Cable to Nowhere

The HDMI cable lay coiled like a dead snake on my floor—again. Third time this week.

"You look like a zombie," Maya said, not looking up from her phone as she sprawled across my bed. "Seriously, when's the last time slept?"

"Sleep is for people without AP Chem and track practice," I muttered, but she wasn't wrong. My eyes burned like I'd stared at the sun too long. Being sixteen felt like running a marathon where the finish line kept moving.

I grabbed my lucky cap from the nightstand—black with an embroidered lightning bolt, brim slightly bent because I'd been stressing it for three years. It was basically part of my personality at this point. Without it, I was just… nobody.

"You wearing THAT to Jordan's party?" Maya raised an eyebrow. "His friends are… you know. They dress like they have money."

Her words hit different because she wasn't wrong. Jordan's crowd was the kind that dropped hundreds on sneakers like it was nothing. My whole vibe was curated from thrift store finds and sheer determination.

"What, you think they'll sense my middle-classness through the fabric?" I shot back, but my stomach did that thing where it tried to crawl up my throat.

Maya sighed, finally meeting my eyes. "I'm just saying. Maybe try… fitting in? For once?"

The silence stretched between us, thick and awful. Because here's the thing—she wasn't trying to be mean. She genuinely thought she was helping. That was almost worse.

I looked at the cable still tangled on my floor. It connected me to Alex, who lived three states away. Alex got me in a way nobody here did. Alex knew I was gay before I did. Alex never asked why I wore the same hat every single day like it was armor against a world that felt too sharp, too bright, too demanding.

The cable wasn't just tech. It was my lifeline.

"Actually," I said, standing up and grabbing the cable, shoving it in my pocket. "I'm not going to Jordan's party."

Maya blinked. "What? But you've been talking about it for—"

"I'm staying in. Gaming with Alex. Maybe sleeping for twelve hours straight like a normal person." I adjusted my cap, feeling a little lighter already. "Society will survive without my presence for one night."

For a second, she looked surprised. Then she grinned. "You know what? Good. That party sounds basic anyway. Want me to stay? We can order pizza and roast everyone's Instagram stories."

And that's when it hit me—some connections don't need a cable at all.