Flash in the Dark

Maya's face glowed in the darkness of her bedroom, illuminated only by her iPhone screen as she scrolled through photos from Jordan's party. Everyone looked so effortless, so perfect. She zoomed in on herself in the corner—awkward smile, hair frizzy, holding a plastic cup like it was alien technology.

"Delete," she whispered, thumb hovering. "Delete, delete, delete."

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she'd skipped dinner again. Her mom was on that health kick, insisting on spinach smoothies that tasted like lawn clippings blended with disappointment. Maya had pretended to drink hers, then poured it down the sink when no one was looking.

A notification popped up: *Jordan posted a new story.*

Maya clicked before she could stop herself. Jordan and the cool crowd, hanging at someone's basement, laughing, beautiful. No spinach-smoothie-colored skin in sight. Just golden hour perfection.

Outside, thunder cracked. Maya rushed to her window just as a jagged bolt of lightning splintered the sky, turning her whole neighborhood stark and strange for half a second. In that flash, she saw her reflection—pale, dark circles under her eyes, holding her phone like it was the only thing keeping her alive.

Maybe it was.

Another flash. This time she saw something else—her journal on her desk, open to a page filled with sketches. She'd forgotten she drew anything besides mindless doodles in math class. But there they were: detailed pencil drawings of hands, eyes, mouths. Expressions she'd captured without realizing.

Her phone buzzed again. Someone liked her story. Someone commented *"u okay?"*

Maya stood frozen as the lightning struck closer, the thunder shaking her window. In the strobe-light flashes, she looked at her drawings, then at her phone, then back at the drawings.

"Whatever," she said aloud, and for the first time in months, she meant it.

She turned off her phone, sat at her desk, and started drawing. The storm raged outside, but inside, something finally settled. Maybe tomorrow she'd even drink the stupid spinach smoothie. Or maybe she'd just draw it instead.