been solved. "Oh, I'm so sorry everyone. I thought if i could get up here, then we wouldn't have to wait and-" "Babe look where that landed us." Nina cut her off. Melissa couldn't stop the little pang of jealousy that struck her.