The Friday Night Connection

Maya pressed herself against the lockers, heart doing that weird fluttery thing it always did when Jordan walked by. Two weeks of freshman year and she still hadn't managed to say a single actual word to her. Just nervous smiles and aborted wave attempts that made her feel like a total loser.

"Hey, Maya!"

She jumped. Jordan was standing right there. "Oh, hey! What's up?"

"My cat escaped again," Jordan groaned. "Mr. Whiskers is basically a ninja at this point. My mom's gonna kill me if I don't find him before she gets home from her shift."

"I can help," Maya heard herself say before she could overthink it. "I'm good at finding lost animals."

Truth was, she'd never actually found a lost animal in her life. But Jordan's face lit up, and suddenly they were walking toward Jordan's house together, talking about everything and nothing. Maya learned Jordan watched way too much horror movies, played soccer, and had an older brother who was currently in college.

"He left all his zombie movies here," Jordan said, unlocking the front door. "We should watch some while we look for Mr. Whiskers. If you're not, like, scared easily?"

"Pfft, please," Maya said, even though scary movies were absolutely her kryptonite. "I bet I can last longer than you."

The cat was nowhere to be found inside. They checked closets, under beds, behind the washing machine. Nothing. Then Maya spotted it — a loose cable running from the window to somewhere outside.

"What's that?"

Jordan squinted. "Oh, that's just the old cable line from before we switched to streaming. Wait..."

They followed it outside, around the back of the house, to the detached garage. And there, curled up happily in a sunbeam on the garage roof, was Mr. Whiskers, looking entirely pleased with himself.

"You little jerk," Jordan laughed.

They spent the next three hours watching terrible zombie movies and eating way too many snacks. Maya didn't even care when she screamed at a jump scare and Jordan laughed. For the first time since moving to this town, Maya felt like she might actually belong here.

"So," Jordan said as Maya was leaving, "you're pretty cool. Want to come over tomorrow? We could continue our zombie movie marathon."

Maya smiled so hard her face hurt. "Definitely."

Sometimes the best friendships start with lost cats and terrible decisions.