The Unremembered Spark

I swear, the universe has a twisted sense of humor. Here I am, Leo, the guy who could probably charm a grumpy badger out of its favorite berry bush, and Maya, the girl who could probably out-charm the badger *and* steal its berries, and we’re… well, we’re not exactly trying to steal each other’s berries anymore. It’s more like we’re trying to figure out which of us accidentally left the jam jar lid off.

The talent show was a distant, glitter-covered memory. Zack, my ex-girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend who somehow still thinks he’s in the running, had been a ridiculous footnote. We’d done our thing, the audience had loved it, and suddenly, the world didn’t feel quite so much like a battleground. It felt more like… a really interesting, slightly confusing playground.

“So,” Maya started, her voice light, too light, as we walked home from school. The late afternoon sun cast long, dramatic shadows, the kind I usually loved for my magic acts, but now just made me squint. “Are we… still enemies?”