Palm Sweats & Party Foxes

Maya's palms were sweating against the plastic cup, and she knew it wasn't just the July heat or the way the **water** in her solo cup had gone warm. It was Jackson – aka **Fox** (earned because he'd once talked his way out of detention three times in one week) – standing by the bonfire looking stupidly hot in his snapback.

"You good?" her best friend Kai whispered. "You've been clutching that cup like it's your lifeline."

"I'm chill," Maya lied, adjusting her bucket **hat** lower. The brim was basically a security blanket at this point. "Just... observing."

"You're overthinking again." Kai bumped her shoulder. "Literally no one is watching you. We're at a beach bonfire, not the Met Gala."

But then she saw it – Fox was **running** toward them, all long limbs and that effortless grin that made half the sophomore class swoon. Maya's heart did this complicated gymnastics routine.

"Hey!" He stopped, breathless. "You're Maya, right? From AP Bio?"

She nodded, terrified she'd say something weird.

"Cool." He gestured toward the **water**. "Wanna help with the cooler? My boys are arguing over who has to carry it, and I figured..."

"Sure."

As they walked, Maya's palms stopped sweating. Maybe it was the ocean breeze, or maybe it was the way Fox talked about everything with zero filter – how he hated his nickname, how he was failing algebra, how he thought bonfires were basic but came anyway because his friends made him.

"Real talk," he said, setting down the cooler. "I thought you'd be stuck-up."

Maya laughed. "And I thought you'd be... I don't know. Different."

"Different how?"

"Less... real."

Fox grinned, and for once it wasn't his smooth Fox grin – it was something genuine. "Same. But hey, sometimes people surprise you."

They sat by the **water** until the bonfire burned down, talking about nothing and everything. Maya's hat ended up on Fox's head (he looked ridiculous, and she took a pic for blackmail later). Her palms were dry, her chest light.

Maybe beach parties weren't so scary after all. Or maybe she'd just found someone worth sweating over for the right reasons.