Static in the Darkness

The bass thrummed through Maya's chest like a second heartbeat. House parties weren't really her scene—too many people, too much eye contact, way too many opportunities to say something weird and have it live on someone's Snapchat story forever.

She'd spent forty-five minutes psyching herself up in the bathroom mirror. "You've got this," she'd whispered. "Just be cool. Be chill. You got this."

Now she stood in Tyler's crowded living room, clutching a red solo cup like it was a lifeline, watching karaoke unfold in the corner. Some guy she didn't know was absolutely butchering a pop song. It was kind of iconic, actually.

Then came the flash outside—**lightning** splitting the sky, purple-white and instant. The whole house plunged into darkness.

"Whoa!" someone shouted. "Tyler, you forgot to pay the electric bill again?"

Laughter rippled through the room. Maya's phone showed 14% battery. Of course. She fumbled in her pocket for the charging **cable** she'd brought, feeling along the wall in the darkness for an outlet.

Her fingers brushed someone else's hand in the dark.

"Sorry!" she whispered, heart suddenly doing that thing where it forgot how to rhythm.

"No worries," a voice said. "That's my jacket you're groping, but I don't judge."

Maya froze. She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Jordan. The one who sat behind her in history. The one she'd been low-key crushing on since September. The one she'd spent countless group chat messages over-analyzing with her best friend.

The emergency flickered on—weak orange illumination that made everyone look like they were in a horror movie. Jordan was grinning at her, holding up a giant stuffed **bear**.

"Tyler's sister left this here," they said. "I feel like it's judging my karaoke performance."

Maya laughed before she could overthink it. "Honestly? Same."

"You're Maya, right? From history?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." Jordan sat down on the floor, patting the space beside them. "Wanna bear witness to whatever disaster happens next?"

As Maya sank down beside them, the bear wedged companionably between them, her phone finally charging, she realized something: sometimes the universe didn't give you perfect moments. Sometimes it gave you darkness, and bad karaoke, and someone who made awkward feel like exactly where you belonged.

The lights flickered back on. Neither of them moved.