The Crush Cable

Marcus's palms were sweating. Like, actually sweating. He wiped them on his jeans for the third time in two minutes, which probably made him look weird, but whatever. Maya was sitting three rows away in AP World, pretending to listen to Mr. Henderson drone on about ancient Egypt while secretly braiding tiny friendship bracelets under her desk.

The social pyramid of sophomore year was brutal, and Marcus was currently hovering somewhere near the middle—not quite achieving cool status, but far from invisible. Today was the day he'd finally make his move. He'd practiced what to say approximately 47 times in front of his mirror.

"Hey Maya, you doing anything this weekend?"

Simple. Effective. Not desperate.

His phone was dead. Of course. The charging cable sat uselessly at home, mocking his entire existence. Whatever. He'd do this the old-fashioned way.

The bell rang. Chaos erupted—backpacks zipping, chairs screeching, everyone bolting for the door like the building was on fire. Marcus dodged a freshman who was apparently having an existential crisis in the middle of the hallway and made his move.

"Hey Maya!"

Too loud. Way too loud. Several people turned. Someone's hat—a neon green beanie that defied all fashion logic—flew off someone's head and landed near Marcus's feet. He kicked it out of instinct. It skidded across the linoleum.

"My hat!" yelled Tyler, who Marcus had never even spoken to before.

"Sorry!" Marcus called back, still walking toward Maya. "Hey Maya, wait up!"

She turned. Those eyes. The ones that made his brain glitch.

"Marcus? You okay? You look... intense."

"Yeah! Totally! Just wanted to ask—"

"MY HAT!" Tyler appeared out of nowhere, retrieving his neon green monstrosity from the floor where it had landed against a row of lockers. "Dude, you literally kicked my hat."

"My bad, man. Marcus said, already turning back to Maya. "So I was—"

"Anyway," Maya said, grinning, "I'm working on that Egypt project after school if you wanna join. We're building a sugar cube pyramid. It's gonna be legit."

Marcus's brain short-circuited. "A pyramid? Like, the ancient kind?"

"Unless you know another kind." She raised an eyebrow. "You in or what?"

"In. So in."

"Cool. Meet in the library at 3. Don't be late."

She walked away, and Marcus stood there in the middle of the hallway, grinning like an absolute idiot while Tyler gave him a thumbs-up with his stupid neon hat.

Sometimes the universe worked in mysterious ways.