Sweaty Palms and Other Party Tricks

Maya's palms were sweating so bad she could practically water plants with them. First real party of sophomore year, and she was stuck against the wall like forgotten furniture. Meanwhile, Skylar — the human embodiment of having it together — was in the center of the living room, surrounded by people who actually laughed at her jokes. Maya wanted that. Or at least, she wanted to not feel like she was constantly one wrong move away from total social suicide.

"You look like you're mentally calculating your exit strategy," said someone directly behind her.

Maya jumped. It was Leo from chemistry, the guy who'd lent her a pen three weeks ago and somehow turned that tiny interaction into legendary status in her brain.

"Is it that obvious?" Maya wiped her hands on her dress. "I'm not great at... this."

"Same," Leo said. "I've been hiding in the kitchen for forty minutes. I saw three different people take drinks from the same cup without using new ones and I can't stop thinking about germs."

Maya actually laughed. "Okay, that's valid."

"Wanna get some air? There's this old fox terrier that lives next door — it's always running loose and barking at nothing. Weirdly entertaining."

They slipped out back, and sure enough, this scruffy dog was chasing its tail in circles like its life depended on it.

"That's not a fox terrier," Maya said. "That's literally just confused."

"Same difference." Leo leaned against the fence. "You know what's funny? Everyone in there is trying so hard to look chill. Meanwhile, the dog's just out here living its best life."

A cat jumped onto the fence above them, looking down with maximum judgment.

"Oh great," Leo said. "Now we have an audience."

"You think anyone in there would notice if we just... stayed out here all night?"

"Skylar would definitely notice," Leo said. "She texted me, like, five times asking where you went."

Maya blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, she thinks you're cool. She was literally just hyping you up to everyone before you disappeared into the wall."

Maya's palms stopped sweating. "Seriously?"

"Dude, she's been trying to talk to you all week. You're just too busy being in your head about everything to notice." Leo grinned. "So, you coming back inside, or what?"

The fox terrier finally caught its tail, looked proud for exactly three seconds, then fell over sideways.

Maya laughed — really laughed. "Yeah. Let's go."

"Cool," Leo said. "Just don't touch any of the cups. I saw what I saw and I'm still recovering."