Thunder in the Garage

Maya's crush on Leo had lasted approximately forever—or at least since September when he'd worn that vintage thrasher sweatshirt to algebra. Now, at Sarah's birthday rager, she was finally gonna shoot her shot.

The house was packed. Someone's older brother had bought a truly concerning amount of Twisted Tea. Maya spotted Leo by the garage, gesturing wildly about something. His dark curls caught the garage light as he laughed at something Jordan said. God, he was annoyingly perfect.

She smoothed her dress (was it too much? not enough?) and headed over, heart doing that stupid fluttery thing it always did around him. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the garage in a sudden stark white glow—everyone froze like a glitched TikTok.

"Dude, my bull is LITERALLY the chillest cat ever," Leo was saying, completely oblivious to Maya's approach. "He sleeps on my feet every night. It's disgusting but also kind of iconic?"

Wait.

Bull. As in, the zodiac sign. Cat. As in, his actual pet.

"Your CAT is named Bull?" Jordan asked, baffled.

"No, my CAT is a Bull. Like, I'm a Taurus, so he's my bull, but also a cat. Are you literally not listening to words?"

Maya stopped. This was it. This was the moment. The boy she'd been lowkey obsessing over for months called his cat his "bull" because of astrology and thought this made sense.

Outside, thunder cracked. Real lightning this time.

Everything about him suddenly seemed painfully clear. The vintage aesthetic he'd curated like a Pinterest board. The way he performed authenticity like it was a part-time job. The astrology thing he'd definitely started doing because he thought it made him interesting.

He wasn't a terrible person. He was just... performing. Like everyone else at this party, trying on different selves like outfits from Shein, hoping something would fit.

Maya turned around and walked back into the house, past the drunk seniors and the fuzzy LED lights and the Spotify playlist that had been playing at every party since seventh grade. She grabbed her phone and texted her actual best friend.

"wanna get food? i'm suddenly starving"

"always. ditching?"

"yeah. like actually ditching. not the performative kind"

The rain started just as they slipped out the back door. Real lightning flashed again, and Maya thought about how some things were supposed to be terrifying—like storms, or crushes, or being fifteen—but the scariest part was realizing you'd been falling for someone who'd never really existed at all.

Her phone buzzed. A photo from Leo's Instagram story: his actual cat, captioned "my bull 🔥"

Maya blocked him and laughed. Some storms were worth walking through.