The Cable Guy's Crush

I wiped my sweaty palm on my uniform shorts for the third time. 'You good, Marcus?' Jamal asked, grinning. 'You look like you're about to pass out.'

'Shut up,' I muttered. 'My hands just sweat when I'm nervous, okay?'

We were running cable through Ms. Henderson's attic – my first week on the job at Infinity Cable, and Jamal had already dubbed me 'Sweaty Marcus.' But that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was that Skylar Chen was housesitting next door, and I'd already caught her watching me through the window twice.

'Maybe she likes the cable guy aesthetic,' Jamal joked as we wrestled with the coaxial cable.

'Bro, no one likes the cable guy aesthetic,' I said, but my heart did this weird fluttery thing anyway.

An hour later, we were packing up when Skylar wandered over. 'Hey,' she said. 'You guys almost done? The Wi-Fi's been out all day.'

Jamal shot me a look. 'Marcus here was just about to check the connection.' He grabbed his phone. 'And my mom needs me. You got this, right?'

Before I could protest, he took off running down the driveway, leaving me alone with Skylar Chen and my increasingly sweaty palms.

'So,' she said, leaning against her porch railing. 'You're the new cable guy?'

'Uh, yeah.' I fumbled with my toolkit. 'Just for the summer. Saving for a car.'

'That's actually kinda cool,' she said, and I swear my stomach did a backflip. 'My brother's trying to get a job at Infinity too. Hey, you wanna come inside when you're done? I made iced coffee.'

My brain short-circuited. 'Yeah. I mean, sure. Let me just finish up here.'

As I worked, I caught her watching me through the window again. But this time, she didn't look away when our eyes met. She just smiled and lifted her coffee cup in a toast.

My palm was still sweating. But maybe, just maybe, that wasn't such a bad thing after all.