Neon Fox in the Storm

Maya stood outside the house party gripping her orange soda like it was a lifeline. The bass thumped through the door like a second heartbeat. Inside, everyone was probably doing cool things. Making out. Doing shots. Being actual teenagers instead of someone who'd spent the last three weeks watching coming-of-age movies like research papers.

"You gonna stand there all night or what?"

She jumped. A guy leaned against the porch railing, navy hoodie pulled up. Fox. That's what everyone called him, because he was apparently too mysterious for his actual name.

"Just... vibing," Maya said, which was absolutely not what she was doing.

"Vibing in the rain?" Fox gestured at the sky, where lightning spiderwebbed across the clouds. "That's intense."

"I like intense."

"Sure." He pulled something from his pocket — a generic bottle of vitamin C supplements. "Want one? My mom says I need immune support before parties."

Maya laughed. "Your mom knows you go to parties?"

"She thinks I'm at Jordan's house studying." He shook two pills into his palm. "Want? I swear it's not drugs. Probably."

She took one. They stood there in the misty drizzle while the party raged inside, two people who'd rather be anywhere else. The lightning flashed again, closer this time. A rumble of thunder shook the porch.

"I hate parties," Fox said suddenly. "Everyone pretending to be having the best time ever. It's exhausting."

Maya looked at him, really looked at him. Not as Fox, the guy everyone thought was so mysterious and cool. Just a guy standing in his navy hoodie taking vitamins his mom gave him.

"Same," she said. "I don't even like orange soda. I just bought it because it looked like what teenagers drink."

"We're terrible at this," Fox said, but he was smiling.

"Yeah." Maya swallowed her vitamin pill without water. "Yeah, we are."

The storm broke then, rain pouring down in sheets. They didn't run inside. They just stood there, soaked through, laughing at nothing while the party played on without them.