Green Between the Lightning

The pool party at Tyler's house was supposed to be Maya's chance. Finally, after months of lingering glances in AP Bio and awkward hallway near-misses, she'd have a real conversation with Alex. She'd spent two hours on her hair, three outfit changes, and exactly zero seconds remembering that spinach salad from lunch.

Now Alex was floating in the water, shirt clinging to actual abs that existed in real life, smiling at something Tyler said. Maya's iphone buzzed in her hand — her best friend Chloe demanding updates. Was she going to talk to him or just stand there holding her phone like a loser?

She stepped forward, heart doing that fluttery thing that felt nothing like bravery. "Hey Alex," she started, but then lightning cracked across the sky — not the pretty distant kind, but the BOOM-right-overhead kind that made everyone scream. Rain dumped from nowhere, drenching everything in seconds.

"Everyone inside!" Tyler's mom yelled from the back door.

The crowd pushed toward the house, all wet skin and damp clothes and chaos. Maya found herself running through the downpour, water streaming down her face, laughing despite herself. Alex was right there, shaking water from his hair like some rom-com lead. Their shoulders bumped.

"That was insane," he said, grinning.

Maya opened her mouth to respond, saw Alex's eyes flicker to her teeth, then widen. Oh god. The spinach. The literal greenleafy spinach from lunch, probably broadcasting itself like a flag of social suicide.

She kept running, straight to the bathroom, where she stared in the mirror and wanted to die. Actually die. Spinach. In her teeth. While talking to her crush. During a rainstorm like the universe was conspiring against her dignity.

"You okay in there?" Alex's voice through the door.

Maya spit the evidence into the sink, rinsed until her mouth tasted like minty nothing. Could she pretend she didn't exist? Could she climb out the window?

She opened the door. Alex stood there dripping wet, holding her iphone.

"You dropped this," he said, and then, "Also, I was going to tell you about the spinach, but then the storm hit and... honestly, it was kind of perfect timing."

Maya stared. Then she started laughing. Actually laughing, not the fake polite stuff.

"You're the worst," she said.

"I know," Alex said, and there was something in his face that looked like he might be interested anyway. "So about that biology project..."