Spark in the Bottle

Maya stood in front of her bathroom mirror, applying her third layer of mascara. Her hands were shaking so bad she looked like she'd been mainlining espresso.

"You got this," she whispered to herself. "It's just coffee. With Ryan. Who's never spoken to you in AP Bio until yesterday. When he asked you out. Totally normal. Nothing to freak out about."

Her cat, Mochi, wandered in and head-butted her ankle, demanding attention. Maya scooped him up, burying her face in his soft fur. Mochi, at least, wouldn't judge her for overthinking every single social interaction.

"At least one of us is calm," she muttered, setting him down. On the counter, her phone buzzed. Ryan: *Hey! Running a few mins late, be there in 10*

Maya's stomach did that thing—like *lightning* struck her nervous system and she'd forgotten how to human. She grabbed her emergency *vitamin* D gummies from her bag and shoved two in her mouth. Her mom swore they helped with "mood regulation," which was mom-code for "stop having anxiety, Maya."

She rushed downstairs, checking her reflection one last time in the hallway mirror. Cute outfit? Check. Hair not doing that weird flip thing? Check. Ability to form complete sentences in front of the cute boy she'd been lowkey obsessed with since September?

TBD.

The doorbell rang. Mochi, traitor that he was, immediately bolted toward it like Ryan was his long-lost best friend.

Maya opened the door, and there he was—wearing a hoodie that definitely cost more than her entire wardrobe and smiling like he didn't know he was about to spend the next hour dissecting his entire personality with someone who'd prepared thirty possible conversation topics on her Notes app.

"Hey," he said. "Ready?"

Maya took a breath. *Vitamin* D activated. *Cat* approved. *Lightning* couldn't stop her now.

"Born ready," she lied, and stepped outside into her very own rom-com.

She might've been terrified. She might've kept her Notes app open in her pocket the entire time.

But Ryan laughed at her terrible jokes. And for the first time, Maya didn't overthink whether that meant something good or terrible.

She just let herself be okay with not knowing.