Static Charge

The braces were supposed to come off next month. That's what I told myself, staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror while picking pieces of spinach out of the wires with my tongue.

"You ready?" Marcus called from downstairs. He was my oldest friend, which meant he'd seen me through every awkward phase – the bowl cut, the neon obsession, now the metal mouth phase. He didn't judge. That was the problem.

"Yeah," I yelled back. "Let me just—"

A crack of thunder shook the house. I jumped.

"Dude, the forecast said clear skies all day," Marcus said when I came down. He was already by the door, holding his phone. "Kennedy's party is gonna be a wash."

Kennedy. The girl I'd been lowkey crushing on since seventh grade, when she beat everyone at dodgeball and didn't even gloat. Today was her sweet sixteen. Her parents had this ridiculous in-ground pool, and everyone who was anyone was going to be there swimming.

Or they were supposed to be.

"We should still go," I said, even though my stomach did that thing where it kind of folded in on itself. "Maybe it'll blow over."

Marcus gave me a look. "You hate swimming. You literally hate it."

"I don't hate it. I just—" I gestured at myself. "You know."

"The braces?" He shrugged. "Who cares?"

Easy for him to say. Marcus looked like he'd walked out of a TikTok trend without even trying. Meanwhile, I'd had the same haircut since I was twelve and my body had started doing puberty all wrong.

"We don't have to stay long," he said. "Just show face."

My phone buzzed. Kennedy: *party's still on! pool is heated 🏊‍♀️*

Marcus's Golden Retriever, Buster, chose that moment to sprint into the room, shake his entire body violently, and spray water all over both of us.

"BUSTER!" I yelled, but I was already laughing.

"Oh my god," Marcus said, wiping water from his face. "Did you leave the back door open again?"

"Me? You were the last one outside!"

We ended up going anyway, because that's what you do when you're fifteen and someone who might actually like you invited you to their party. The whole way there, I kept checking my teeth in the rearview mirror, making sure there was no spinach or anything stuck in the brackets.

We pulled up to Kennedy's house and the sky was this weird yellow-green color, the kind old people called "stormy" but what we all knew meant something was about to go down. Still, people were already in the pool. Kennedy waved at us from the water, and I felt like my chest was going to explode.

"You coming in?" she yelled.

I looked at Marcus. He was already taking off his shoes.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I'm—"

*FLASH.*

Lightning hit something in the distance – close enough that the sound arrived a split second later, a thunder crack that made everyone scream.

"OUT OF THE POOL!" Kennedy's dad yelled from the back door. "EVERYONE INSIDE!"

We all scrambled toward the house, grabbing towels, laughing and shoving and someone definitely knocked over a soda but nobody even cared. The power went out as soon as we got inside, plunging the whole house into darkness except for the storm flashing through the windows.

Someone's phone flashlight clicked on, then another, then a dozen until the whole living room was glowing with these weird ghostly beams. Kennedy found some candles in a drawer and lit them, and suddenly we were all sitting on the floor in this flickering golden light, the storm raging outside, and nobody was swimming anymore but nobody cared either.

"Truth or dare," someone said.

And it was cheesy, it was the kind of thing people only did in movies, but someone's phone started playing lo-fi beats and the candles made everyone look like they were in a music video and Kennedy looked at me across the circle and smiled and I forgot all about my braces.

"Truth," I said, when it was my turn.

"What's something you've never told anyone?" Kennedy asked, and the room got quiet.

I looked at Marcus, who was grinning like he knew something I didn't. Then I looked at Kennedy, and I thought about spinach stuck in braces and lightning strikes and dogs that shook water all over your favorite shirt, and I realized that none of it actually mattered.

"I hate swimming," I said. "I've been faking it this whole time."

Kennedy laughed. It was this real, unfiltered laugh that made her whole face light up.

"Same," she said. "I only have parties at the pool because my mom thinks it's 'wholesome.' I just wanted to hang out with you guys."

Outside, another flash of lightning lit up the whole room, bright and sudden and perfect, and I thought: some storms don't wreck things. Sometimes they just clear the air so you can finally see what's been there all along.