Greener Than You Think

Maya's palms were sweating so much she could practically water plants with them. Which was ironic, considering she was currently hiding behind a massive potted fern at Tyler's house party.

"You good?" her best friend Jin whispered, looking concerned.

"Fine," Maya lied, wiping her hands on her dress. "Just need a minute."

She'd spent forty-five minutes on her makeup, only to discover—five minutes before arriving—that she had **spinach** in her teeth from lunch. Now she was hyper-aware of every inch of her appearance, convinced everyone was judging her.

The party was typical high school chaos: someone's parents were out of town, the living room was packed, and some terrible rap song was blasting through speakers connected by a tangled **cable** someone had probably tripped over twice already.

Then she saw him. Leo.

Leo, who'd transferred in three months ago with his vintage jackets and quiet sarcasm. Leo, who'd smiled at her in chemistry yesterday and made her forget what a covalent bond was. Leo, who was currently looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"He's such a **fox**," Jin murmured. "Go talk to him."

"I literally cannot," Maya said. "My social battery is at 1%."

Jin rolled their eyes. "Maya, you're smart, you're funny, and that dress is everything. What's the worst that could happen?"

Before Maya could answer, Tyler's family's giant golden retriever **dog** came barrelling through the room, chasing a rogue beach ball. The collision was inevitable—Leo, directly in the path, got knocked into the **palm** tree in the corner, sending decorative fronds everywhere.

The room went silent for approximately one second before everyone started laughing—including Leo.

Maya didn't think. She just grabbed a napkin and headed over.

"You've got..." She pointed at her own cheek. "Fern leaves."

Leo brushed them off, grinning. "Classic me. Thanks for the rescue."

"Anytime," she said, and something about the way he looked at her made her add, "I'm Maya, by the way. Also consistently clumsy, so I feel your pain."

"Leo," he said. "And I don't believe you're clumsy. You look like you have your life together."

"Deceptive," she said. "I cried over a math test yesterday."

"Same," he said, and his easy laugh made something in her chest loosen.

They talked for twenty minutes about nothing and everything—about how weird high school was, about their shared hatred of cafeteria food, about how neither of them understood why people acted so different around certain crowds.

When Jin found her later, Maya was actually smiling for real now.

"Told you," Jin said. "Also, you had something in your teeth earlier, but I didn't want to stress you out."

"JIN!"

"Kidding! You're good!" Jin laughed. "See? You worried for nothing."

And as Maya waved goodbye to Leo—"Same time tomorrow?" "Absolutely"—she realized her palms were dry for the first time all night.

Sometimes the scariest moments were just opportunities in disguise. And sometimes, you just had to let the chaos happen and trust you'd figure it out.

Even if it took a dog and a fake plant to get you there.