Unspooled

The coaxial cable lay tangled across Maya's bedroom floor like a dead snake, its copper wire exposed where she'd chewed through the rubber casing during Tuesday's math test meltdown. Seventeen years old and still nervous-chewing. At least she'd stopped biting her nails.

"You're literally talking to the new kid again?" Maya asked, her phone propped against a stack of AP Chem textbooks.

On screen, Jenna shrugged, her background blurring with motion. "He's cool, May. Don't be weird."

"Weird." The word sat in Maya's mouth like sour candy. Fox—that's what everyone called the new guy, something about how he weaseled his way into conversations—had been at North High for three weeks and already he'd somehow collected Jenna like a shiny new Pokémon. Maya, Jenna's best friend since fourth grade, had been demoted to occasional podcast guest appearance in Jenna's life.

Fox was infuriatingly charming. He had that effortless way of leaning against lockers, hair perpetually messy, saying things that made everyone laugh even when they weren't that funny. He'd once complemented Maya's vintage backpack and she'd almost forgiven him for everything. Almost.

Friday night, caught somewhere between the new season of whatever show Jenna was watching without her and actually having a social life, Maya found herself at Leo's party. The basement smelled like fruit punch and desperate teens.

"Hey."

Maya jumped. Fox stood there, holding two sodas like some teenage offering. "You looked like you needed rescuing from that conversation with Kyle."

"Kyle was telling me about his Minecraft server."

"Exactly." Fox cracked open his soda. "You're Jenna's friend, right? The one who actually knows stuff?"

The insult tangled with the compliment. "Jenna talks about me?"

"All the time." Fox leaned closer. "She says you're the smartest person she knows, but you're also stubborn as hell. And you have this thing with cables—like, you're always fixing people's chargers?"

Maya's face burned. "It's called being helpful."

"It's cool." He gestured to the tangle of wires behind Leo's TV. "That mess is driving me crazy. You see it too, don't you?"

She did. The chaotic knot of HDMI and power cords made her fingers itch.

"Five minutes," Fox said. "We fix it, we disappear, no one has to know we were productive at a party."

They worked in sync, Maya directing, Fox passing cable ties from his pocket (who brought cable ties to a party?). When they finished, the cables ran neat as parallel lines.

"You're alright," Fox said.

"You're not terrible." Maya paused. "You're not actually trying to steal Jenna, are you?"

Fox laughed, genuinely surprised. "What? No. She's been talking about you all week—how she's worried you guys are drifting apart because she's so busy with student council. I'm just the friend who's filling time until you guys figure your stuff out."

Maya's phone buzzed. Jenna: "Fox says you're with him?? TELL ME EVERYTHING"

"Oh," Maya said.

"Yeah." Fox grinned. "Also, you should probably text her back. She's been blowing up my phone for ten minutes asking if you hate her."

Maya typed: "come over tomorrow. we need to talk. also bring snacks."

"Done," Fox said, reading over her shoulder. "See? Problem solved. Now let's get out of here before someone asks us to fix their relationship drama."

"Deal."

Upstairs, Jenna was already waiting in Maya's driveway, holding two bags of chips and looking ridiculously relieved.

Some cables were meant to stay tangled. But the ones that mattered? Those you worked at until they ran straight and true.