Lightning in a Bottle

Maya dragged herself into third period like a zombie after staying up until 3 AM scrolling through Leo's Instagram. Again. Her palms were sweating so bad she could barely grip her phone. The countdown clock on her lock screen mocked her: 47 days until graduation, and she was still terrified to talk to him.

"Earth to Maya," Chloe whispered, flicking a piece of eraser at her. "You good? You look like you haven't slept in a week."

"Bull," Maya whispered back. "I'm totally fine. Just tired."

That's when the announcement came over the PA: "Attention students, due to the impending thunderstorm, all after-school activities are cancelled. Please head directly home at the final bell."

A massive grin spread across Maya's face. The regional track meet—that Leo would definitely be at—was postponed until tomorrow. Which meant she had another twenty-four hours to overthink everything.

By the time she reached the parking lot, the sky had turned that weird greenish-gray color that made everyone nervous. Lightning crackled across the clouds, bright purple veins threading through darkness. Most students sprinted to their cars, but Maya walked slowly toward the old oak tree where Leo stood alone, checking his phone.

Her heart hammered. This was it. The perfect excuse to talk to him—no, the perfect excuse to run away and hide in her room forever.

Leo looked up, rain already plastering his hair to his forehead. "Hey, you need a ride? My mom's got the SUV."

Maya's palms got even sweatier. She could say no, could keep being a coward, could go home and scroll through his posts for the forty-seventh night in a row.

"Actually," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "I was thinking we could maybe study for AP Bio tomorrow? At the library? Since we can't go to the meet?"

Leo's eyes widened. Then he smiled—actually smiled, not just politely nodded—and it was better than any filtered photo on Instagram.

"That would be sick," he said. "I mean, yeah. Definitely."

Lightning struck somewhere close, the thunder shaking the ground beneath their feet, but Maya barely noticed. She was too busy grinning like an idiot in the middle of a parking lot, finally feeling alive for the first time in months.