Electric Blue Summer

The pool water shimmered like liquid sapphire, but Maya couldn't appreciate it. Her iPhone clutched in her wet hand, screen cracked from where she'd dropped it earlier—right when Tyler had finally noticed her. Typical.

"You gonna swim or just stand there looking like a wet cat?" Jordan called from the diving board, doing his signature cannonball that somehow managed to soak everyone within a ten-foot radius.

Maya flipped him off. "Waiting for the lightning, genius."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, but nobody moved. This was The Party of the Summer, according to Jordan's five-part Instagram story. The one event that could make or break your social standing before junior year even started. The playlist blasted something bass-heavy that vibrated through the pool deck. Someone's older brother had bought alcohol—again, typical—and the air smelled like chlorine and cheap body spray.

Then Tyler materialized beside her, dripping wet, hair plastered to his forehead in a way that should've looked ridiculous but somehow didn't.

"Hey." He smiled, and Maya's stomach did that annoying flutter thing. "Your screen okay?"

"Bull, it's fine." She winced. Why did she say bull? Who said bull anymore?

Tyler laughed anyway. "Wanna get out of here? My cousin has this spot—"

LIGHTNING split the sky, a jagged white scar against purple clouds. The pool lights flickered. Someone screamed. The playlist died as the Bluetooth connection cut out.

Suddenly they were all running, grabbing towels and phones, scattering like startled fish. Maya grabbed Tyler's hand without thinking, and for one perfect second, he squeezed back.

They ended up on the covered porch, pressed together in the damp heat, watching the rain hammer the pool surface. Her iPhone buzzed—notifications, group chats, people posting about the storm.

She silenced it.

"So," Tyler said, close enough that she could smell chlorine and something like vanilla, "your cousin's spot?"

He smiled, slow and genuine. "Tomorrow. If the storm clears."

Maya watched the rain turn the pool into rippling gray glass, and thought maybe social standing could wait. Some things were bigger than Instagram stories. Some things were worth getting your phone cracked for.