Hair like Static Electricity
Maya stared at the bathroom mirror, her frizzy halo of hair defying gravity, humidity, and every expensive product she'd bribed her mom to buy. In forty-five minutes, Jake's party would start, and she looked like she'd stuck a fork in an electrical socket.
"You look like a zombie who hasn't discovered hair ties," her little brother called from the hallway.
"Shut up, Ben."
Her cat, Mochi, wound around her ankles, purring like a tiny motor. At least someone appreciated her.
Outside, lightning cracked the sky open—third time this week. Spring storms had been relentless, and something about the charged air made her skin buzz. Or maybe that was just the anxiety.
She'd been crushing on Jake since October, when he'd let her copy his history notes after she'd missed three days with the flu. Tonight felt like the moment. Either she'd make a move, or she'd spend summer regretting it like she regretted that bowl cut in seventh grade.
Her phone buzzed. Chen: u coming??
Maya: my hair is literally a science experiment
Chen: lol who cares jake won't notice
Maya: EASY FOR U TO SAY UR HAIR DOESN'T HAVE A PERSONALITY
She sighed, grabbed her denim jacket, and stuffed Mochi off her lap. The cat complained with a chirpy meow.
Another lightning flash illuminated her room—posters, half-finished art projects, the zombie movie marathon list she and Chen had made for Halloween. She'd been so obsessed with planning the perfect apocalypse survival strategy that she'd forgotten to plan her actual life.
Her hair frizzed bigger in the mirror. Whatever.
She grabbed a beanie from her floor—problem solved—and her phone pinged again.
Jake: hey, u coming? saved u some pizza
Maya's heart did this stupid little flip thing.
She grabbed her keys, Mochi trailing her to the door. Outside, rain sheeted down, silver and wild.
Her hair was a disaster. The forecast said storms all weekend. She was probably going to embarrass herself somehow.
But lightning kept striking the sky, and something about that kept feeling like a sign.
Some nights, you just had to walk into the storm.