Summer of Second Chances

Leo's palms were sweating so bad he could barely grip the **baseball** bat. At fifteen, standing in Maya's backyard surrounded by the popular crowd, he felt like he'd stepped into some teen movie where he was obviously the comic relief.

Maya, who everyone called **Fox** because she was cunning and played everything close to the chest, leaned against the oak tree watching him. Her signature smirk made his stomach do backflips.

"You gonna hit something, or just hold the bat all day?" called Tyler, Maya's jerk of an ex. The group laughed.

Leo's face burned. Then chaos struck—his golden retriever Buster came bounding out of nowhere, chasing a squirrel. The **dog** slammed into Leo, knocking him into a tangle of old TV **cable** someone had left on the ground.

Laughter erupted. Not the good kind. Leo lay there, mortified, staring up at the sky through the tree branches. His vision blurred with embarrassment.

But then a hand appeared in front of him. Maya's hand, with that little **palm** tree tattoo on her wrist that he'd noticed weeks ago in algebra. He'd never actually seen her up close enough to notice she had freckles.

"You okay?" She pulled him up, actually concerned. "That was actually kind of legendary."

"Legend-ly embarrassing," Leo muttered.

"Nah." She grinned. "Tyler's just mad because he couldn't pull off that fall even if he tried. Besides, Buster has good taste."

Leo blinked. Maya was talking to him. Actually talking to him. Not at him, TO him.

"Wanna get ice cream?" she asked. "My treat. For surviving the Tyler show."

"Yeah," Leo managed, still dazed. "I'd like that."

As they walked away, Buster trotted beside them like nothing had happened. Leo didn't even care that his jeans were grass-stained or that he'd probably be the joke at school on Monday. Sometimes, the worst moments become the best stories. And this one was just beginning.