Static in the Storm

Maya's phone had been fighting a losing battle all night. The charging cable was frayed at the edges, barely holding on—kind of like her social battery. She'd only come to Jake's party because Chloe had sworn it would be "lowkey," whatever that meant anymore. The bass from someone's Bluetooth speaker thudded against her ribs.

"You good?" A voice beside her. Lucas. The guy from AP Bio who sat three rows back and always smelled like spearmint.

Maya held up her phone. "Battle with the cable. Not winning."

He laughed, and it was actually nice—not performative like the other laughs echoing through the house. "There's a spot by the window. Works. I've been charging there for like twenty minutes."

She followed him, and that's when she noticed it through the glass: the storm rolling in, sheets of rain slashing through darkness. Then lightning—a jagged scar across the sky, sudden and brilliant.

"Whoa," she said.

"Yeah, my little sister's terrified of storms." Lucas leaned against the wall. "What about you? Scared of anything?"

Maya thought about it. How she was scared of never quite fitting in, of conversations that stalled out, of the way her hands sometimes didn't know what to do at parties. But instead she said, "People knowing what I'm thinking."

"That's funny," he said, and it wasn't mean. "Because I feel like most people don't think at all."

She laughed, genuinely. The lights flickered.

"Power's probably gonna go," he said. "Jake's parents just had the electrical panel replaced, but it's still janky. You want to watch for lightning? The show's better from upstairs."

They ended up on the roofed balcony, watching the storm. Water drummed against the roof, steady and loud. When lightning flashed again, illuminating his profile in that split second of brightness, Maya realized she wasn't anxious anymore.

"Your cable's probably dead," Lucas said suddenly.

She checked her phone—3%. "Yeah. Whatever. I'll charge it at home."

"I mean, you could come back next week. Jake's having people over again. I'll, uh, save you a charging spot."

Maya smiled. For the first time all night, she didn't feel like she was performing anything. The storm outside felt exactly right. "Yeah. Okay. Save me a spot."