The Spy Who Forgot to Mute

Maya's hands were shaking as she clutched her iPhone under the desk. Mr. Harrison was droning on about quadratic equations, but her mind was somewhere else entirely—specifically, on the accidental Instagram story she'd posted two minutes ago. Her cat, Luna, had knocked over a water glass onto her phone right as she was trying to delete it. The screen had gone black, and now she had no idea if her middle school crush had seen her accidentally liking his photo from three years ago.

"You okay?" whispered Kaitlyn from the seat next to her. "You look like you're about to hurl."

"Fine," Maya lied. "Just... drama."

The bell rang. Maya grabbed her backpack and speed-walked to the padel courts behind the school, where she knew she'd get cell service. She needed to check her phone immediately. But as she rounded the corner, she froze.

There he was. Ryan. The guy whose photo she'd accidentally liked. And he was... holding her phone?

"Looking for this?" He held up her iPhone, screen unlocked. "Your cat really did a number on it. Water damage is serious stuff."

Maya's face burned. "How did you—"

"Saw you drop it when Luna knocked over that water cup in math." Ryan grinned. "I was gonna give it back, but then I saw your screen was still on that photo. From when we were in eighth grade?"

Maya wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. "I was just... stalking. Like a spy. I'm weird, I know."

Ryan laughed. Not mean-laughing. The good kind. "Dude, I still have that screenshot you sent me when you said my hair looked good in that same picture."

Wait. WHAT?

"Wait... you screenshot that?"

"Yeah." Ryan's ears turned pink. "I was gonna say something but... I don't know. I thought you'd think I was weird."

Maya stared at him. Then at her phone. Then back at him. "So... you liked me back then?"

"Back then?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Who said I stopped?"

The bell rang for next period, but neither of them moved. Luna the cat was probably somewhere sleeping, totally unaware she'd just become the world's best accidental wingman. And as Maya's phone buzzed in Ryan's hand—probably drying out, hopefully not dead forever—she realized sometimes the most embarrassing moments aren't the end of the world.

Sometimes they're just the beginning.