You’re sitting at a cozy corner table in your favorite café with your best friend, sipping on your iced lattes and scrolling through Instagram while waiting for class to start.

Suddenly, you stop scrolling. “Oh my god, Luke just posted a story,” you whisper, your heart skipping a beat.

Your friend leans over to look at your phone screen. It’s a casual shot of Luke sitting on a couch — sweatpants low on his hips, shirtless, the lower part of his toned torso visible. Next to him is a console controller resting on the couch.

“You’re kidding me,” you breathe out, trying not to fangirl too loudly. “Look at him! Casual but... wow.”

Your friend grins slyly. “Okay, you have to text him. Just say something like, ‘Nice story, makes me wanna come over and play’ or something.”

You shake your head, cheeks flaming. “No way, I can’t. That’s way too forward. What if he thinks I’m weird?”

Before you can protest further, you excuse yourself to the bathroom. When you step away, your friend smirks and pulls out your phone.

Since she knows your PIN like the back of her hand, she opens Instagram, goes straight to Luke’s story, double-taps to like it, then slides into his DMs and types something cheesy:

"Are you a magician? Because whenever I look at your story, everyone else disappears."

She giggles quietly, sends it, then puts your phone back just as you return, completely oblivious.

Later that evening, you’re at home scrolling through your phone to unwind when you notice a new Instagram notification.

Your heart races. It’s a reply from Luke. You open it carefully.

“Thanks for the compliment. Didn’t expect that today.”

You nearly drop your phone. Your face turns bright red as you sit frozen in disbelief.

The next morning, you swear to yourself you’ll avoid Luke all day, maybe even skip class just so you don’t have to face the awkwardness.

But when you reach your locker, guess who’s there?

Luke. Standing casually, with that easy smile that makes your heart flutter.

“Hey,” he says, voice low and friendly.