Thunderfruit Summer

The bonfire crackled behind me as I peered into the darkness, waiting. Maya said she'd be here. She promised.

"You look like you're expecting lightning to strike," Leo said, dropping onto the sand beside me. He held out two sodas. "She'll show."

I took the orange soda, fingers brushing his palm — accidental, electric. Like actual lightning. My stomach did that stupid flip it always did around Leo, which was ridiculous because we'd been friends since kindergarten and he only saw me as 'one of the guys.'

"It's not about Maya showing," I lied. "It's about... showing up. As myself."

Leo's forehead scrunched. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I sighed, watching palm fronds sway in the wind. "I told her. About me."

The air between us went still. Even the ocean seemed to hold its breath.

"Oh." Leo's voice dropped. "Oh, crap. Really? That's... that's huge, Kai."

"Yeah. And now she's twenty minutes late to the party she dragged me to, and I'm overthinking everything, and — "

"I brought snacks!" Maya's voice cut through my spiral as she sprinted across the sand, arms full. "Sorry, sorry! My mom made me take this massive fruit platter because apparently 'teens need vitamins' and who am I to argue?" She dumped it between us. "Behold, the glory of sliced papaya and those little orange wedges nobody actually eats."

Leo laughed.

Maya flopped down, grabbing a papaya slice. "Okay so I know I'm late and I'm the worst, but I had a whole moment with my dad about college applications and then my sister stole my keys, and —" She stopped. "Why are you looking at me like that? Did I miss something?"

"Kai came out to you," Leo said quietly.

Maya blinked. Once. Twice. Then she tackled me in a hug that smelled like coconut sunscreen and papaya. "Ohmygod YES! Finally! I've been waiting forever for you to tell me, you beautiful disaster!"

"You... knew?"

"Kai, you literally gasped when Zendaya came on screen at my house last week. Also, Leo's been predicting this since seventh grade."

I whipped around to Leo. He shrugged, grinning.

"What?" He said. "You were my best friend first. I just waited for you to be ready."

Something shifted inside me — like lightning finally finding its ground. All that tension I'd been carrying, loosening. These two knuckleheads. My chosen family.

"Okay," Maya said, already typing on her phone. "We are definitely going to Pride next weekend. I'm making shirts."

"Absolutely not," I said, but I was smiling. "And Leo, stop eating all the orange slices."

"Never." He popped another in his mouth.

The bonfire snapped, sending sparks toward the stars. Behind us, real lightning flickered on the horizon, distant and safe. I watched it with my orange soda and my two best friends, feeling something new and bright settling in my chest — like summer itself, finally beginning.