The Orange Peel Moment

I ducked behind the science building, pulling my **orange** peelmed lip balm from my pocket. My mom had bought it after watching some TikTok about "summer glow," and I'd been secretly using it for weeks, terrified someone would notice.

"Nice lip combo, Mia."

I jumped. Jake was leaning against the wall, effortlessly cool in his varsity jacket. My stomach did that familiar flip—it happened whenever he was within twenty feet.

"It's... my sister's," I lied, smoothly. "She left it in my bag." Great, now he thought I stole lip products from siblings.

"Your sister has good taste." Jake grinned. "You coming to watch **padel** practice?"

Padel. The sport everyone suddenly cared about since Jake made varsity. I'd been planning to "study" in the library—which meant watching his Instagram stories while pretending to read Pride and Prejudice.

"Maybe," I said, trying to sound casual. "If I finish my calc."

"You should. We're trying out new plays." He pushed off the wall. "Besides, someone needs to make sure I don't choke on those gummy **vitamin** C supplements I'm obsessed with."

"Wait—you take those?" I blurted.

"Every morning," he said, totally serious. "My immune system is trash. Haven't you noticed I'm always sick before tournaments?"

I hadn't, but now that he mentioned it...

"Jake! Come on!" His teammate yelled from the courts.

"See you there," he said, and I swear he almost winked.

My heart raced. Jake—Jake *Chen*—wanted me to watch practice. Jake with the perfect smile and 5,000 Instagram followers actually talked to me about vitamins.

Then I heard it—barking. A golden retriever bounded around the corner, leash dragging behind it. A girl I recognized as Jasmine, the new exchange student, chased after it.

"Sorry!" she called, but the **dog** had other plans. It jumped at me, knocking my backpack to the ground. My lip balm rolled out, stopping at Jake's sneakers.

Silence.

Then Jake picked it up. "Your sister's?" he asked, eyes dancing with amusement.

My face burned. "I... yeah."

"Cool." He handed it back, his fingers brushing mine. "See you at practice, Mia."

Jasmine apologized profusely, but I barely heard her. Because Jake knew. And he'd still asked me to come watch.

Sometimes the most embarrassing moments—the ones that make you want to disappear—turn out to be exactly what you need. I walked toward the courts, orange peelmed lips and all, ready for whatever came next.