The Fox in the Floodlights

Maya's stomach did nervous little flips as she stood outside Tyler's house. The bass from inside vibrated through the soles of her converse, and she genuinely considered just turning around and going back to her room, where the most dangerous thing was her dog Buster's tendency to steal socks.

But she'd promised Chloe she'd come. And junior year was supposed to be the year she stopped being the girl who sat alone at lunch.

Inside, the kitchen was packed like a sardine can of hormones and bad decisions. Someone's older brother was mixing drinks that looked like suspicious **water** from a questionable source. Maya grabbed a cup just to look busy, pretending to sip it while her eyes scanned for anyone she actually knew.

"Maya! You came!" Chloe found her immediately, grabbing her arm like they were in a thriller movie and the killer was closing in. "You have to meet Liam. He's a senior and he keeps looking at you like you're some kind of **fox** or something."

Maya snorted into her suspicious drink. "Right. Because I'm obviously radiating apex predator energy tonight."

"You're joking but you're wrong," Chloe said, actually serious. "He's by the pool. Go talk to him before someone else claims him."

Maya's heart raced like it was trying to win a marathon it hadn't trained for. Liam was indeed by the pool, and he was beautiful in that unfair way that made Maya want to simultaneously throw up and also never look away. Dark hair, easy smile, the kind of confident that came from never having **spinach** stuck in your teeth during a crucial life moment.

She approached him, and just as she opened her mouth to say something that would hopefully be actual words, her phone buzzed. Her little brother.

"Did you remember to let the **dog** in?"

Maya stared at her phone. She HADN'T. Buster was still in the backyard, probably barking at nothing because that was his whole personality.

"I have to go," she said to Liam, who was now looking at her with actual interest.

"Wait, what?"

"Family emergency."

She bolted from the party, not caring that her thrifted dress was probably revealing way too much as she ran. The night air hit her face, and without warning, the sky opened up.

**Lightning** cracked overhead, illuminating the whole street like someone had flipped a cosmic switch to expose her terrible life choices.

She reached her house breathless, soaked to the bone, and found Buster sleeping peacefully on the porch like he hadn't been potentially trapped outside for hours. Her brother was eating cereal on the couch.

"The dog was fine," he said, not looking up from his phone. "I let him in. I just wanted to see if you'd leave a party early for him."

Maya stood there in the rain, dress ruined, makeup definitely running, the most beautiful boy at the party left confused on a patio somewhere... and she started laughing.

Because what even WAS her life?

The next morning, she debated texting Liam an explanation. But then she remembered how he'd looked at her before she'd fled—like he actually saw her. Disaster moments and all.

Maybe she'd reach out. Maybe she wouldn't. But at least now she knew: she could survive a party, a storm, and public humiliation orchestrated by her thirteen-year-old brother, and still wake up to sunlight streaming through her window.

That had to count for something, right?