Wild Like Lightning

Maya's heart hammered as she stepped through Jordan's doorway. The bass thumped against her ribs. This was it—her first real high school party. She'd spent forty-five minutes on her eyeliner, trying to look effortless, trying to look like someone who belonged at things like this.

"You made it!" Jordan materialized through the crowd, handing her a red cup. "Chill, nobody's watching."

But they were. Or at least that's how it felt. Maya drifted toward the kitchen, gravitating toward safety. That's where she found Harper—Jordan's eccentric older sister—leaning against the counter with something orange curled around her neck.

"This is Rusty," Harper said, scratching the creature behind its ears. "He's a rescue. Well, technically he's a fox. His previous owners thought they could domesticate him. Spoiler: they couldn't."

The fox regarded Maya with amber eyes, unimpressed. She felt a kinship.

"His attention span's like a goldfish," Harper continued, laughing as Rusty bolted toward a spilled bag of chips. "But he's got more personality in one whisker than most people have in their whole body."

A massive figure loomed in the doorway—Tyler, the football captain, who'd apparently been taking bear mode supplements since freshman year. Everyone instinctively made space. Maya shrank back, but Harper just rolled her eyes.

"Tyler, you're blocking the entire entrance," she said. "Also, your cat allergy is showing."

A tiny calico kitten wound through Tyler's massive legs, completely unbothered. He looked absurd, this six-foot-three guy frozen by a three-pound creature. Someone giggled. Maya felt herself smile.

Then it happened—sudden and wild like lightning. The storm outside cracked the sky open at the exact moment the power died. Pitch darkness swallowed the room. Someone screamed. Someone else laughed. And in that moment of chaos, Maya felt a hand grab hers.

"You okay?" It was a girl's voice, close to her ear. "I'm Lexi. I don't think we've met."

The backup generator kicked on, dim amber light revealing Lexi's mischievous grin, her streak of blue hair, the way her eyes held actual interest. Not interest in getting something, not interest in performing coolness. Just interest.

"I'm Maya," she said, and her voice didn't shake. "And I think I just lost my cup somewhere."

Lexi's laugh was bright and real. "Come on. I know where Jordan keeps the good stuff. Also, Rusty probably stole your phone by now."

Outside, the storm raged. Inside, something else sparked—quiet and electric and completely unexpected. Maya followed Lexi through the crowd, and for the first time all night, she wasn't watching anyone else.

She was exactly where she wanted to be.