Riddle in the Rain

Maya's palms were sweating — gross, actually sweating — as she clutched her iPhone like a lifeline. The party was already in full swing, bass thumping through someone's parents' expensive speakers, and she'd been standing in the same spot near the snack table for approximately seven years.

"You good?" Nisha appeared beside her, grabbing a handful of chips. "You look like you're solving a sphinx riddle or something."

Maya forced a laugh. "Just waiting for the right moment. To exist. Like, at all."

"Jordan's literally over there looking at you every five seconds," Nisha said, nodding toward the back patio where Jordan — Jordan with the perfect everything — was standing with their friends. "Make your move or I'm doing it for you."

Outside, the sky had gone that weird purple-gray color. Thunder rumbled, low and distant. The first drops of water started falling just as Maya's phone buzzed.

Jordan: hey

Maya nearly dropped her phone. Then replied with casual-cool perfection: hey

Jordan: wanna get out of here? the weather's kinda cool

Maya's heart did something genuinely gymnastic. She looked up to see Jordan actually walking toward her, and then — FLASH — lightning split the sky, illuminating everything in this stark, frozen moment like a camera flash from the universe.

"Come on," Jordan said, grabbing Maya's hand (her palm was definitely sweating now, whatever) and pulling her toward the door. "Let's watch it from the porch."

They sat on the porch swing as the storm proper hit — water sheeting down, thunder shaking the wooden planks beneath them. Jordan's phone lit up with texts but they ignored it, ignored everything except the way the lightning turned the rain silver for these perfect seconds, how the sphinx moth that had been clinging to the porch light finally took flight into the storm.

"You know what's crazy?" Jordan said, their knee pressing against Maya's. "I've been trying to talk to you all week but I kept chickening out."

Maya's phone buzzed again but she didn't check it. Some riddles answer themselves.

"Same," she said, and watched the lightning strike again, feeling absolutely electric.