As she played music and worked out before her shift, Kayden’s mind wandered against her will, dancing from the tasks she needed to do, to Aisha’s religious predicament, to memories, and then to Misha again.

The unsent text message from two nights ago came to the foreground. Without much hesitation, she snatched her phone from the bed and navigated to the conversation, immediately hitting “send” without bothering to rephrase the message: ‘Hey, are you still teaching classes over the summer?’

She didn’t expect an immediate response, and yet as she packed a snack for work and changed into her uniform, the lack of a reply filled her with regret.

Maybe she should only talk to him about video games. Were narrow boundaries necessary for friendship? They could have more in common, after all. They’d already commiserated over their less-than-stellar mothers. Why shouldn’t she just message him whenever she felt like it? Why couldn’t he do the same?

Barely an hour into her shift, she felt her phone in her back pocket vibrate. Her heart jumped once in her chest before normalizing.

Sunday at the diner was steady business, so she had to wait another agonizing hour before she had a moment to herself long enough to check her phone.

While drinking water and snacking on her carrots in the back, she stealthily took a peek. Her lock screen revealed a preview of Misha’s reply, so she quickly unlocked her phone.

Misha: No, actually last year was my final summer course.

She grinned, thinking to reply, ‘Oh, so I got lucky, then?’ but refrained. Instead she quickly swiped, ‘Nice. So what are your plans then for all this free time?’

After sending it, the regret crept back up. That message could come across as her seeking to spend time with him. Maybe she was, but she didn’t want to be obvious. She decided to immediately send another text to clarify: ‘Like, are you going to go on a long vacation or something?’

She continued about her shift as normal, trying not to take too many mini-breaks to be on her phone, but still took any free opportunity to at least check the lock screen for new messages. 

A sudden hushed voice brushed her ear. “You got plans?”

Kayden flinched in surprise with a small gasp, whipping halfway around to see Zayna on her toes, having peeked over Kayden’s shoulder. “What?”

“You’ve been checking your phone a lot tonight. Just wondering if you have plans after work or something.”

“Oh.” She tucked the phone back in her pocket and waved her other hand casually. “No, it’s nothing important. Just… talking to someone.”

Her eyebrows perked up along with one corner of her mouth. “Oooh, that’s exciting! I’ve never heard you say that about anyone before. How did you meet him?”

Her eyes widened, lips parting in surprise. She forgot that people used ‘talking to’ as a way of saying ‘almost dating’ someone. Her voice cracked in mild panic while both hands flapped in dismissive defense. “Oh, no, no I didn’t mean it like that. He’s just… it’s just… it’s not like that.” She pivoted on her heel and scurried passed Zayna to tend to her tables.

From then on, Kayden ignored her phone except for at lunch and on bathroom breaks, the first of which she urgently took so she could respond to Misha.

Misha: Haha, no long trips for me. I have a commissioned table to make this week before I go visit my brother. I’ll probably keep taking on projects like that.

Her brows subconsciously scrunched together.

Kayden: Wait, you’re a carpenter, too?

The anxiety she felt about coming off as weird or pushy was dissipating. Though she had to finish the conversation in bursts throughout her long shift, she was glad she initiated it in the first place.

Misha: Well… to be fair, carpentry is kind of a type of engineering...

Kayden: Lol, I don’t think anyone has ever classified it that way before. Besides, aren’t you a CHEMICAL engineer?

Misha: I am a man of many talents. I’m also a mechanical engineer.

He included a melting smile emoticon.

Kayden: How much of that was forced on you?

Misha: A lot, but I actually do like working with my hands. But enough of that… are you taking any summer courses this year?

Kayden: Funny enough, last year was probably the only year I needed it. Everything else fits nicely into my schedule for a four year degree.

Misha: Well, then I’m glad I did one more summer class just in time for you.

Kayden sat dumbfounded in the driver seat of her car, rereading the last message after closing the diner. Was he flirting with her? Just, so casually, like it was no big deal? Was this even flirting? Was he just being friendly? She knew how to flirt…she had plenty of experience in that arena, so why was she so confused right now? How would she even respond to it?

The short three-minute drive home was loud with her thoughts. She actually wished she’d walked to work so that the return trip would be longer, and the fresh air mind-clearing.

When she parked in her carport, she decided on her message.

Kayden: Looks like I must have had some luck on my side.

If he could flirt, then so could she.