The Orange Midnight Signal

Maya sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor, the glow of her iPhone illuminating her face in the darkness. 11:47 PM. The party was still going strong three houses down — she could hear the bass thumping like a distant heartbeat.

She'd bailed. Again.

Her cat, Potato, waddled into the room and head-butted her ankle with surprising force. A ginger tom with more attitude than dignity, he was the only creature who'd witnessed her spiral into full social anxiety.

"You're judging me," Maya whispered, scratching behind his ears. Potato purred like a tiny engine, thoroughly unbothered.

Her phone buzzed. Emma, her best friend since kindergarten: *where r u??? riley asked abt u*

Riley. The new guy with the stupid perfect smile and the way he actually listened when people spoke. Maya had managed exactly three sentences around him before fleeing to the safety of her bedroom.

She grabbed a water bottle from her nightstand, chugging it like it would somehow fix everything. The neon orange skateboard propped against her wall caught her eye — a birthday gift from her older brother, who'd moved out last month. *Just try it,* he'd said. *You'll love it.*

Maya hadn't. Not yet.

Another buzz. *coming over. don't u dare hide*

Ten minutes later, Emma was crawling through Maya's window, having scaled the trellis like she'd done since they were twelve. "You're hopeless," she announced, flopping onto the bed. "Riley literally asked where the cool skater girl went."

"I'm not a skater girl," Maya mumbled into her pillow.

"Then learn, genius. That's your brother's board, right?"

They ended up in the empty church parking lot at midnight, Emma filming on her phone as Maya wobbled and fell. Again. And again. Until suddenly, she wasn't.

A fox darted across the asphalt, pausing to watch them with bright, intelligent eyes before vanishing into the darkness. Maya pushed off, wheels humming, and for the first time in months, she wasn't overthinking every breath, every gesture, every word.

When she finally checked her phone, hours later, there was a message from an unknown number: *this is riley. emma said u can actually skate? teach me sometime?*

Maya grinned at the screen, Potato winding around her legs. Some things were worth staying up for.