Blackout

Grace, the narrator of the story, is sitting in a car on her way to a block party in Brooklyn. The driver is listening to a podcast about philosophy, which she asks him to turn down. She is focused on the texts she is receiving from her friend Lana, who is already at the party. Lana gives her regular updates about the whereabouts of Grace’s ex, Derrick, who is also at the party. Lana reports that Derrick’s new girlfriend, Trish, is also present.

The first-person narration shifts to the driver, Seymour. He cannot help but notice that his passenger, Grace, is a beautiful girl. While trying not to look at her, Seymour gets a call from his childhood best friend, Tommy, who asks if he wants to hang out later. Seymour declines the offer and lies about having to work. When he hangs up, he reflects on his increasingly distant relationship with Tommy, who went off to college while Seymour stayed home to help support his widowed mother. He focuses back on Grace, who tells him she is meeting her boyfriend at the block party. Noticing her accent, he learns that she is originally from Jamaica.

The first-person narration shifts back to Grace. Feeling guilty about making her driver turn down his podcast, she asks him about it. He tells her he finds philosophy fascinating. Grace learns that his father died two years ago, and that he took a job as a driver to help support his family. He tells her about his friend Tommy, and how they are not as close as they used to be.

The first-person narration shifts back to Seymour. Seymour is horrified when he realizes that he is out of gas. He pulls over and apologizes to Grace, who insists on walking the rest of the way to the party. Wanting to honor her ride, Seymour offers to walk her to Bed-Stuy, offering up some background information so she can rest assured that he will not harm her.

On the walk, she tells him about her ex, Derrick, and how they started dating right after she moved to America. After two years, Derrick was the one to break it off.

The first-person narration shifts back to Grace. Close to the party, Seymour tells Grace to practice what she will say to Derrick when she sees him. Gradually they stop role playing and engage in a genuine conversation, at the end of which Seymour suggests that he has enjoyed spending the evening with Grace. Soon after they come across a gas station, where Seymour buys a gallon of gas for his car.

The first-person narration shifts back to Seymour. When they get to the party, Grace turns to Seymour to say goodbye. Before he leaves, Seymour takes the plunge and asks Grace if she would be interested in going out sometime. Before she can answer, her friend Lana shows up and pulls her into the party.

The first-person narration shifts back to Grace. Grace feels uneasy letting Seymour go. When she eventually finds Derrick, she ditches her plan to cuss him out and engages in a polite conversation instead. When Trish shows up, Grace greets her warmly and leaves to find Lana. When she finds Lana, she tells her she wants to find Seymour before he leaves. The two scour the crowd and before long bump into Seymour, the gallon of gas still in hand. She tells him she has an answer to the question he proposed earlier, closing the space between them. The lights come back on suddenly, and everyone cheers.