Palm Sweat and Papaya Seeds

Maya's palms were sweating so much she could practically water plants with them. Standing at the edge of the padel court, watching Carlos laugh with his friends, she felt like the world's biggest dweeb. This was it—her moment to finally talk to him after three months of accidentally-on-purpose passing by his locker between classes.

"You got this, girl," whispered Jaz, her best friend who'd somehow convinced her that today was the day. "Just be chill."

Chill. Right. Maya was about as chill as a goldfish in a boiling pot. Her goldfish, Finny, had more rizz than she did, and he literally swam in circles all day.

Carlos spotted her and waved. "Hey! You gonna watch us play?"

"Uh, yeah!" Maya's voice came out three octaves higher than normal. Smooth. "I mean, yeah, I love padel. It's basically tennis but, like, cooler."

That wasn't even true. She'd watched exactly one YouTube tutorial last night at 2 AM.

Carlos jogged over, wiping sweat from his forehead. "You should join us. We need a fourth for mixed doubles."

Her brain short-circuited. Her palms were now actively leaking. "I—uh—I actually have this thing..."

"Maya!" Jaz hissed. "Say yes!"

But before Maya could either humiliate herself or spontaneously develop athletic ability, her phone buzzed. Her mom. Again.

"Everything okay?" Carlos asked, all genuine concern and dimples.

Maya sighed. "My mom's at the grocery store. She's been texting me for twenty minutes asking which papaya is ripe. She's holding up the line, FaceTiming every single one."

Carlos burst out laughing. "No way. My mom does that with avocados."

"Ripe or nah?" Maya deadpanned. "It's literally her catchphrase."

"Solidarity, sister." He held up his hand for a high five. Maya hesitated, then slapped her palm against his. Her sweaty palm.

But Carlos didn't even flinch. "Hey, I'm gonna grab some papaya too. Maybe your mom can FaceTime me for advice."

"Bet." Maya grinned. "But fair warning—she'll ask you about your GPA and college plans while judging the fruit."

"Worth it." Carlos winked. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Same time tomorrow."

As they walked away, Jaz practically tackled her with a side hug. "Did you just—did you just get a date?"

"Maybe." Maya looked at her palm, still tingling where it had touched Carlos's. "Or maybe I just made the weirdest connection over my mom's papaya crisis."

"This ain't it." Jaz shook her head. "This is everything."