The Odds of Lightning by Jocelyn Davies

His mouth that turned up slightly on one side, maybe judging you, maybe smiling at some secret joke—it was impossible to say. It was the first time he had ever looked directly at her.
    â€œHey,” she said. She was doing it! She was talking to him. It was like riding a bike for the first time without training wheels, exhilarating and terrifying and—
    â€œUh, hi.” He scratched his stubble. He had stubble. “Are you okay? Did I hit you hard?”
    â€œI’m okay,” Tiny said, venturing a smile. “Possibly concussed, but . . .”
    Josh frowned. “How many fingers?”
    â€œFour.”
    â€œNailed it. You’re fine.”
    He patted her on the shoulder and then started to walk away.
    â€œOh, um!” Tiny basically shouted at him. “What did you think of lit mag today?”
    Josh squinted at her. “You’re in Calamity ?”
    â€œUh,” she said, waiting for him to recognize her. The pause grew unbearable. “Yeah.”
    â€œYeah, well, listen, you should write something good for us. The quality of submissions is really going downhill lately. Today was brutal.”
    Tiny felt a jolt rip through her.
    â€œI thought you liked today’s poem? You said—you said it felt emotionally, um, authentic.”
    â€œHm? Oh no. I just had to jump in with something otherwise Jordan Brewster would never have shut up.” He looked right at her again, and smiled.
    â€œWhat did you say your name was?”
    â€œTiny,” Tiny said hoarsely.
    â€œRight. Well, seriously, Tiny. Write something good. Save us all.”
    Just like that, he was gone, and Tiny was left standing there. It was like someone had ripped the beautiful hardwood floor right out from under her and she was falling through the gaping abyss, down, down, down, beneath the ground into the dark under-depths of the city.
    Her one chance to finally get over her first kiss. Crushed.
    There was a door on the other side of the kitchen. Leading away from Josh, away from Lu and Nathaniel, away from the rest of the party. She didn’t care where it went. She just had to get out of there.
    She pushed through it and took the stairs on the other side two at a time, her face burning.

Lu
    â€œTiny?” Lu turned around, but Tiny was gone. She lifted her eyes to scan the room, and her heart froze.
    Standing directly across from her, separated by a sea of bodies, was Will. She knew he had seen her because he was frozen too. They locked eyes.
    Immediately Lu spun around and began intently studying the framed photographs on the wall behind her. Just her luck, the first one she saw was of baby Will, splashing around in a kiddie pool. Naked.
    â€œFuck my life,” she muttered under her breath.
    â€œMy parents put those up. Embarrassing, right?”
    She didn’t turn around.
    â€œYou really couldn’t keep your clothes on as a kid, could you?” Lu tried to smirk, but it was as if she hadn’t used her smirking muscles in a while and they kept twitching in the most uncool way.
    â€œNothing you haven’t seen before,” Will said automatically. Then, as Lu’s shoulders tensed, he quickly added, “Sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I shouldn’t have—”
    Lu was dying to see his face. Was he sorry? Curiosity got the better of her. Slowly, she turned around. He was just standing there, his hands in his pockets, and when she met his eyes, his cheeks turned pink, which was a weird look on him. Lu fought with every ounce of self-control she had not to let hers do the same.
    Will cleared his throat. “So,” he said, regaining some of his swagger. “You’re at my party.”
    â€œIt would seem that way, wouldn’t it?” Lu replied, brushing her hair casually over her shoulder. Will raised an eyebrow.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œI’ve never seen you at one of my parties