The Lightning in Her Hair

Maya tugged the brim of her baseball hat lower, wishing she could disappear into the bleachers. The **hair** underneath was a mess of frizz she hadn't bothered to straighten, because why bother when nobody was looking anyway.

Across the pool party, Jake was laughing with his friends, his shirt clinging to his chest like he'd been splashed. Maya had been basically cyber-stalking him for weeks—okay, **spy**ing on his Instagram stories and memorizing his coffee order—without ever working up the courage to say more than "hey" in the hallway at school.

"You gonna swim or just brood?" Chloe asked, flopping onto the bleacher beside her. Maya's best friend raised an eyebrow. "Jake keeps looking over here, by the way."

Maya's stomach did that thing where it felt like swallowed **water** was sloshing around. "He's not."

"Literally three times." Chloe pulled out her phone. "I have receipts."

Before Maya could protest, thunder rumbled overhead. The party stopped mid-motion—music paused, conversations suspended—as everyone looked up. Then it cracked: **lightning** splitting the sky like a flash photograph, instantly followed by a downpour that sent everyone screaming toward the covered patio.

Everyone except Jake.

He ran toward the bleachers instead, grinning like an idiot, **water** plastering his hair to his forehead. "Maya!"

Her heart hammered against her ribs. She stood up, her hat tipping back. "Yeah?"

"I've been trying to talk to you all day," he said, breathless. "You're always hiding under that **hat**." His smile faltered a little. "Can I see you? Like, really see you?"

Maya's hands shook as she reached up and pulled off the hat. Her wild curls sprang free, frizzy and unapologetic.

Jake's grin returned, warmer this time. "There you are."

The **lightning** flashed again, illuminating everything—the pool, the rain, his smile, the parts of herself she'd been hiding all along. And maybe, just maybe, she didn't need to spy from the sidelines anymore.

"So," Jake said, "want to get out of this rain? Or are you good?"

Maya laughed, really laughed, for the first time in months. "I'm good."