Electric at the Pool

The papaya sangria was supposed to make me look sophisticated. That was the plan, at least. Standing there while Maya's older sister mixed fruit juice and sparkling water, pretending this was just another Friday night and not the first time I'd been invited to the 'cool kids' thing since I'd accidentally gotten popular.

"Here," Riley said, shoving a plastic cup toward me. His eyes were too bright. "It's weak. You'll be fine."

I took it. The cup was sweating in the humidity. Riley was my friend, or at least he had been before seventh period decided I was worth talking to. Now he looked at me like he was waiting for the punchline.

Outside, the pool water glittered with underwater lights. People were jumping in, clothes and all. Someone was playing throwback rap that everyone pretended to know but nobody actually remembered. I stood on the edge of everything, the papaya drink warm in my hand, feeling like I was underwater already.

Then I saw the cat. A scrawny tabby perched on the backyard fence, watching the chaos with judgment in its yellow eyes. It looked like how I felt — tiny, out of place, questioning every life choice that led to this moment.

"You gonna drink that or hold it all night?"

Maya. Of course. The new girl from Chicago with the leather jacket and the effortless hair. The one everyone said was dating Jake but nobody had actually seen them together.

"I—" I started, but then lightning cracked across the sky. Not real lightning — that would come later — but a flash of something behind my eyes. Because Maya wasn't looking at Jake. She was looking at me.

"Your cat," I blurted out. "Is it—"

"Stray," she said. "Shows up every time my parents are out of town. I call him Disaster." She grinned, and it was this crooked, real thing that made something in my chest rearrange itself. "Want to get out of here? There's a rooftop nearby where you can actually see the stars."

The papaya drink sat forgotten on a table. Later, actual rain would ruin the party. Later, Jake would try to push someone into the pool and slip himself. Later, Riley and I would have the kind of conversation that started with "since when are you too good for us" and ended with something closer to the truth.

But right now, lightning flashed again for real, and I followed Maya toward the door, and for the first time all night, I wasn't waiting for something to happen.

I was making it happen.