The Boy Next Door

Neptune had been dead for three days before Maya finally worked up the courage to flush him. The goldfish had been her only real companion since her family moved to this apartment complex two months ago—just another detail about her life that felt hopelessly uncool.

She hovered over the toilet, phone in hand, contemplating posting a RIP story for dramatic effect, when she spotted it through the bathroom window: a thick black cable strung between her balcony and the one next door.

Maya's breath caught. That balcony belonged to the boy with the hair that fell in his eyes and the vintage band tees. The boy who sat in the courtyard during lunch reading actual books instead of staring at his phone like everyone else.

The cable pulsed with soft blue light.

That night, Maya sat on her balcony in her oversized sweatpants, pretending to be fascinated by the city view. The sliding door next door slid open.

"Hey."

She jumped. He was standing there, holding the end of the glowing cable.

"I'm Liam," he said, like they hadn't been living three feet apart for months without speaking. "This is kinda awkward but... I noticed your wifi's been down? I rigged this ethernet cable between our balconies so you could piggyback off mine."

Maya stared. "Wait, you've been monitoring my internet situation?"

"No! I just... I saw you frustrated yesterday, and I'm decent with tech, and..." He rubbed his neck. "This is coming out stalker-ish, isn't it?"

"A little," she said, but she was smiling. "I'm Maya. And my goldfish just died, so honestly, creepy ethernet cable is not the weirdest thing happening this week."

Liam laughed. The sound was warm and genuine. "Sorry about your fish. Was he a legend?"

"His name was Neptune and he survived my sister feeding him Cheetos twice. He was a warrior."

"A true warrior." Liam leaned against the railing. "So, Maya, wanna come inside and play video games? I have this mythology-based RPG that's basically run by this sphinx character who won't let you pass unless you solve riddles. I'm stuck on level three and could use a fresh perspective."

The sphinx. Of course. The universe had a sick sense of humor—she'd been feeling like she couldn't figure anything out lately, like every social situation was some impossible riddle she was failing to solve.

"Only if you promise not to judge when I inevitably fail at all the riddles."

"Deal."

Maya stepped through the sliding door into Liam's apartment, leaving her ghost of a goldfish and her lonely balcony behind. The cable between their rooms glowed softly behind her, a lifeline she hadn't known she needed until it appeared.

Maybe high school didn't have to be one endless unsolvable riddle after all. Sometimes you just had to let someone toss you a cable and follow it into the unknown.