The Night Everything Changed

Maya's cat, Jupiter, kept headbutting her ankle like he knew. Like he knew she was about to do something wildly out of character and he was either cheering her on or begging her to reconsider.

"You're worse than my mom," she muttered, but still scratched behind his ears. His rumbling purr was the only thing keeping her from full-on spiraling.

Her phone buzzed. Again.

leo_is_awesome: u coming?? 🙄

Maya stared at the ethernet cable dangling uselessly from her wall. Three days without internet, three days of barely functioning, and her parents still hadn't called the provider. She was surviving on stolen WiFi from the neighbors and pure anxiety.

The cable wasn't just a cable anymore. It was a symbol. A metaphor. A literal physical representation of how disconnected she felt from everything—her friends, her crush, her own ability to function like a normal human being who didn't overthink every single social interaction.

Her palm was sweating. Actually sweating. Like, full-on clammy situation.

"I'm 17," she said to Jupiter. "I should not be this nervous about a party."

Jupiter blinked slowly. He was not impressed.

Maya had been crushing on Leo since sophomore year. He was funny, genuinely weird in the best way, and had this habit of doodling tiny dragons on his homework. Last week, he'd actually noticed her existence beyond "quiet girl in English" and invited her to his friend's party. THE party. The one everyone would be at.

She pulled on her sneakers—slightly scuffed Converses because she refused to buy new ones for someone who might not even care.

"Wish me luck," she told Jupiter. "Or don't. Whatever."

The walk to Leo's house felt like walking through Jell-O. Her heart was doing gymnastics, her palms were still gross and sweaty, and her brain was running at approximately 500 thoughts per minute, mostly variations of "what if this is a prank" and "what if I say something weird" and "what if—"

"Maya!"

Leo was on his front porch, grinning like he'd actually been worried she wouldn't show. He had a tiny dragon drawn on his hand in Sharpie. Of course he did.

"Your internet's still out, right?" he asked. "My cable's been messed up too. It's been, like, a whole situation."

She laughed. Actually laughed. "Mine too. Three days."

"See? It's fate." He held the door open. "Also, my mom made those cookies you like. The peanut butter ones?"

Maya stopped. "You remembered?"

"I remember everything," he said, too casual, not meeting her eyes.

Inside, music was playing and people were dancing and it was loud and chaotic and perfect. Leo stayed by her side most of the night, introducing her to friends like she was someone worth knowing, like she wasn't the girl who sat in the back of English class silently overthinking her entire existence.

Later, they ended up on the back porch, away from the noise. The air was cool, crickets were screaming, and for the first time in three days, Maya wasn't thinking about her stupid cable or her lack of WiFi or the infinite ways this night could've gone wrong.

Leo sat close enough that their shoulders almost touched. His hand was inches from hers on the porch step.

"I'm glad you came," he said quietly.

"Me too."

"Also," he added, "I may have stolen this from the kitchen."

He pulled a cookie from his pocket and handed it to her. Peanut butter, still slightly warm.

Maya took it, their fingers brushing for maybe half a second. Her palm stopped sweating. Finally.

"You're not so bad, Leo," she said.

"You either, Maya."

Jupiter would be so disappointed in her for not coming home on time. But honestly? Maya didn't care.