The Cable That Saved Friday Night

Maya's bedroom was her sanctuary, especially on Friday nights when everyone else was at parties she hadn't been invited to. She sprawled across her bed, bathed in the blue glow of her monitor, waiting for her squad to log on.

Her ethernet cable lay coiled like a black snake across her floor—the only thing keeping her tethered to reality when school made her feel like she was walking through fog. Somehow, between honors classes, cross country, and trying to figure out why her crush didn't even know her name, Maya had become a zombie. Not the cool, apocalypse-fighting kind. The kind that existed on autopilot, surviving on caffeine and iced coffee.

"YO MAYA you coming or WHAT?" Leo's voice crackled through her headset. "I finally convinced Emma to play with us."

Maya's stomach did that stupid flutter thing. Emma—the gorgeous sophomore with bright orange highlights who'd sat behind her in bio last semester. The one Maya had spent three months secretly writing terrible poems about.

"Yeah, one sec," Maya said, her voice cracking. "My cable's being weird again."

She shoved her chair back and crawled under her desk, reattaching the ethernet cable that had somehow managed to detach itself. Because that was her life—literally crawling on the floor trying to reconnect.

"Okay, I'm in," she said, heart pounding like she was about to jump off a cliff.

Emma's voice came through, warm and amused. "Hey Maya! Leo says you're, like, actually good at this game?"

Maya's face burned. She was suddenly hyperaware of her oversized hoodie, the half-empty water bottles on her desk, the fact that she was spending Friday night in her room while Emma was probably going to parties and having actual adventures.

"I'm decent," Maya managed, fingers flying across her keyboard. "You can be on my team, but don't expect me to carry you."

Emma laughed, and it was the best sound Maya had heard all week.

They played for hours. Maya forgot about the zombie fog, forgot about how exhausting it was to constantly perform at school, forgot about everything except Emma saying "nice shot" and "OMG Maya you're insane" and the way her orange hair kept falling into her face when she concentrated.

Around 2 AM, Emma said, "Hey, so... my friend's having this thing tomorrow. Nothing big, just hanging out. You should come."

Maya's stomach did a whole gymnastics routine. "To a party?"

"Not a party-party," Emma said. "Just... people. Being people. You seem cool. Plus, I need someone who can actually beat Leo at video games."

Maya lay back on her bed, grinning at her ceiling. The zombie feeling had lifted, replaced by something bright and terrifying and wonderful.

"Yeah," Maya said softly. "I think I'd like that."