Thunderpool Protocol

Maya pressed her back against the sliding glass door, heart doing that weird fluttery thing that happened whenever Jake was within a fifty-foot radius. She was basically operating as a low-level spy at this point, cataloging crucial intel: Jake's hair was actually curly when it wasn't drowned in gel, and he laughed with his whole body, head thrown back like he didn't care who was watching.

"You're lurking again," her best friend Priya whispered, sliding up beside her with two fruit punch cups. "Also, your mom made me promise to remind you about your vitamin D supplement. Says you've been inside too much this summer."

"Priya, we are AT a pool party. This is literally the opposite of inside." Maya accepted the punch anyway, grimacing. "And I'm not lurking. I'm... strategically positioning myself."

"For what? To watch Jake play beer pong with the seniors from behind a glass door? Very bold. Very tactical."

Maya's face burned. Outside, the sky had that weird purple-green color it got before summer storms in the Midwest. The pool water glowed an artificial blue, littered with inflatable floats shaped like food items that definitely didn't exist when their parents were teens.

"Whatever." Maya tugged at her hair, which she'd straightened three times and was still doing that weird wavy thing at the ends. "I just don't want to be that person who jumps in and then everyone's like, who invited her?"

"Jake invited you. Literally. You're in our Chem lab group."

"But what if he forgot? What if he was just being polite and now I show up and he's like—"

CRACK.

Lightning split the sky beyond the patio, close enough that Maya's phone buzzed with a severe weather alert. Someone screamed. Someone else cheered. The pool surface rippled with the shockwave.

"Okay, so we're going inside," Priya said, grabbing Maya's wrist. "Party's moving indoors. Your moment has arrived. No more lurking. No more spy games. You're going inside, and you're going to talk to Jake like a normal human person with functioning social skills."

"I don't HAVE functioning social skills—"

"Too bad! We're doing this!" Priya yanked the sliding door open and suddenly they were swept inside with everyone else, dripping wet and laughing and shaking rain from their hair like dogs, and there was Jake, right there, grinning like lightning wasn't actively trying to kill them all.

"Hey!" He shouted over the thunder. "Maya! I was wondering where you were!"

She could feel Priya vibrating with I told you so energy from three feet away.

"I was... strategically positioning myself," Maya said, and Jake laughed, and somehow, somehow, it was going to be okay.