Electric Friday Night

Maya stood outside Jessica's house, heart hammering like crazy. Her first real party. The invite had said "wear something cute," so she'd spent forty minutes on her eyeliner, but now? Now she felt like a total poser. A loser who didn't belong.

Inside, bass thumped against the walls. Through the window, she could see the glow of purple string lights and people dancing. Real people. Cool people.

Her phone buzzed. *You coming in or what?*

Maya took a breath and pushed the door open. The kitchen was packed. There was Jessica—perfect, popular Jessica—laughing with some juniors by the island counter. Next to a giant bowl of papaya. Whatever.

"Maya!" Jessica spotted her. "You made it!"

Maya forced a smile. "Yeah, hey."

"You have to meet Tony's cat," Jessica said, grabbing her arm. "He's literally the most drama queen thing ever."

They pushed through the crowd to the living room, where a fluffy orange cat sat on the back of the sofa, looking entirely unimpressed with everyone.

"His name is Nacho," Tony said. "He's basically the only one here with any emotional intelligence."

Maya cracked a real smile. "Same, Nacho. Same."

Then something splashed. A goldfish bowl tipped over on a side table, water and fish sloshing onto the carpet.

"Oh my GOD," someone shrieked.

Chaos. People scrambling. Paper towels flying.

And then—outside, the sky lit up. Lightning forked across the windows, followed instantly by thunder that rattled the whole house. The power died. Pitch black.

"Everyone stay calm," Tony's voice cut through the noise. "I've got flashlights in the—"

"BEAR!" someone screamed.

"What?"

"There's literally a bear outside! I saw it through the patio door!"

Maya's heart stopped. A bear?

Someone shone a flashlight toward the glass doors. There, framed in the lightning's flash, was a massive dark shape moving along the deck.

"Oh my god," Maya whispered. "That's a bear?"

"It's my neighbor's dog," Tony said, sounding exhausted. "That's Bear. He's a Golden Retriever."

Silence. Then everyone lost it.

Maya found herself laughing so hard her sides hurt. The absurdity of it all—the papaya, the cat judging everyone, the goldfish disaster, the "bear" that was just a very confused dog.

Jessica flopped down next to her on the sofa. "So," she said, grinning. "You officially survived the most unhinged party ever."

Maya looked around. In the flashlight glow, faces she'd been intimidated by all week just looked like people. Scared, awkward, laughing people.

"Yeah," Maya said. "I guess I did."

And somehow, in the dark with Nacho the cat and a rescued goldfish and a dog named Bear, she finally felt like she belonged.