Three Seconds of Lightning

Maya's first day at Northwood High and she'd already managed to turn the **padel** court into her personal stage of humiliation. PE class, of course. Because the universe had a sick sense of timing.

"Pass it here!" someone yelled, and Maya'd swung with zero grace, missing the ball entirely and nearly face-planting on the court. Laughter erupted—not the mean kind, but somehow that was worse. The 'we're all cool here' kind that still left you feeling like the world's biggest poser.

Lunch was somehow worse. She'd spent twenty minutes psyching herself up to sit at what looked like the chill table—skaters, art kids, people who definitely didn't care about being popular. She'd sat down, smiled her most confident smile, and joined the conversation about...

Honestly, she didn't even remember. But she DID remember the way Aisha's eyes had darted to her mouth, then away, then back again, struggling not to laugh.

"You've got..." Aisha had finally said, gesturing to her own teeth. "**Spinach**, babe. From lunch."

Maya had practically sprinted to the bathroom, her face burning. Could the ground just open up and swallow her whole? Asking for a friend.

She'd splashed **water** on her face, staring at herself in the mirror. New school, new start, new Maya who didn't do awkward stuff. Except here she was, three hours in, and already the girl with the spinach smile.

"Hey," Aisha's voice came from behind her. "You okay?"

Maya'd looked up, expecting pity. Instead, Aisha was grinning. "That was actually kind of iconic. I was terrified my first week too. I accidentally told everyone my mom still cut my crusts off."

"No way."

"Way. Want to come sit with us? We were just discussing whether my **goldfish** has depression or if he's just vibing."

Something shifted. Maybe it was the way Aisha didn't make it weird. Maybe it was just that someone had seen Maya at her absolute worst and didn't run.

But later, walking home and actually looking forward to tomorrow, Maya realized something had hit her in that bathroom—quick and bright as **lightning**. The thing everyone told you about high school, the thing you never really believed until it happened to you.

The stuff that felt like the end of the world? That was just how you found your people. The real ones. And maybe, just maybe, Northwood wasn't going to be so bad after all.