The Fox Signal

The iphone felt heavier than usual in Maya's sweaty palm as she scrolled through Instagram for the third time that hour. Summer party at Jax's house, and she was currently hiding behind the detached garage, refreshing a feed that wasn't refreshing anything in her actual life.

"You're missing it," a voice said.

Maya nearly dropped her phone. Chloe stood there, holding two red solo cups like she'd been waiting.

"Missing what? Everyone posting about how lit this party is?" Maya gestured at her screen. "I'm literally witnessing it in HD."

"No, dummy. The fox."

"The what?"

"There's a fox in the woods behind the property. I saw it from the deck. It's just... standing there. Like it wants something." Chloe thrust one cup toward Maya. "Come on."

"I'm not going into the woods at night, Chloe. That's how horror movies start."

"Ugh, you're so boring now. Remember when we used to do stuff?"

Maya's thumb hovered over her screen. Chloe was right — not about the fox thing, which was definitely weird, but about the other part. Freshman year had turned Maya into someone who documented experiences instead of having them. Her entire personality was becoming a carefully curated feed.

She slipped her phone into her pocket.

"Fine. But if we die, I'm haunting your instagram."

The woods behind Jax's subdivision were just a strip of trees between his house and the old creek trail. Fireflies flickered like broken pixels. Then, suddenly, there it was — a red fox, copper coat glowing in the distant party lights, watching them with eyes that held zero fear.

"See?" Chloe whispered, excited. "It's like... waiting."

"For what?"

"For us to do something real."

Maya felt something shift in her chest, like a door finally opening. She turned to Chloe, her best friend since third grade, the girl she'd been pushing away all year for a bunch of followers who didn't actually know her.

"I'm sorry," Maya said. "About everything. This year."

Chloe smiled, and it wasn't even fake. "Finally. Now, give me your hand."

"Why?"

"I've been watching TikToks about palm reading. I can tell your future."

"You literally just said we need to do something real."

"Shut up. This is practice for when I'm a famous fortune teller." Chloe traced lines across Maya's palm with her finger. "Okay, so your lifeline is super long, obviously. And this one... this means you're going to put your phone away more."

"That's not a real thing."

"It is now." The fox barked once, sharp and surprising, before disappearing into the darkness. Both girls jumped, then laughed until their sides hurt.

Maya's phone buzzed in her pocket — probably another notification, another like, another thing demanding her attention. She left it there.

"Hey," she said. "Wanna sneak out and go to the creek tomorrow night?"

Chloe's grin was everything. "Only if you leave your phone at home."