Goldfish in the Dark

The power went out right as Maya was about to fake another laugh at Tyler's story. Perfect. She grabbed her beanie from the couch—her **hat** was basically a security blanket at parties—and tugged it low. The room went pitch black except for the **lightning** strobing through the windows, making everyone look like they were in a weird stop-motion movie.

"Someone check the breaker," Tyler said, and suddenly all eyes were on her. Because of course the tech nerd's kid would know what to do.

"I'll get it," she mumbled, feeling her way toward the basement door. Someone followed behind her. A hand grazed her arm.

"Need help?" It was Riley, the quiet skater girl who sat behind her in English. The one she'd been lowkey crushing on for months.

"Yeah, actually."

They navigated down the stairs using phone flashlights. The basement was way nicer than Maya expected—a whole setup with a gaming rig and a fish tank. The biggest **goldfish** she'd ever seen stared at them through the glass.

"That's Gary," Riley said, like it was totally normal. "He's my brother's. I feed him when they go out of town."

Maya knelt by the breaker panel while a massive **cable** snaked across the floor—Riley's setup for band practice, apparently. Found it. Tripped breaker. Easy fix.

"You're good at this," Riley said softly. The storm raged outside, but the basement felt cozy, private. Like being underwater—**swimming** through the quiet while chaos happened above.

"My dad's an electrician. I picked stuff up." Maya stood up, brushed dust off her jeans. "Should we go back up?"

"Or," Riley said, "we could stay down here for a bit. Gary seems cool with it."

Maya's heart did that thing where it forgot how to rhythm properly. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

They sat on the floor by the tank, watching Gary float lazily back and forth. The storm passed. The power came back on. They stayed anyway.

"You know," Riley said, "you're way more interesting than Tyler's stories."

Maya laughed—a real one this time. "That's a low bar, but I'll take it."

Upstairs, the party kept going without them. Down here, something real was starting. And for the first time all night, Maya didn't want to be anywhere else.