The Night Everything Changed

Maya pulled her neon orange beanie down over her ears, wishing she could disappear into the fabric. The party was already too loud, too bright, too everything. Her older brother had dragged her along, promising she'd have fun, but so far the only thing she'd done was hold the same red plastic cup for forty-five minutes and accidentally make eye contact with three different people who immediately looked away.

Then the lights died.

A flash of **lightning** illuminated the backyard, and suddenly everyone was screaming. The power cut out completely, leaving thirty teenagers in pitch darkness.

"Everyone stay calm!" someone shouted. It was Leo—the guy from Maya's history class who sat in the back row and never spoke. "Does anyone have a flashlight?"

"I've got my phone!" someone else called.

"Mine's at 12%!"

Maya felt someone bump into her. "Sorry," a voice said.

She jumped. It was Leo, standing way too close. He smelled like vanilla and something woodsy. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she lied. "Just not great with the dark. Or parties. Or really people in general."

He laughed, and it was surprisingly nice. "Same. That's why I'm hiding in the corner behind the snack table."

"Wait," she said. "Are you the one who hooked up the speakers? My brother said someone ran, like, a million cables through the whole yard."

"Yeah, that was me." He sounded proud. "Ran a **cable** all the way from the garage. Thought I was being smart. Then the storm hit."

Another lightning flash showed him grinning, this lopsided thing that made something twist in Maya's chest.

"So now we're stuck here," she said.

"Not stuck," he said. "Just... pausing."

Someone screamed "ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE" and everyone started laughing.

"Maybe," Leo said. "But if it was, I'd save you."

Maya's face heated up, grateful for the darkness. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I like the hat, by the way."

She touched the orange beanie self-consciously. "Thanks. It was supposed to be ironic."

"It works," he said. "You pull it off."

They sat on the grass while the storm raged, talking about everything and nothing—his band, her art, how much they both hated calculus. The party kept going around them, but for the first time all night, Maya wasn't counting the minutes until she could leave.

When the power finally came back on, Leo looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. "Hey," he said. "Can I get your number? For, uh, non-party-related reasons?"

Maya smiled, really smiled, and for the first time all night, she didn't want to disappear. "Yeah," she said. "I'd like that."