Sweaty Palms and Cat Whiskers

Maya's palms were sweating. Actually sweating. She wiped them on her jean shorts for the third time, watching Kai laugh at something across the backyard.

"You good?" Jordan asked, appearing beside her with a red cup. "You look like you're about to pass a kidney stone."

"I'm fine," Maya lied. "Just... vibing."

"You're not vibing. You're obsessing." Jordan rolled their eyes. "Bro, just go talk to him already."

Easier said than done. Maya had been crushing on Kai since September, when he'd defended her favorite anime in homeroom and somehow made it sound cool instead of nerdy. Now they were at Lily's spring party, and Maya had spent exactly zero time near him.

She reached into her pocket and fingered the emergency vitamin C gummy she'd brought—her mom's suggestion for "stress support." Lame.

Suddenly, something brushed against her ankle. Maya looked down.

A cat. A massive orange cat with the cattitude of a thousand TikTok divas, currently winding through her legs like she was a human scratching post.

"Oh my GOD," Maya breathed, dropping to her knees. "Hi baby. Hello gorgeous. Who's a good kitty?"

The cat tolerated exactly three pets before flopping over dramatically, exposing its belly like it owned the place.

"That's Cheddar," said a voice.

Maya froze. Kai stood there, hands in his pockets, smiling down at her.

"He... he chose me," Maya said eloquently.

"Yeah, he does that. Thinks he's people." Kai crouched down beside her. "I'm Kai, by the way. We have English together?"

"I'm Maya. Yeah, third period."

"Right! You sit by the window. You're always drawing." Kai nodded at Cheddar, who was now purring like a chainsaw. "So... you like cats?"

"Obsessed," Maya admitted. "I follow like forty cat accounts on Insta. It's a problem."

Kai laughed, and it was better than his laugh from across the yard—warmer, realer. "Same, honestly. My cat has his own Instagram. Don't judge me."

"No judgment here. Send me the handle," Maya said, and it came out smooth, somehow.

"It's @SirCheddarLivesLarge. He's got like, two hundred followers. My mom follows him."

Maya laughed, surprised and genuine. When she stood up, her palms weren't sweaty anymore. They were just hands, and she was just a girl who'd spent ten minutes petting a cat with the boy she'd been terrified to talk to all year.

Sometimes the universe sends you exactly what you need. Sometimes it sends an orange cat named Cheddar.

Either way, you take it.