The Pyramid Almost Killed Us

The three-tier human pyramid was supposed to be legendary. Maya stood at the bottom, bearing the weight of Jenna—who was definitely not as light as she claimed—while Lucas teetered at the top, phone raised, doing his best influencer pose for the TikTok that would change their social lives forever.

"Hold it, hold it," Jenna hissed, her sneakers slipping against Maya's shoulders. "My mom's gonna see this."

"Your mom follows you?" Maya wheezed.

"She has a fake account, okay? Don't judge."

The pool deck shimmered with **water** from cannonball explosions. Maya's arms shook. This pyramid thing had seemed like a solid idea when Lucas suggested it during third period. Now she questioned everything.

A flash of **lightning** split the sky, followed immediately by thunder that rattled the pool fence. Someone screamed.

"Everybody out!" Lucas yelled, abandoning his influencer pose mid-capture.

The pyramid collapsed. They went down in a tangle of limbs and laughter, landing safely on the concrete instead of the pool—which would have been tragic.

Rain started hammering down, heavy and relentless, as they scrambled for the covered porch. Maya ended up squeezed next to Lucas, their shoulders touching, while Jenna shook out her hair like a wet dog, spraying everyone.

"Classic," Lucas said, but he was smiling. His phone was dead. The TikTok was gone.

Maya looked at him—really looked at him—and realized she didn't actually care about the video. The pyramid had been a disaster. The lightning had killed the content. But here they were, huddled under the porch roof, damp and breathless, and for the first time all year, she didn't feel like she was performing.

"So," Lucas said, turning to her. "You doing anything tomorrow?"

Maya's heart did something genuinely embarrassing. "Depends. You planning another pyramid?"

"Nah." He grinned. "I was thinking we could just... exist. Pyramid-free."

Jenna fake-gagged. Maya's best **friend** had terrible timing. But as Lucas laughed, Maya thought: some disasters were worth it.

She spotted her little brother's stuffed **bear** peeking from her bag where she'd hidden it earlier, mortified that anyone might see she still slept with it. But Lucas didn't even look. He was still looking at her, waiting for an answer.

"Tomorrow," she said. "Count on it."