Static Electricity Summer

The pool party was already midway through catastrophe when Maya arrived. Her new bikini—the one she'd spent forty-five minutes agonizing over in front of the mirror—felt suddenly ridiculous. Everyone else was in oversized t-shirts and athletic shorts, doing that effortless cool thing that never came naturally to her.

She clutched her iPhone like a lifeline, thumb hovering over her mom's number. *Just say you got sick. Just say you got sick.*

Then she heard it—a frantic splash followed by someone screaming "OH MY GOD, CHOCOLATE THUNDER!"

Maya's heart dropped. Chocolate Thunder was Mrs. Henderson's ancient golden retriever, who'd been peacefully sleeping under the patio umbrella approximately thirty seconds ago.

The dog was paddling in the deep end, looking equal parts betrayed and determined to reach the other side. A crowd had gathered, phones out, recording this disaster for posterity. Someone was definitely going to TikTok this.

That's when the first fat raindrop hit Maya's shoulder.

"Guys, we should probably—"

*CRACK.*

Lightning splintered the sky, illuminating everything in harsh white-blue: the sparkling pool, Chocolate Thunder's confused doggy-paddle, the teenage faces turned upward in shock. The thunder arrived on its heels, shaking the concrete under Maya's flip-flops.

The spell broke. Everyone scrambled toward the covered porch, laughing and shrieking, suddenly united in their ridiculousness. The social hierarchy dissolved into chaos as someone grabbed Chocolate Thunder (still dripping wet, very offended about it) and someone else started playing "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons on their portable speaker because of course they did.

Maya stood frozen for a second, her thumb finally lifting from her iPhone screen. She could still call her mom. Still escape before anything could get more awkward.

"Hey!" It was Jordan, the one whose house this was, waving from the porch. "You coming? We're ordering pizza and my dad says we can build a blanket fort in the basement since the cable's out!"

Maya looked at her phone, then at the porch full of laughing, wet, uncool teenagers. At Chocolate Thunder shaking pool water onto everyone's legs. At Jordan, who definitely hadn't noticed her agonized bikini decision and was now just gesturing like the porch wasn't already too full.

She slipped her iPhone into her beach bag and started jogging toward the house.

"Yeah," Maya called back, and realized she actually meant it. "I'm coming."