Lightning in an Orange Crush

Marcus stood against the gym wall, nursing his flat orange soda like it was the only thing keeping him anchored. The winter formal thumped around him—couples grinding, bass shaking the floorboards, his best friend Devon doing something alarming that resembled dancing. Marcus gripped the cup tighter. Why had he agreed to this?

Then he saw her. Lena. The sphinx of junior year—mysterious, untouchable, leaning against the bleachers in that silver dress that made his stomach do actual gymnastics. She'd turned down three guys this week alone. Marcus was exactly zero guys' worth of confident.

"Dude, just talk to her," Devon shouted over the music, because Devon had zero survival instincts. "You're not gonna—"

"I'm absolutely not gonna do that," Marcus said. "Did you not see me faceplant in AP Bio yesterday? I can barely walk without embarrassing myself."

The overhead lights flickered. Once. Twice.

"That's weird," someone muttered.

Then—CRACK. Lightning struck the transformer outside. The gym plunged into darkness.

Chaos erupted. Phones lit up like fireflies. Marcus stumbled backward, straight into something solid. A very solid, very expensive-smelling something.

"Watch it, bull in a china shop," a voice said. Lena's voice.

His phone flashlight hit her face. She was grinning. Actually grinning, not that unreadable sphinx mask she always wore.

"Sorry," Marcus squeaked. "High-key panicking here."

"Me too." She slid down the wall to sit beside him. "These heels are torture. I've been plotting my escape for an hour."

"But you're... Lena. You're perfect at everything."

"Bull." She kicked off her heels. "I faked my way through cheer tryouts. I can't do math without crying. And this dress? It's my sister's. I'm literally drowning in sequenced regret."

Marcus snorted. "I faceplanted because I saw a really cute bird and got distracted."

She laughed—really laughed, head thrown back. The emergency lights flickered on, casting everything in orange glow. Not the romantic sunset kind. The safety hazard kind.

"Hey." Lena nudged him. "Wanna get out of here? There's a diner down the road. They have actual edible food."

Marcus's heart did something that probably wasn't medically advisable. "Low-key wanna? High-key wanna."

"Cool." She stood up and offered her hand. "I'm Lena, by the way. Actual human disaster."

"Marcus. Professional bird-watcher and certified klutz."

They pushed through the crowd toward the doors. Outside, the rain had stopped. The air smelled like ozone and wet asphalt and possibility.

"Hey Marcus?"

"Yeah?"

"Good thing you're a klutz. Otherwise I'd still be stuck by the bleachers pretending to have fun."

He grinned. Lightning flashed again, somewhere distant, less ominous now. More like applause.