Storm Over Orange Street

Maya pressed her back against the lockers, basically channeling her inner spy. She'd been watching Kai from across the cafeteria for three weeks now, cataloging details like he was a case study instead of a sophomore with really nice hair. Today he'd worn that orange hoodie—the one that made his eyes look like gold coins in the sun.

"You're being creepy again," said Jules, appearing beside her with zero warning. Maya practically jumped out of her Vans.

"I'm not creeping, I'm observing. There's a difference."

"Same energy." Jules popped a spinach wrap in her mouth. "Tonight's the party. You gonna talk to him or just keep collecting data for your weird little crush dossier?"

Maya's stomach did this nervous flip-flop thing. Tonight. Ryan's party. The one everyone had been hyping since Monday. She'd spent two hours straightening her hair and three minutes picking an outfit before changing back into her first choice.

"I'll talk to him," Maya said, sounding way more confident than she felt. "If the opportunity naturally presents itself."

Lightning crackled across the sky as she walked to Ryan's house later, making everything glow strange purple-white. Perfect. The weather was matching her internal chaos. Inside, music thumped against the walls like a second heartbeat. She spotted Kai immediately—of course she did—near the snack table, holding a phone with a charging cable trailing behind him like a digital tail.

And then it happened. The universe, clearly bored with her caution, decided to speedrun her character arc. Kai looked up, caught her eye, and smiled. Actual smiled, with teeth and everything.

"Hey!" He wove through people toward her, and Maya's brain short-circuited. "You're in my bio class, right? You sit by the window?"

"Yeah," she managed, proud of the syllable. "That's me. Window girl."

Why. Why did she say that.

But Kai laughed. "I was gonna come over earlier, but you seemed deep in conversation with Jules. Plus, my phone was dying." He held up the cable. "Emergency charging situation."

They talked for twenty minutes about nothing and everything—bio homework, the weird cafeteria pizza, how Mr. Harrison grades like a robot. Maya felt electric, like she'd swallowed a lightning bolt whole.

"Can I get your Snapchat?" he asked, and her heart nearly exploded.

"Yeah! Definitely." She spelled it out, feeling like she'd won the lottery while simultaneously forgetting how to spell.

The next morning, she woke up to a notification: @kaimendoza added you back! Her phone died at 67% battery because she'd forgotten to plug in the cable overnight, and she didn't even care.

Jules sent a text: Well??

Maya grinned at her ceiling. We talked. I got his Snapchat. And I'm pretty sure spinach was stuck in my teeth the entire time.

LOL. Did he notice?

I don't think so. Or he's nice enough not to mention it.

Either way, Maya thought, walking to school with a spring in her step, observation period was over. Time to participate.