Sweaty Palms & Fox Smiles

My palms were literally dripping. Like, actually gross. I'd been wiping them on my jeans for twenty minutes, but apparently anxiety sweat doesn't just vanish.

"You good?" Marcus asked, passing me a lukewarm soda.

"Yeah. Just... you know. The thing."

"The thing where you've been running from your feelings for Kael for six months instead of just talking to him like a normal human?"

Marcus didn't get it. He'd been with Priya since freshman year. They were that couple—the ones who matched their outfits on spirit days and left cute comments on each other's posts. Meanwhile, I was still figuring out how to exist near Kael without my brain short-circuiting.

Then Kael walked in. And she was with Her.

Chloe. Everyone called her "the fox" behind her back—not because she looked like one, but because she was genuinely calculated. Every move, every laugh, every hair flip seemed rehearsed. She wore confidence like it was a limited edition drop everyone else had slept on.

I watched them from the kitchen doorway. Kael laughing at something Chloe said. Their shoulders brushing. My stomach did that thing where it feels like your organs are rearranging themselves without permission.

Then Chloe looked at me. Dead-on, caught me staring. She smirked—this tiny, knowing thing that said *I see you, I know what you're feeling, and I'm winning.*

I bolted. Out the back door, into the humid night air, past the pool where people were taking selfies with flash that made everyone look like ghosts. I ended up by the old palm tree in the corner of the yard, the one someone had wrapped in string lights for some reason.

"Running again?"

I jumped. Kael was standing there, alone.

"Just... getting air."

"You've been doing that a lot lately. The running thing."

She stepped closer. The fairy lights caught in her hair like she'd caught stars in a braid.

"I'm not great at the feelings stuff," I admitted, my heart hammering like I'd just finished a 5K I hadn't trained for.

"I know." Her hand found mine. Palm against palm, and somehow mine weren't sweaty anymore. "You don't have to run away from this. Not from us."

The fox was still inside, probably looking for Kael. But Kael was here, holding my hand, and for the first time in six months, I stopped running.