The Splash

Maya's fingers hovered over her iPhone, the glow illuminating her face in the darkness of her bedroom. Still no text from Kai. It had been three hours since the incident at the baseball field, and she was spiraling.

She glanced at her goldfish, Admiral Bubblebottom, floating serenely in his bowl on her nightstand. "You'd never leave me hanging like this, would you?" she whispered. The fish did a lazy flip, as if in agreement.

The day had started with so much promise. Maya had finally worked up the courage to talk to Kai at the baseball game where their high school was crushing it. She'd spent twenty minutes fixing her hair in the bathroom mirror, practicing her opening line. When she'd finally approached him in the stands, nervous energy making her hands shake, she'd somehow managed to trip over her own feet.

The humiliation had been immediate and crushing. Her water bottle had gone flying, dousing Kai's jeans. He'd jumped up like he'd been burned, and Maya had just started running.

Not like graceful track-team running. More like desperate I-need-to-disappear-right-now running, straight out of the stadium and all the way home without stopping once.

Her phone buzzed.

"Hey. My jeans are still wet. That was actually pretty hilarious. Want to hang out tomorrow?"

Maya stared at the screen. Then she started laughing so hard that Admiral Bubblebottom did a startled loop-de-loop in his bowl. The most embarrassing moment of her life, and Kai thought it was hilarious.

Her thumbs flew across the screen: "Only if you promise not to bring any water bottles."

Three dots appeared. Then: "Deal."

Maya flopped back on her bed, grinning at the ceiling. Some days, you trip over your own feet in front of your crush. And sometimes, if you were lucky, that trip became a running start toward something better.