Summer Static

The pool party at Jayden's house was supposed to be legendary, but I was stuck doing what I do best: overthinking everything in the corner while everyone else actually lived their best lives.

"You're not gonna believe this," Harper whispered, sliding up beside me like the actual fox she was. "Tyler's here. And he keeps looking at you."

I rolled my eyes so hard it probably hurt. "Right. And I'm secretly a mermaid."

Harper punched my arm. "I'm serious! He's by the diving board. Go talk to him."

Tyler. The guy who'd been in my AP Bio class all year, the one whose smile made my brain do that weird static thing. The one I'd been lowkey obsessed with since September but had never actually managed to form complete sentences around.

Suddenly, the sky went dark. Like, actual apocalyptic dark.

"Everyone out of the pool!" Jayden's older brother Ethan thundered from the back porch. The massive senior linebacker was basically a human bear, all shoulders and scowls. "Storm's coming."

No one moved. Because teenagers never listen.

Then came the lightning — a jagged crack that turned the whole backyard purple-white for half a second. The air tasted like ozone and impending disaster.

"I said GET OUT," Ethan roared, and this time people actually scrambled.

Everyone except me and Tyler, who were both still standing by the pool's edge, frozen in that awkward moment where you're not sure if you're supposed to move or what.

"Wild party," he said, and I actually died.

"Yeah," I managed. "Super wild."

Another lightning streak, closer this time. Rain started coming down in sheets.

"We should probably—" Tyler started.

"Yeah," I said again, because my vocabulary had apparently abandoned me completely.

We both bolted for the covered patio, colliding with each other and nearly wiping out on the wet concrete. He caught my arm, and for three seconds, everything was all electric-static-spark even with the actual storm happening around us.

"Sorry," he said, not letting go right away. "I'm Tyler, by the way."

"I know," I said before my brain could stop me. "I mean— I'm Maya."

He grinned. "I know who you are, Maya."

Harper appeared from nowhere, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "Well that was dramatic," she said. "Even for you two."

I glared at her. But as another lightning flash illuminated Tyler's stupid perfect smile, I thought maybe — just maybe — the drama was exactly what I needed.