The Cable Guy's Guide to Heartbreak

Leo's summer job was technically 'pool maintenance assistant' but honestly it was mostly skimming leaves and pretending not to notice when seniors did water aerobics to 2000s pop hits. The pool at the rec center was where everyone ended up eventually — the cool kids, the drama kids, the kids who brought guitars but never actually played them.

And Maya was there every Tuesday.

'You're literally staring again,' said Jamal, who'd been Leo's best friend since they got paired for a potato clock project in seventh grade and somehow both failed. 'It's giving creepy, my guy.'

'I'm not staring. I'm... observing from a distance. For safety purposes. Like a lifeguard.'

'Bro. You're not even on duty today.' Jamal flopped onto one of the lounge chairs. 'You're running out of excuses not to talk to her. This is sad.'

Leo adjusted his glasses, which did nothing to help his case. The problem wasn't just that Maya was smart and funny and had that whole effortless vibe that Leo would never achieve. The problem was his home internet situation.

See, Leo was a streamer. Small time, like 45 viewers on a good night. But his parents refused to upgrade their internet, and the cable company kept pushing the appointment back. So he'd been streaming from his phone, using data, trying to build his gaming channel while dealing with three-second lag.

And Maya? Maya was a moderator in his chat. She'd been there for months, leaving funny comments, helping moderate the trolls. She didn't know it was him. The pool guy she probably thought was kind of weird and definitely not smooth.

'I'm gonna do it,' Leo said suddenly. 'Today. I'm gonna tell her.'

'Tell her what? That you're obsessed with her or that your internet is so trash you stream from mobile data?'

'Jamal, your support is literally zero percent right now.'

Maya walked over, towel wrapped around her like a dress, wet hair dripping down her back. 'Hey Leo,' she said. 'You good? You've been standing there staring at nothing for like two minutes.'

Everything in Leo's head short-circuited. This was it. The moment. The words were there, somewhere, hiding behind the panic and the sudden realization that his life was actually a romantic comedy written by someone who hated him.

'I,' Leo started. 'The cable guy is coming. Thursday. Finally. So I'll be back to streaming properly.'

Maya's eyebrows went up. 'Wait. You're SlothKing?'

Jamal made a noise like a dying duck.

'You watch my streams?' Leo managed, while simultaneously planning his own disappearance.

'Maya,' said another voice. 'Ready to go? Mom's waiting.' It was her older brother, the one who worked at the cable company.

Leo's life was a cosmic joke.

'Yeah,' Maya said, but she was looking at Leo, grinning now. 'Hey. Your internet issues? My brother's the one who's been pushing your appointment back. He said you kept requesting the 'gamer package' and he thought it was funny to make you wait.' She pulled out her phone. 'I'll text him. You'll be live by tonight.'

She winked. 'Don't think I didn't recognize you from your profile pic, Leo. I just wanted to see how long it'd take you to say something.'

As she walked away, Jamal turned to him. 'I'm never letting you live this down.'

'Yeah,' Leo said, watching Maya go. 'Worth it.'