Vitamin Boys and Party Sphinxes

Maya's palms were sweating. Not normal sweating, but like, catastrophic sweating — the kind that makes you wonder if everyone can see your nervous system malfunctioning through your skin.

"You good?" Liam asked, popping a gummy vitamin into his mouth like it was candy. Which, technically, it was.

"Never been better," she lied.

They were at Tyler's house. The Tyler. The one who'd smiled at her in chem lab yesterday, causing Maya to accidentally knock over her beaker and create a minor chemical incident.

Her phone buzzed. Chloe: *having panic attack. Abigail is wearing the EXACT SAME dress as me. SEND HELP.*

Maya typed back: *dying inside. will text if I survive.*

She spotted Tyler across the room, looking stupidly perfect in his flannel. He was talking to that senior girl, the one with the mysterious, almost sphinx-like smile that made everyone feel like they were missing something obvious.

Maya's dog, Buster, would've barked at everyone by now. She missed him. Missed how he'd barrel through her door every morning like she'd been gone for years instead of just sleeping.

"You should talk to him," Liam said, reading her mind like the annoying little brother he was.

"And say what? 'Hey, remember when I almost set the classroom on fire because you smiled at me?'"

Liam shrugged. "Worked for me once."

"You've literally never had a girlfriend."

"Details."

The DJ switched songs. Someone's dog started barking outside, a weird coincidence that made Maya's chest hurt.

Then Tyler was there. Actually there. Standing in front of her.

"Hey," he said. "You're Maya, right? From chem?"

She nodded, terrified.

"Cool," he said. "Wanna get some air? It's kinda bear in here."

"Bear?" she repeated, confused.

He laughed, and it was this genuine, dorky sound that made everything in her chest rearrange itself.

"Yeah. Like. Too many people. It's bear...ish? Like when a room is full and you're like, ugh, bear?"

Maya realized he was as nervous as she was. That he'd made up a word. That the sphinx-smiling senior was just a girl who'd practiced her smile in the mirror too many times.

"Yeah," she said, finding her voice. "It's totally bear in here."

They walked outside into the cool night air, and Maya thought: sometimes the scariest moments are just regular ones. Sometimes you just have to say yes to the weird, vitamin-gummy-eating boys and bear-filled rooms.

And sometimes, just sometimes, that's enough.