Palm-Slick and Running

Maya's palms were sweating. Again. She wiped them on her denim shorts for the third time, standing outside Tyler's locker like a total creep. This was it—she was actually going to ask him to spring formal. Her hands were literally dripping, her heart doing that weird fluttery thing that made her feel like she might throw up.

That's when the orange cat appeared.

It was this mangy stray with one ear that folded weirdly, like a crushed taco shell. It'd been showing up everywhere lately—on her morning run, outside the coffee shop where she worked weekends, now here at school. The cat sat on a nearby bench, watching her with these judgmental yellow eyes like it knew exactly what a loser she was being.

"Nice cat," a voice said.

Maya jumped and practically knocked her own backpack over. Tyler. He was standing right there, suddenly way too close. His hair looked messy in the kind of way that probably took actual effort.

"Oh, yeah, he's... he just follows me sometimes," Maya stammered. Her palms were officially swimming pools. "I'm not a crazy cat lady, I swear."

Tyler laughed, and it was this real laugh, not fake polite laughter. "I'm obsessed with cats. My mom's allergic, so I can't have one, but I follow, like, fifteen cat accounts on Instagram."

Wait. What?

The orange cat jumped off the bench and trotted between them, rubbing against Maya's shin then weaving through Tyler's legs like it was introducing them or something. Tyler bent down to pet it, and his knuckles grazed Maya's ankle, sending electric shocks up her leg.

"He likes you," she said, feeling suddenly bold. "He's usually super picky."

Tyler looked up, still petting the cat. "Maybe he has good taste."

The moment hung there, suspended and perfect, until the bell rang. They were both going to be late.

"I was gonna..." Maya started, then lost her nerve. "Never mind."

"What?" Tyler stood up, the orange cat already moving on like its work here was done.

Maya took a breath. Her palms were still sweating, but somehow that didn't matter anymore. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to go to formal with me. But like, as friends. Unless you want it to be more than friends. Either way. I'm cool with whatever. Oh my god, I'm rambling."

Tyler grinned. "I was literally standing at my locker wondering how I was gonna ask you the same thing."

The orange cat sat by the palm tree near the school entrance, looking pleased with itself. Maya's palms might've been sweating, but somehow, everything else felt incredibly, perfectly dry.