Palm Tree Confidential

The party was already lit before Maya even stepped onto the patio. She could hear the bass thumping from Jaxon's backyard, feel the vibration in her chest even from the sidewalk. Her phone buzzed one last time—12% battery.

"You coming or what?" Maya's best friend Chloe rolled her eyes from the gate. "Everyone's gonna be there."

Maya adjusted her crop top for the third time. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming."

Inside, the crowd was thick with juniors and seniors Maya barely recognized. Someone was passing around those expensive seltzers everyone pretended to like. Maya gravitated toward the edge of the pool, where the massive palm tree cast long shadows across the concrete. It felt safer here, away from the center where the popular kids congregated in their perfectly coordinated outfits.

That's when she saw him—Ethan, leaning against the outdoor bar, laughing at something Maya wished she'd said. Her stomach did that annoying little flip it always did when he was around. Without thinking, she ducked behind the palm tree's rough trunk, peering around its side like some amateur spy in a bad movie.

"Maya?"

She jumped, nearly dropping her phone. It was Sophia, Ethan's ex-girlfriend, standing there with a confused expression. "Are you... hiding behind a palm tree right now?"

"No! I mean—" Maya's face burned. "I was just... my phone was dying and I was looking for—"

"A charging cable?" Sophia finished, reaching into her pocket. "Because Jaxon's sister has like five inside, but everyone's using them for Insta stories."

Maya stood there frozen, feeling like the biggest loser on planet Earth. She'd literally been caught lurking behind a tree like a creeper.

But Sophia just laughed. "Dude, I've totally been there. Last month I spent twenty minutes 'examining the artwork' in the hallway just to avoid walking into chem class alone." She handed Maya a tangled cable. "Here. And for the record? Ethan's been asking about you all week."

Maya's brain short-circuited. "What?"

"Yeah. He thinks you're smart. Like, actually smart, not pretend smart." Sophia gestured toward the house. "Go talk to him. I promise he won't bite."

The cable snapped into place—100%. Maya took a deep breath, stepped out from behind the palm tree, and walked toward the party.