Lightning at the Pool Party

The chlorine smell hit Maya before she even saw the water. Great. Another Friday night at Jessica's pool party, exactly where she didn't want to be.

She clutched her iPhone like a lifeline, doom-scrolling through Instagram while other girls splashed and laughed. Maya wasn't a pool person. She wasn't really a people person lately, not since middle school friend groups had reshuffled like deck chairs on the Titanic.

"Maya! Get in here!" Jessica yelled, doing an elaborate cannonball that sent water cascading over the concrete.

"Maybe later," Maya mumbled, though later would never come.

She'd barely touched the veggie wrap her mom insisted she bring—something about being a "good hostess gift"—when Connor, the cute lacrosse player, suddenly appeared beside her.

"Hey," he said. "You okay? You look... thoughtful."

THOUGHTFUL. The word hit her like physical force. Translation: you look weird and antisocial.

"Yeah, just—"

Then she saw it. In the reflection of her darkened iPhone screen. A massive piece of spinach wedged between her front teeth like a green disaster monument.

Every rom-com ever made flashed through her brain in that instant. This was it. The moment that would live in infidelity. Tomorrow at school, everyone would know. Spinach Girl. The girl who talked to Connor with spinach in her teeth.

The first lightning crack illuminated the pool just as someone screamed, "STORM!"

Chaos. Girls scrambling for towels, boys doing one last dive, parents herding everyone inside like nervous sheep. Maya found herself pressed against the glass doors, shoulder to shoulder with Connor, as thunder rattled the house.

"That was crazy," he laughed, shaking water from his hair. Some droplets landed on her arm.

She couldn't speak. The spinach still held hostage in her smile.

"You have something—" Connor reached toward her face.

Maya's heart stopped.

"—right there." His finger brushed her tooth, dislodging the spinach. "There. Got it."

He didn't make it weird. He didn't even laugh.

"Thanks," she whispered, face burning.

"No problem. You know," he said, looking at her with those annoyingly perfect brown eyes, "I was gonna come talk to you anyway. You always have the best music recommendations on your Insta stories."

The storm outside suddenly seemed very far away.

"Really?"

"Yeah. So... what are you listening to lately?"

Maybe sometimes you just have to bear the awkward moments to get to the good ones. Lightning does strike twice. Or at least, it can.