The Wrong Message

Maya stared at her phone and felt her face go hot with embarrassment.

She had meant to send the message to her sister, but she had picked the wrong name from her contacts. Instead of her sister, the message had gone to Daniel, a quiet boy from her art class. The message said: "He keeps looking at me in class. I think he likes me, but he's too shy to say anything!"

For a whole minute, Maya could not move. Then three dots appeared on the screen. Daniel was typing. She wanted to throw her phone out of the window.

His reply finally arrived. "I think you sent this to the wrong person," it said. Maya cringed. She typed a quick apology, explaining that the message was for her sister and that she was so sorry. She added that she hoped he would forget about it.

But then Daniel wrote again. "Don't worry. To be honest, I do look at you a lot in class. You're really good at drawing, and I never know what to say."

Maya read the words twice. Her embarrassment slowly turned into something warmer. All this time she had thought he ignored her, but it turned out that he had simply been nervous, just like her.

"If you want," she wrote carefully, "we could practise drawing together sometime. I could use some company in the art room."

The dots appeared and disappeared several times. Maya guessed he was trying to find the right words, the same way she had to pluck up the courage. Finally he answered: "I'd like that. How about Thursday after school?"

On Thursday, Maya arrived early and chose a table near the big window. When Daniel walked in, his cheeks were a little pink, and she realised hers probably were too. They spread out their paper and pencils, and for a while neither of them spoke. The silence felt awkward, but not unpleasant.

"I should warn you," Daniel said at last, "I'm much worse at drawing than you are."

Maya laughed. "Then I might have to teach you everything. Are you ready for that?"

He smiled, and the awkwardness melted away. As they began to sketch, Maya thought about how strange life can be. If she had checked the name on her phone, none of this would have happened. Her biggest mistake of the week had brought her the best afternoon of it.

Sometimes, she decided, the wrong message finds exactly the right person.