Charged

Maya's thumb hovered over the screen, heart doing that nervous flutter thing whenever Jackson's story appeared. Her iphone glowed with the familiar purple ring—meaning he'd posted something new, something only his close friends could see. She tapped, breath catching in her throat.

There he was. Jackson Torres. Looking stupidly perfect with that lopsided grin, holding what looked like a kitten. The caption read: "Found this little guy behind the bodega. Anyone want to adopt?"

Maya's own cat, Barnaby, chose that exact moment to leap onto her bed with maximum drama, knocking her phone askew. Because of course.

"You couldn't let me have my moment, could you?" Maya sighed, scratching behind Barnaby's ears as he purred like a tiny motor. He was fifteen pounds of orange fluff and zero respect for her social life.

Her phone battery showed 4%. Typical.

Maya reached for her charging cable, only to find it frayed at the end again—exposed wires making it completely useless. She'd been meaning to replace it for weeks, but somehow there was always something more important to spend her babysitting money on.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Without the constant feed of content, her room suddenly felt too quiet. No more scrolling through perfectly curated lives. No more checking if Jackson had viewed her story (he hadn't, obviously). Just her and Barnaby and the sudden uncomfortable awareness that she'd been staring at a screen for three hours instead of doing literally anything else.

A knock at her doorframe made her jump.

"Hey Maya, everything okay? I heard you talking to yourself." Her mom stood there, looking concerned.

"Yeah. My charging cable broke. Again."

Her mom's expression softened. "Honey, why don't you take a break from the phone? We're having dinner with the Torres family tonight—remember? Jackson's mom invited us over weeks ago."

Maya's stomach did that flip thing. "Wait, tonight?"

"In an hour. And maybe you could bring that kitten situation up? They've been looking for someone to take it."

Maya looked at Barnaby, then back at her dead phone screen. Real life was happening in an hour, and she'd almost missed it because she was too busy watching everyone else's fake version of it.

"Yeah," Maya said, actually smiling for the first time all day. "Yeah, I think I will."