Signal Lost in the Woods

Maya's dad dropped her off at Camp Pinecrest with the dreaded speech: 'No phones for a week, make real friends.' She clutched her iPhone like a lifeline, watching the bars fade to nothing. Great. Seven days without Instagram. She might actually die.

The camp counselor, Jake (a sophomore who somehow made tie-dye look cool), herded them toward the mess hall. 'First order of business: lunch. Then we're playing baseball.'

Maya sat across from Chloe, who seemed nice but kept looking at Maya strangely. Maya's stomach did that thing where it forgets how to function around potential new friends. She loaded her tray with what looked like pizza and—ew—steamed spinach. Camp food, right?

'Your phone,' Chloe whispered, pointing. 'It's still in your hand.'

Maya's face burned. She'd been gripping it like a security blanket. 'Force of habit.' She shoved it in her pocket, accidentally hitting her camera app. The flash went off in Chloe's face.

'SMOOTH,' someone said behind her. Maya turned to see a guy with the most ridiculous haircut she'd ever seen—like a bear had attacked his bangs. He was grinning like he'd just won the lottery. 'I'm Leo. That was artistry.'

'Laugh it up, bear-hair,' Maya muttered, but she was smiling.

The baseball game was a disaster. Maya hadn't played since fourth grade, where she'd been famously terrible. Leo, naturally, was on her team. 'I got you,' he promised, then promptly missed every ball she pitched.

'This is fine,' Chloe said from the sidelines, where she'd wisely chosen not to play. Maya kind of loved her.

That night, Maya's phone buzzed. One bar of signal. She scrambled to check it—her best friend had posted a photo of some party Maya was missing. FOMO hit her like a physical ache. She stared at the screen until the signal vanished again.

'Sucks, doesn't it?' Leo appeared beside her, weirdly silent for someone with feet that size. 'My parents sent me here to 'disconnect.' Meanwhile, my friends are probably doing cool stuff without me.'

Maya studied him in the moonlight. 'You're not as annoying as your hair suggests.'

'That's the nicest thing anyone's said all day.' He sat beside her. 'You know what's worse than missing out? Being somewhere amazing and not even seeing it because you're staring at a screen.'

Maya looked up at the stars—actually looked at them, no filter, no edit required. 'Since when are you wise, bear-hair?'

'Since I realized spinach tastes better when you're not texting while eating it.'

They sat there until counselor Jake made them go inside. And okay, maybe Maya didn't need her phone that much. Not when she had a bear-haired weirdo, a cool new friend, and a sky that didn't need any filters.

Her phone could wait. The real signal was right here.