Thunder Pool Party

Maya's fingers hovered over her iPhone screen, heart doing that weird flutter thing it always did when Jake's stories popped up. She was basically a professional spy at this point—stalking his Instagram without him ever knowing she existed.

"You gonna actually swim or just guard your phone like it's a state secret?" Kara teased, shoving Maya toward the pool.

"I'm gathering intel," Maya shot back, though she tucked her phone into her waterproof pouch anyway. The pool party was supposed to be lowkey, but somehow everyone from school was there. Maya felt like she was underwater even before she got in the pool.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, making the water ripple. Maya slipped into the cool blue, letting it swallow her anxiety. She surfaced to find Jake standing at the pool's edge, smile doing things to her stomach that felt like actual lightning.

"Hey," he said, casual as ever. "Having fun?"

Maya opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her phone buzzed in its pouch—probably her mom asking if she needed a ride. Suddenly it was all too much: the humidity pressing against her skin, Jake watching her expectantly, the way everyone seemed cooler and more confident while she was just Maya, who couldn't even say hey without her brain short-circuiting.

"I gotta—" She scrambled out of the pool, water streaming down her legs, and practically sprinted toward the house.

The sky opened up. Sheets of rain erased the pool party chaos, and she ducked under the porch roof, breathless. Jake appeared beside her, shaking water from his hair like some kind of golden retriever.

"Wild weather, right?" He laughed, and Maya found herself laughing too, because it was ridiculous—both of them soaked to the bone, hiding from a storm, and somehow she wasn't scared anymore.

"So," Jake said, wiping rain from his eyes. "You wanna hang out sometime? Like, actually? Not just at parties?"

Maya's heart did that lightning thing again. But this time, she didn't run away.