The Night Everything Lit Up

Maya adjusted her vintage bucket **hat** for the third time, checking her reflection in the darkened window. The thrift store find was supposed to scream 'effortless indie girl energy,' but mostly it just screamed 'trying too hard.' Which she definitely was.

Inside Jordan's house, the party already thumped with bass that vibrated through the floorboards. Her first real high school party. Her first time seeing everyone from AP Bio outside of fluorescent classroom lighting. Her first chance to finally talk to Alex, who had been looking at her during fourth period all week, or maybe that was just wishful thinking.

'Hey!' Jordan called from behind a wall of speakers. 'Someone spilled something on the audio **cable**! Can you help me find another one?'

Maya's chance to be useful. She scrambled through the tangled mess of cords behind the entertainment system, emerging victorious with a spare coaxial cable just as the first flash of **lightning** split the sky outside.

CRACK. The house went dark.

Screams. Laughter. Someone's phone flashlight cut through the darkness, illuminating Jordan's calico cat, Mittens, perched atop the TV cabinet like a tiny, judgmental gargoyle. The cat had definitely seen cooler parties.

'My phone!' A voice from the corner. 'I was streaming!'

'Dude, your WiFi is down anyway,' someone else pointed out.

Maya found herself sitting on the carpet beside Alex in the sudden candlelit calm, their knees accidentally touching. The forced awkwardness of the party had evaporated into something more real.

'Nice **hat**,' Alex said, and for the first time all night, Maya believed it wasn't sarcasm.

'Thanks,' she said. 'It's trying too hard, I know.'

Alex laughed. 'Yeah, but like, in a good way? It's brave.'

Outside, another lightning strike illuminated everything in stark blue-white for a heartbeat. In that moment, Maya caught Alex glancing at her—not at the hat, not at the phone, but at her eyes.

Maybe the hat was working. Maybe she didn't need it to.

The cat meowed, as if to say, 'Finally, can we please focus?' And somehow, they all did.