The Pyramid Scheme of Heartbreak

My sweaty palms were literally dripping onto my jeans. Gross, but also—fair. I was hiding behind a fake ficus plant at Tyler's house party, watching Amber across the room. Being a social spy wasn't exactly how I'd planned to spend my Friday night, but here we were.

Amber was wearing this orange dress that shouldn't have worked but totally did, like she'd personally invented the color just to torment me. She was standing near the makeshift DJ booth where that loudmouth Jake was holding court. I watched him lean in, all confidence and too much cologne.

"That's such bull," Amber said, her voice cutting through the bass. "My cousin tried that last year. It's literally a pyramid scheme."

My heart did this little Olympic gymnastics routine. She was smart. She saw through Jake's obvious crypto-MLM-whatever pitch. Meanwhile, I was still crouching behind a decorative plant like a total creep.

"Hey, what are you doing down there?"

I looked up. Amber was standing there, actual Amber, holding a Solo cup and looking at me with... amusement? Crap. I'd been made.

"I was, uh, admiring the... ficus?" I stood up, trying to play it cool and failing spectacularly. "It's really... leafy."

She laughed, and it was this warm, genuine sound that made my stomach do backflips. "You're such a dork." She gestured toward the door. "Wanna get out of here? Jake's been talking about financial freedom for twenty minutes and I think I'm losing brain cells."

We ended up sitting on her front steps in the cool night air, sharing stories and lying on our backs watching the stars. My palms were still sweaty, but somehow that didn't matter anymore.

"You know," she said, turning to me with this soft smile. "I've been wanting to talk to you all night. I just didn't know how to—not without looking like I was trying too hard."

I stared at her, processing this information like my brain was buffering on slow internet. "Wait, really?"

"Really." She reached over and gently traced the lines on my palm with her finger. "See? You're gonna be fine. More than fine."