Connection Issues

Maya's ethernet cable lay frayed across her bedroom floor like a dead snake, exactly how her mental state felt. Junior year was hitting different — AP classes, volleyball captain expectations, and her parents suddenly caring about her college application like it was their ticket to bragging rights at dinner parties.

"You need this," her mom said, dropping a bottle of gummy vitamins on her desk. "Your brain's literally starving right now."

"My brain's fine, Mom. It's overworked, not malnourished."

"Just take them. Please."

Maya rolled her eyes but pocketed a handful. The truth was, she'd been ghosting everyone. Her group chat had been blowing up all week about Sarah's birthday bonfire at the lake, and she just... couldn't. Not when everything felt like too much.

Her phone buzzed. *You coming tonight? It's not gonna be the same without you.*

She stared at the message, then at the busted cable. No internet meant no distraction. No escape into shows or TikTok or literally anything that wasn't her own spiraling thoughts.

"Fine," she whispered.

She grabbed her bike. The lake was twenty minutes away, and the October air hit her face like a wake-up call. When she arrived, the bonfire was crackling, people were laughing, and for a second, she considered turning back.

"Maya!" Sarah ran over, engulfing her in a hug that smelled like woodsmoke and strawberry shampoo. "I didn't think you'd come."

"Me neither," Maya admitted.

Someone started a race to the dock, and suddenly Maya was sprinting, laughing, shoving her friend Emma playfully. They hit the water fully clothed, the cold shocking her system awake. It was freezing and perfect and stupid, and when they surfaced, gasping and shivering, Maya realized she hadn't felt this present in months.

Later, wrapped in a blanket by the fire, she pulled those gummy vitamins from her pocket and tossed one to Emma.

"What is this?" Emma asked, squinting at the label.

"Brain food," Maya said. "I think I just remembered how to use mine."

The water lapped against the shore, and for the first time since school started, Maya didn't feel like she was drowning anymore.