Storm Over The Hat

Marcus yanked his **hat** down, praying it would hide the very obvious fact that he was absolutely not supposed to be at Tyler's massive graduation party. His cousin's plus-one, technically, but that didn't stop the imposter syndrome from hitting hard.

"Yo! You want some **papaya**?" A girl with teal streaks in her hair held up fruit skewers like they were contraband. "My mom went full tropical aesthetic for this thing."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Marcus managed, immediately tripping over his own Converse. The **hat** tumbled off, rolling across the deck like a traitor.

The group nearby laughed—not mean, but Marcus's face burned hotter than the summer sun anyway.

Then Tyler's sister Maya appeared, shoving a weird-looking gummy **vitamin** at him from a bottle she'd snuck outside. "Dude, you need this more than the fruit. First-party anxiety hits different."

"What even—" Marcus popped it in his mouth because dignity was already gone.

"B-complex with stress adaptogens," Maya grinned. "Don't worry, I'm not poisoning you. Just helping you survive."

Suddenly, the sky turned that weird purple-green color that meant trouble. **Lightning** cracked directly overhead, making everyone jump.

"Everyone inside!" Tyler's mom yelled, and chaos erupted. Marcus got separated from Maya, shoved toward the sliding glass doors with the crowd.

He ended up squeezed onto the back porch with Teal-Hair Girl, watching **water** cascade off the roof in sheets.

"Crazy timing," she said, wiping rain from her face. "I'm Riley, by the way. You're the cousin who almost died over papaya."

"Marcus," he laughed. "And in my defense, your mom's fruit selection is aggressive."

"Next time," Riley bumped his shoulder, "skip the **hat**. You've got good hair."

Another **lightning** flash illuminated her smile, and Marcus thought maybe—just maybe—senior year wasn't going to be completely terrible after all.