Palm Sweat and Cat Chaos

Maya's palms were sweating—again.

She stared at her phone, the notification glowing on her screen: Jaxon_H following you. Jaxon, the lacrosse captain whose perfect smile had been living rent-free in her head since seventh grade.

Her mom's voice cut through her spiraling thoughts. "Maya! Don't forget your **vitamin** D! Dr. Chen said you're deficient!"

"Got it, Mom!" Maya grabbed the bottle from the counter, swallowing the pill with a handful of tap water. Perfect. Now she was both vitamin-deficient and socially inept.

Her phone buzzed—Leo, basically a human **fox** with his orange hair and ability to weasel out of any awkward situation.

leo: jaxon asked if ur going to spring fling

leo: also rachel's spreading rumors that ur homeschooled now

maya: HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS

leo: im sitting at the table next to him. also my **cat** somehow got into the school and everyones chasing it. perfect distraction

Maya's sneakers squeaked against the linoleum as she sprinted toward the cafeteria. This was either the best or worst idea she'd ever had.

The scene was chaos—students shouting, teachers running, and Leo's calico cat perched atop a lunch table, looking deeply offended by the entire situation.

And there was Jaxon, laughing as he tried to coax the cat down with a chicken nugget. The sight of him, so unguarded and genuinely amused, made Maya's **palm**s sweat for an entirely different reason now.

She walked up beside him. "Need help?"

Jaxon turned, that smile directed at her for real. "Maya! Hey! Yeah, this cat is not impressed with my negotiation skills."

The cat chose that moment to leap from the table, snatching the nugget and bounding toward the doors with half the cafeteria in pursuit.

Jaxon groaned, wiping mustard from his jersey. "Well. That happened."

"You've got mustard—" Maya gestured vaguely at his shoulder.

Their fingers brushed as she wiped it away, and for three seconds, the noisy cafeteria faded to background static.

"So, spring fling," Jaxon said, not looking away. "You going?"

"Probably," Maya managed, her voice steadier than she felt. "You?"

"Was hoping to," he said. "With someone specific."

The bell rang, breaking the moment. But as Maya walked to her next class, she realized something: she'd spent so much time preparing for disaster that she'd forgotten to let herself hope for something good.

Her phone buzzed one more time.

leo: rachel just asked who the 'nobody' was that jaxon was talking to

leo: i told her that's my best friend and she's kinda amazing

Maya smiled so hard her face hurt. Sometimes the universe had a weird way of working things out.