When Lightning Speaks
Maya's phone screen glowed in the darkness of her room, the only illumination as thunder rattled her window. She was doing what any normal seventeen-year-old would do at 2 AM during a lightning storm: silently spying on her ex-best-friend's Instagram story.
It had been three weeks since the incident at Jake's party—the one everyone was still talking about at school. The one where Maya had accidentally blurted out that she'd had a crush on him since seventh grade, right in front of his new girlfriend. The ultimate social suicide move.
Her finger hovered over the screen. Another photo appeared: Chloe at some diner, laughing with Maya's former friend group. No caption needed. The message was clear: *we're all living our best lives without you.*
"This is such bull," Maya muttered, tossing her phone onto her bed. The bull mascot of their school—the North High Rangers—stared back at her from the poster on her wall, its painted eyes judging her late-night digital stalking habit.
A flash of lightning illuminated everything in stark white for a split second. In that moment, she caught her reflection in the mirror: messy bun, oversized hoodie, dark circles under her eyes. When had she become this person? The girl who spent her nights spying on people who'd moved on?
She thought about the bear poster above her bed—the one that said *YOU CAN BEAR HARD THINGS* in cute cursive. Her mom had bought it freshman year, back when Maya's biggest worry was whether she'd make varsity soccer. Now she couldn't bear checking her phone without her heart racing.
Another flash of lightning. This time, something outside caught her eye—movement across the street, in Chloe's yard. A figure standing in the rain, phone raised, taking photos of... Maya's house?
Maya crept to the window, heart pounding. The figure turned, and lightning flashed again, revealing Chloe's face—streaked with tears, phone shaking as she captured photo after photo of Maya's darkened window.
The realization hit Maya like a physical blow. All those Instagram stories, all those seemingly perfect posts—Chloe had been spying on Maya's window to see if she was awake too. Neither of them had moved on. Neither of them could bear how things had ended.
Maya grabbed her phone, fingers trembling as she typed: *ur window looks lonely from here*
Three dots appeared immediately. Then: *i miss u idiot*
Outside, the rain softened as Maya finally breathed again.