Sweaty Palms & Goldfish

Maya's palms were literally sweating as she leaned against the palm tree at Tyler's end-of-school party. The Hawaiian theme felt basic, but everyone was acting like it was iconic.

"Hey, you gonna stare at the cat all night or actually socialize?" Jordan appeared beside her, holding two red cups. He was the kind of cute that made your brain glitch.

"The cat has better social skills than me," Maya muttered. The calico was currently winding through legs like it owned the place, while Maya was just vibing with this tree.

Jordan laughed. "Wanna play baseball? They're setting up a game in the yard."

Maya's stomach did that thing where it forgets how to function. "I'm terrible at sports. Like, impressively terrible."

"Same." Jordan's grin was doing things to her heart rate. "We can be terrible together."

Before she could respond, someone screamed, and they turned to see Kylie accidentally knocking over the decorative fishbowl. The goldfish flopped on the patio, everyone standing there like frozen idiots.

Without thinking, Maya grabbed a papaya from the fruit table, carved out a quick hollow with her phone (gross but whatever), and scooped up the fish. She dumped it into someone's forgotten water cup.

"Did you just save a fish with a papaya?" Jordan asked, looking at her like she was a whole new level of awesome.

"She's in her utility player era," someone called out, and a few people laughed, but not in a mean way. In a whoa, that was kind of legendary way.

The baseball game never happened. Instead, Maya spent the rest of the night accidentally becoming the person who saved a fish with tropical fruit, which was apparently her vibe now. Jordan stayed by her side the whole time, their pinkies touching when they sat on the grass watching the goldfish swim in its new cup home.

"So," Jordan said softly as the party wound down, "you saving any other sea creatures tonight, or are you done playing hero?"

Maya's palms were still sweaty. But for the first time all night, she didn't care.