Static in the Air

Maya's older brother's apartment smelled like stale chips and freedom. Her parents were out of town, leaving her with strict instructions: nothing fun, nothing dangerous. Basically, exist in suspended animation until they returned.

She'd already organized the spice rack alphabetically. Now she stood before the fruit bowl, staring at a weird, alien-looking thing. A papaya. Who even ate papaya? TikTok said it was a superfood. Maya hated that she'd actually googled it at 2 AM.

The vitamin gummies she'd brought sat on the counter—a pathetic attempt to convince herself she was being responsible while her brother lived his best life at Coachella. She should be at Chloe's party right now. Instead, she'd chickened out with some lame excuse about "family stuff."

Thunder rattled the windows. A storm was rolling in.

The TV flickered—cable cutting in and out like a nervous laugh. Perfect. She reached for the remote, but a massive lightning flash illuminated everything in stark white, and the apartment went dark.

"Seriously?" Maya groaned, fumbling for her phone. Another lightning strike—closer this time—and she jumped.

Her phone buzzed. Unknown number.

hey this is leo from chem. u at chloe's?

Maya's stomach did that weird thing it did when she caught him looking at her during lab experiments. She'd been crushing on him since October, convinced he didn't know she existed.

no. had to watch my brother's place. u?

same. party's wack anyway.

They texted through the storm. Lightning crashed, but Maya didn't jump. She learned Leo liked papaya (weird, but okay). He learned she secretly loved sci-fi.

The power flickered back on at 11:47.

want me to come over? we could watch something. i have netflix.

Maya looked at the papaya, the vitamin gummies, the suddenly-not-boring apartment.

yeah. but im picking the movie.

She didn't need any party. Sometimes the best moments happened when the lights went out.