Sweaty Palms & Vitamin C

Maya's palms were sweating so bad she might actually slip off her chair. Which would be tragic, since she was currently sitting in the school auditorium surrounded by half the sophomore class, all watching her group's presentation like their lives depended on it.

"And that's why the Great Pyramid of Giza represents the pinnacle of ancient Egyptian engineering," Liam said smoothly, gesturing at their poster board with the confidence of someone who'd never had a panic attack in their life.

Maya's turn was next. Her part about the pyramid's internal chambers was literally three sentences. Three. But her heart was racing like she'd just chugged three espresso shots, and her brain had conveniently forgotten how English worked.

"The, uh, internal structure..." she started, her voice cracking. Someone giggled. Of course.

She fumbled with her note cards, dropping them everywhere. The humiliation was absolute. This was it. This was how she died.

"You good?" whispered Kelsey, the girl she'd been lowkey crushing on since September, who was sitting two rows over.

Maya's face burned. She nodded frantically, snatching up her cards.

"Anyway," Liam jumped in, saving her. "The pyramid contains three main chambers."

After school, Maya sat on the edge of the sidewalk, feeling like a certified loser. Kelsey found her there.

"You forgot to take your vitamin this morning or something?" Kelsey asked, dropping down beside her.

"What?" Maya blinked.

"Your mom posted in the neighborhood Facebook group that you left without your vitamin C gummies. She seemed stressed about your immune system." Kelsey grinned. "My little brother saw it and told me."

Maya groaned. "Of course she did. I can't believe my mom's Facebook stalking is now part of my legacy."

"Hey, at least you didn't barf during the presentation," Kelsey said. "Last year, Marcus actually threw up while talking about the French Revolution. He's still known as Puke-toven."

Maya laughed despite herself. "That's terrible."

"Wanna walk to 7-Eleven?" Kelsey asked, casual as anything. "I need slushie brain freeze to forget this week."

Maya's palm was still sweaty when Kelsey interlaced their fingers three blocks later, but she decided that maybe, just maybe, that wasn't always a bad thing.