Signal Found

Maya's cat, Pancake, decided THAT was the moment to knock over the full water glass. Directly onto her charging cable. Which was connected to her iPhone, currently at 4%.

"No no NO," Maya yelped, grabbing her phone as the screen flickered ominously. 12% flashed, then died. Black screen of doom.

Her phone—the lifeline, the portal to Leo's texts, the only thing keeping her from totally spiraling—was gone. And she was supposed to meet him at the coffee shop in *eight minutes*.

Okay. Breathe. She could still make this work. Maya threw on her beat-up Converse, grabbed her backpack, and started running. Literally running. Down the stairs, past her mom's confused "Honey?" and out into the humidity-thick afternoon.

Her phone was dead, but the cable might work at the coffee shop. IF she could borrow a charger there. IF Leo even showed up. IF this entire day wasn't cursed.

Why was she so nervous about hanging out with Leo? They'd been physics partners since September. But this felt different. This wasn't comparing lab results or complaining about Mr. Harrison's impossible pop quizzes. This was *hanging out.* On purpose. Outside of school.

The *what if* scenarios spiraled as her sneakers slapped against the sidewalk: What if they ran out of things to say? What if he realized she wasn't as cool as their lab banter suggested? What if—

"MAYA!"

She skidded to a halt. There he was. At a bus stop, holding a dripping convenience store bag, grinning like he'd just won something.

"I was running late, so I... kinda got you something?" He held up a bottle of her favorite sparkling water. "Also, my phone died, so I couldn't text you."

Maya laughed. Actually laughed. "Mine too. Cat knocked over water on my cable."

"For real? That's wild." Leo's eyes lit up. "Wanna walk to the shop together? We can charge our phones and make fun of my terrible timing."

"Yeah," she said, and something in her chest loosened. "Yeah, let's do that."

The phones stayed dead. They talked about everything and nothing until the streetlights flickered on, and somewhere between the dead batteries and the sparkly water, Maya found her signal.