Summer Lightning Strikes

Maya adjusted her bucket hat for the fiftieth time, checking her reflection in the bathroom mirror. The neon green brim cast a weird glow on her face. This was fine. This was totally fine.

Outside, Jordan's house party raged—her first real high school party, and she'd spent forty-five minutes hiding in the bathroom. Her phone buzzed. Group chat blowing up. Everyone posting stories. She'd taken exactly zero photos.

"You good in there?" a voice called.

Maya's stomach did that thing—like lightning struck her nervous system, bright and terrifying. It was Kai. The Kai. The one she'd been lowkey obsessing over since September.

She yanked the door open. "Yeah! Good! Just... you know."

Kai leaned against the doorframe, holding a papaya that looked suspiciously like it came from the fruit display meant for actual consumption. "Your mom dropped off more vitamins?" They nodded toward the bathroom counter where Maya had abandoned her supplements earlier.

"Oh my god, you saw that?" Maya groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I'm literally never showing my face again."

"Nah, it's kinda cute," Kai said, and then their eyes went wide like they hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Maya's heart hammered. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to stay invisible, observe from the edges, maybe post a single aesthetic story at midnight to prove she was there.

"Wanna help me raid the kitchen?" Kai asked. "I'm pretty sure Jordan's grandma made those brownies everyone's hyped about."

"Wait," Maya said, suddenly realizing. "Did you literally take that papaya just to talk to me?"

Kai's cheeks flushed. "Maybe."

The sky cracked outside—actual lightning this time, illuminating the backyard pool in strobe-light flashes. Rain started pelting the windows.

"We should go," Kai said, but they didn't move.

"Yeah," Maya agreed, but she stayed rooted too.

Her phone screen lit up with another notification. She ignored it. Some things were better than viral moments. Some things were just for her—hat hair, awkward vitamin conversations, a stolen papaya, and someone who maybe, just maybe, had been waiting for the bathroom too.