chapter 1

Mia's thumbs hovered over her screen, the group chat notification blinking like a warning sign.

Zach had just dropped the most unhinged take ever about their English teacher's "no phones" policy. The chaos that followed? Chef's kiss.

> Zach: No way is Ms. Patel confiscating my emotional support device.

I'll simply pass away. Like literally, they'll find my body in the hallway.

Tell my TikTok followers I died doing what I loved avoiding eye contact with strangers.

Mia snort-laughed so hard her iced matcha almost came out her nose. She was sprawled across her bed in her usual nest of chaos LED lights set to a moody purple, three unfinished paintings leaning against the wall, and Luna, her cat, silently judging her from atop a pile of clean-but-not-folded laundry.

Ping.

> Kai: y'all I'm having a core memory rn

Kai: my mom just asked if "simp" was short for "simple" 💀💀💀

Kai: she said "are you calling your father a simple man?" I CANNOT

Mia wheezed, typing fast.

> Mia: STOP 😭 that's giving wholesome boomer energy tho

Zach: main character moment for your mom fr

Then her phone dinged again—different tone this time. TikTok live: @CosmosCoffeeShop.

The cursed local café. Their unofficial headquarters since sophomore year. And more importantly, home of The Barista—the one who made Mia malfunction every time he asked, "Oat milk in that?"

> Mia: CODE RED

Mia: Cosmos is doing a live???

Mia: why would they do this I'm in my gremlin era rn

> Zach: it's called FOMO babe look it up

Kai: bet

Zach: meet you there in 10

Mia groaned into her pillow, but her hand was already reaching for her platform boots. She wasn't about to miss whatever chaotic energy was about to unfold.

---

Twenty minutes later, the trio pushed into Cosmos, the bell above the door jingling like it knew their lives were about to be ruined.

The place was packed, but not with the usual laptop zombies. A circle had formed around the middle of the room, and Vinyl Dad aka Mr. Peterson, the owner was holding a retro microphone like this was open mic night at a 2007 dive bar.

"Welcome to Cosmos' first ever Embarrassment Night!" he said, way too enthusiastically.

Mia blinked. "I'm sorry, what did he just say?"

Zach's grin was borderline feral. "It's giving social anxiety nightmare."

"For our first brave participant," Vinyl Dad continued, "we have our very own Jamie, reading from his middle school diary!"

The crowd exploded.

Jamie. Cold brew Jamie. Tattoo Jamie. Eyebrow-slit Jamie. Jamie-who-Mia-could-not-make-eye-contact-with Jamie.

She nearly left her body.

"Not me finding this weirdly attractive," she muttered.

Kai elbowed her. "Down bad much?"

Jamie stepped into the circle, notebook in hand, and cleared his throat.

> "April 15th, 2016," he read. "Today I decided I'm going to become a parkour master. Tried to flip off the garage roof. Got grounded for a week. Worth it, though. Madison from math class saw and said 'nice try.' Progress!"

The café lost it.

Mia was cry-laughing into her sleeve. Jamie kept reading, now with hand gestures and too much confidence for someone reliving his 12-year-old cringe era.

"This is simultaneously the best and worst thing that's ever happened to me," Zach declared, already filming for their private Story.

Vinyl Dad raised his mic. "Next up open mic! Any volunteers?"

Before Mia could blink, Zach and Kai each grabbed an arm.

"She volunteers!" they shouted in unison.

"No," she hissed, digging her heels in. "I will never emotionally recover from this betrayal."

But she was already standing in the center of the circle, holding the mic, her brain in full fight-or-flight mode. Jamie was watching. With that smile.

"So…" she began. "I don't have a diary, but I do have my Notes app. Which is basically the same thing but with more unhinged 3 a.m. thoughts, right?"

Someone in the back yelled, "SPEAK YOUR TRUTH, QUEEN."

Mia scrolled. Landed on something random. Took a deep breath.

> "Things that give me the ick," she read. "People who say 'doggo' unironically. Spotify Wrapped screenshots in June. When someone asks what I'm listening to and it's my Sad Girl Hours playlist for the fifth time. The sound ketchup makes. When guys"

She stopped.

Eyes widened. Crap.

Jamie was still watching.

"When guys…?" someone prompted, full drama.

Mia closed her eyes. "When guys make their coffee order their whole personality BUT," she said quickly, "plot twist I'm very into the barista who makes mine."

The café exploded. Zach and Kai were doubled over. Mia wanted to be smited.

And Jamie?

Jamie walked toward her, holding two cups.

"Oat milk cold brew?" he asked, the corner of his mouth tilting up.

"This is so embarrassing for me," she said, taking it.

"Would it be less embarrassing if I told you I've been writing your name with a heart over the 'i' for the past three months?"

Mia choked. "That's actually more embarrassing. For both of us."

"Matching emotional damage," he said. "We love to see it."

From across the café, Zach and Kai were still filming, already typing the caption:

> POV: Your bestie's villain era becomes her rom-com era in 0.5 seconds.

And honestly?

She couldn't even be mad.