The Night We Woke the Neighborhood

Maya's older brother said the party would be legendary, but standing in his friend Tyler's backyard at 11 PM, legendary wasn't the word she'd use. Awkward? More like it. The sophomore boys from North High were huddled around the fire pit, trying way too hard to look chill.

"Yo, you good?" Tyler asked, passing her a lukewarm soda. "You look like you're about to bolt."

"I'm good," Maya lied, clutching the can like it was a lifeline. Her first high school party and she was mostly just anxious. The string of fairy lights kept flickering—someone clearly didn't know how to connect the extension cable properly.

Then she saw HIM. Caleb. The junior she'd been lowkey stalking on Instagram since September. He was standing by the garage, looking unfairly good in that flannel that shouldn't work but somehow did.

Before she could overthink it, Maya made her move. But her sneakers caught on something—Dylan's dumb speakers, still in the box from when they'd all moved inside. She stumbled forward, arms flailing like a baby deer learning to walk.

Caleb turned at exactly the wrong moment.

"Whoa," he said, grabbing her arm before she could faceplant. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she squeaked. "Just testing gravity. Still works."

He actually laughed. Like, genuinely laughed, not that polite fake laugh people gave when they felt awkward.

"You're Maya, right? From Mr. Harrison's English class?"

Her stomach did that thing where it felt like lightning was running through her veins. "Yeah. You're Caleb."

"The one and only." He smiled, and oh no, he had a dimple. Of course he had a dimple. "You working on that essay about symbolism in The Great Gatsby? Because I'm kinda stuck."

They spent the next twenty minutes talking about literature and music and how Dylan's friend Marcus kept telling everyone that story about almost getting into a fight with a bull at his cousin's farm (Maya suspected it was at least 47% bull).

"You know what's crazy?" Caleb said suddenly. "I've wanted to talk to you forever, but I always thought you were out of my league."

Maya nearly choked on her soda. "ME? I thought YOU were out of MY league. I'm literally a sophomore who quotes Vine memes in casual conversation."

"Which is exactly why I noticed you," he said, and okay, maybe this party wasn't so bad after all.

Later, when Maya's brother came to pick her up, she caught Caleb watching her leave from the garage door. He gave a small wave, and Maya felt something shift in her chest—like something new was starting, something that might actually be worth the awkwardness.

And maybe, just maybe, legendary wasn't such a stretch after all.