The Friday Night Melt-Down

Maya's hands wouldn't stop sweating. She wiped her palms on her jeans for the hundredth time, leaving dark streaks on the denim. Three hours until Jordan's party. The party where Aaron might actually notice her.

"Your hair looks great, Mimi," her sister called from the hallway. Maya had spent forty-five minutes perfecting the loose waves she'd spent all week researching on TikTok. But now she was second-guessing everything. Too much? Trying too hard?

She grabbed her phone and stared at the group chat. Everyone was posting outfit checks and pre-game hype. Maya felt like she was drowning in FOMO before she even left her room.

"You're not still taking those, right?" Her sister pointed at the vitamin gummies on Maya's desk—the ones some influencer swore would make your skin glow and hair grow faster. Maya had bought them with her allowance money last week, desperate for something, anything to fix whatever felt broken about her.

"They're basically candy," Maya muttered, shoving them in a drawer.

Downstairs, Buster—her family's ancient golden retriever—thumped his tail against the floor. He looked up at her with those dopey eyes, completely unimpressed by her crisis. Buster didn't care about Jordan's party or whether Aaron thought she was cute. Buster just wanted belly rubs and maybe to chew on something expensive.

Maya slid down to sit next to him, burying her face in his soft fur. He smelled like dirt and sunshine and unconditional love. Why couldn't high school be this simple?

"You're right," she told him. Buster licked her hand, leaving a wet stripe on her wrist. "Gross, but thanks."

Her phone buzzed. Aaron had posted something in the group chat:*

*

*who else is lowkey freaking about tonight lol*

Maya stared at the words. Aaron. The Aaron she'd been obsessing over for weeks. The one who looked effortless and confident and totally out of her league. Was nervous too?

Buster nudged her with his wet nose, whining for attention.

Maya typed back: *same here**

*Before she could overthink it, she hit send.

Three dots appeared immediately. Aaron was typing.

*we got this lol*

Maya's palms stopped sweating. She scratched Buster behind the ears, grabbed her hoodie, and headed for the door. Her hair could wait. The vitamins could wait. Whatever happened tonight happened—Aaron, the party, all of it.

She was going anyway.