Cable Kisses & Spinach Stuck

Maya's Friday shift at Food4Less was dragging until *HIM* walked in—Caleb, the junior who sat behind her in third period. She was organizing the **spinach** display (ironic, considering she hadn't eaten a vegetable since 2019) when he approached.

"Hey Maya," he said, all casual-cute in his oversized hoodie. "You working tonight?"

She tried to play it cool but ended up aggressively rearranging kale. "Yeah, until close. You need... vegetables?" Smooth. Real smooth.

"Nah, just wanted to say hi." Then—heaven help her—he leaned against the display and started talking about how he'd seen her at the football game. Maya stopped breathing. This was it. The moment.

Until her phone buzzed in her apron. Her bestie Kai: *Dude, your **dog** just escaped AGAIN. Your mom is blowing up my phone.*

Maya stared at Caleb, who was mid-story about his cousin's band. If she left, she'd miss THE opportunity. If she stayed, Buster might be halfway to Ohio by now.

"Uh, Maya? You good?" Caleb asked.

She wasn't. But also, she kinda was. "Yeah! Just... thinking about stuff."

Kai texted again: *I feel like a total **spy** staking out your house but I think I see him by the park.*

That's when the store manager's voice came over the intercom: "Maya to the back room. We have a... cable situation."

The **cable** situation was their old ethernet cord that kept tangling in the storage room, making the WiFi crash. Maya had to fix it because NO ONE else knew how. It was her superpower. Also her curse.

She looked at Caleb. She looked at her phone. She looked at the ceiling like, *seriously universe?*

"I gotta... handle something," Maya said, torn between teen dreams and family responsibilities. "But um... text me?"

Caleb's grin could've powered a small city. "Already have your number from the group project."

*HE HAD HER NUMBER ALREADY.* Maya nearly died right there by the organic produce.

She rushed to the back room, untangled the stupid cables, and then booked it to find her runaway dog. Kai was waiting by the park with Buster, who'd apparently made three new friends and possibly stolen someone's sandwich.

"You missed it," Kai said as they walked home, Buster trotting proudly beside them like he'd just conquered Narnia. "There was a literal **bear** on the news. Some hiking trail nearby, everyone's freaking out."

Maya laughed so hard she had to sit on a bench. Because OF COURSE the day she almost got her first kiss (okay, first almost-kissish conversation) was the day the town went full apocalypse mode.

"You good?" Kai asked.

"Yeah," Maya said, watching the sunset paint everything gold. "Actually, yeah."

Her phone buzzed. *Caleb: Spinach aisle tomorrow?*

Some days were mess. But sometimes, mess was perfect.