The Ethernet Cable Incident

Maya's first house party wasn't exactly going according to plan. She'd spent forty-five minutes picking an outfit that said "effortlessly cool" instead of "trying too hard," only to arrive and realize everyone was wearing whatever they'd thrown on after school. Typical.

"Hey, you're Maya, right? From AP Chem?" Some guy whose name she definitely should know appeared next to her. He held out a red cup. "Want some?"

She peeked inside. "Is this... is this literally just orange soda?"

"Yeah, my mom's super strict." He shrugged like this was totally normal. "I'm Ethan, by the way."

"Nice emergency stash," Maya said, and okay, that was actually kind of endearing. She took a sip, trying to look casual instead of like someone who'd never been to a party before.

Then the WiFi died.

Half the room groaned in unison. Someone shouted about their ranked match. Maya spotted the problem immediately—the ethernet cable had been kicked loose from the router in the corner. Without thinking, she ducked under the gaming setup to fix it.

"Oh my GOD, are you seriously troubleshooting right now?" someone laughed. "This is why we need you here."

Maya froze. This was it. The moment everyone realized she was a huge nerd and she'd be socially decimated. But then Ethan was there, crouching beside her.

"Dude, can you help with my setup at home? I've been trying to get my Xbox in my room but the cable won't reach—"

"Get a longer cable, Ethan," someone yelled.

"Or, like, move your desk," Maya suggested, and Ethan looked at her like she'd just invented physics.

Later, she found herself in the kitchen with three girls she'd been intimidated by since freshman year. They were making "fancy" snacks, which apparently involved putting baby spinach on everything because it was "aesthetic."

"Try this," said Zara, sliding a plate toward her. "It's a wrap. Spinach, cheese, and I don't know, trust me it's good."

Maya took a bite, expecting to hate it. "Okay, wait, this is actually fire?"

"RIGHT?" Zara practically shouted. "I thought I was being healthy but then I added way too much cheese so who knows."

They were all laughing at something when Maya realized she'd been talking to them for twenty minutes and no one had made her feel weird. No one had mentioned her being the quiet girl in class or the one who always sat alone at lunch. They were just... talking to her.

On her way out, Ethan caught her arm. "Hey, you coming to the next one?"

Maya looked back at the house where she'd just spent three hours not being invisible. Where she'd fixed the WiFi and eaten spinach wraps and maybe sort of made friends.

"Yeah," she said, and it was the easiest thing she'd said all night. "Yeah, I think so."