Lightning at the Pool

Maya's heart did that stupid flutter thing whenever Jake looked her way. Which was exactly why she was hiding behind the snack bar, pretending to be deeply fascinated by a bag of chips instead of joiningswimming like everyone else at Lucas's pool party.

"You're being such a creep," Chloe whispered, sliding up beside her. Chloe was her best friend and also the reason Maya was currently in spy mode. "I saw him checking you out earlier, by the way."

"Yeah right," Maya said, though her stomach did a little flip. "He was probably looking at the floating bear inflatable behind me."

The bear — Lucas's ridiculous birthday gift from his aunt — was currently drifting aimlessly with its googly eyes judging everyone's existence. Somaybe Chloe was right about Jake looking at something behind her. Or someone.

"Bro, just talk to him already," Chloe said, using her best attempt at Gen Z slang despite being terrible at it. "You're literally overthinking everything. It's giving anxiety."

Before Maya could respond with something witty like "your face is giving anxiety," the sky opened up. Not rain — lightning, actual forked electricity cracking across the sky like something out of a movie. Everyone screamed and scrambled toward the house.

Maya got separated from Chloe in chaos and ended up squeezed onto the covered porch with Jake himself. Wet bathing suits, zero personal space, his cologne mixing with chlorine smell.

"Crazy weather," he said, looking at her with actual eye contact.

"Yeah," she managed, proud of her functional communication skills. "I mean — for real. The weather went totally off the rails."

Jake laughed, and Maya felt like she'd just won something important.

"Hey," he said, "my cat escaped this morning. I've been looking everywhere. She's black with white paws like she's wearing socks. Have you seen her?"

Maya shook her head, but something clicked. The cat she'd seen earlier by the fence — black cat, white paws, watching the party like she owned the place.

"Actually," Maya said, feeling bold for the first time all day, "I think I did. Come on."

They found Jake's cat behind the garage, unimpressed by everything. When Jake scooped her up, he looked at Maya like she'd just saved his life.

"Thanks," he said. "Seriously. You're awesome."

The lightning flashed again, but this time Maya didn't flinch. Sometimes the universe had to literally shake things up to help you get out of your own head.