When the Lights Went Out

Maya's frizzy **hair** refused to cooperate, defying the expensive mousse she'd wasted half her allowance on. Tonight was THE night—Noah was finally coming over to watch movies, just the two of them, and she looked like a poodle that stuck a fork in an electrical outlet.

"Chill, Maya," she whispered to her reflection. "You're being totally extra."

Her phone buzzed. *Almost there. On my bike.*

Her heart did that stupid fluttery thing it always did when he texted. Noah, with his perfectly messy dark curls and those crinkly eyes that made her forget how to speak actual sentences.

**Lightning** flashed across her window, followed immediately by thunder that rattled the glass. Great. A storm. Because the universe was clearly testing her nerves.

The doorbell rang. Maya sprinted downstairs, nearly tripping over her own feet.

Noah stood on her porch, rain dripping from his hoodie, looking unfairly cute. "Weather's getting wild out there."

"Yeah, come in!" She stepped back, hyper-aware that she was wearing socks with mismatched patterns. Whatever. It was quirky, right?

They settled on the couch with snacks. She reached for the remote—except the screen stayed black. The **cable** box was completely dead.

"No way," she groaned. "The storm must've knocked out the connection."

Noah shrugged, totally unbothered. "We could just... talk?"

Her stomach did a nervous flip. Talking meant actual conversation, no movie buffer. Talking meant being present.

Then she saw it—Mr. Snuggles, her childhood teddy **bear**, sitting awkwardly on the armchair where she'd tossed him while frantically cleaning earlier. She wanted to die.

"Is that..." Noah started, grinning.

"Don't. Just don't."

"Mr. Snuggles has seen better days," he said, tossing the ragged bear toward her. Their fingers brushed, and Maya's face burned.

For the next hour, they sat in the dim light, Mr. Snuggles between them like a ridiculous witness, talking about everything and nothing—music, their weird teachers, how much they both hated grape soda. The storm raged outside, but inside, Maya felt something shifting. Something good.

When the lights flickered back on, Noah looked at her, really looked at her, with that crinkly-eyed smile. "This was better than any movie."

Maya's **hair** was still a mess. The evening had been completely different from what she'd planned. But somehow, that felt exactly right.