100 DAYS OF MAYBE

"DAY 1 - THE DARE" PART 1 OF 3 - AVA'S POV The bonfire on Ridgewood Beach smelled like smoke, salt, and the kind of bad decisions you only make when you’re 17 and pretending you’re not terrified of the future. It was Friday, August 28th. 8:47 PM. The last Friday before senior year at Ridgewood High started. The sky was black except for stars and the orange glow of the fire. Someone’s phone was playing Phoebe Bridgers too loud. Someone else was arguing about who brought the s’mores. I was Ava Miller. 17. Yearbook editor. 4.1 GPA. Worked weekends at The Grind. Older sister to a 12-year-old boy who thought cereal was a food group. And I had a secret I’d been carrying since 4th grade. His name was Noah Bennett. He was across the fire right now, throwing a football with Jake. Gray Ridgewood Basketball hoodie, sleeves pushed up. Hair still damp from surfing earlier. Laughing at something Jake said, head tipped back. Noah Bennett. My neighbor since I was 9. The guy who taught me how to ride a bike without training wheels. The guy I tutored through Algebra 2. The guy I’d done homework with at his kitchen table every Tuesday for 8 years. The guy I’d been in love with for 3 years and never said a word about. "Stop," Maya said, elbowing me so hard I almost dropped my red solo cup. "Stop what?" "Staring. You’re doing the thing." "What thing?" "The Ava thing. Where you look at Noah like he’s a math problem you can’t solve." I shoved her. "I’m not." "You are. Also you’ve been chewing that pen cap for 20 minutes. That’s your nervous tell." Maya Chen. My best friend. My yearbook co-editor. The human equivalent of chaos in Doc Martens and a denim jacket. "Truth or dare?" she asked, grinning. We were in a circle. About 25 seniors. Red solo cups. The bonfire crackling. The ocean behind us, loud and black. Classic last-summer-night setup. "Truth," I said. Safe answer. Maya’s eyes lit up. "Who was the last person you thought about before you fell asleep last night?" My face went hot. "Pass." "You can’t pass truth! Fine. Dare." "Dare." Maya looked across the fire. Right at Noah. Then back at me. The evil in her eyes was impressive. "I dare you to make a 100-day deal with Noah Bennett." The music seemed to dip. Not really. But it felt like it. "What kind of deal?" I asked, keeping my voice flat. My heart was already doing stupid things. "A 100-day deal," Maya announced, loud enough for half the circle to hear. "100 days. No dating. No kissing. No confessing. You just... exist. As more-than-friends but not-quite. Flirty rules. And on Day 100, at prom, if you both still want each other, then... maybe." Jake whistled. Someone pulled out their phone and started a timer: *AVA + NOAH: 100 DAYS* The caption already had 3 comments. Across the fire, Noah had stopped throwing the ball. He was watching me now. Dark hair. Gray eyes. That little scar on his left eyebrow from 5th grade when we fell off the swings and he landed on me to "protect me." He walked around the fire. Slow. Like he was thinking. Then he sat on the driftwood log next to me. Close. Not touching. But close enough that I could smell his detergent. Tide. He’d always used Tide. And salt. And that body spray he’d worn since 8th grade. "So," he said. Quiet. Just for me. "100 days." "Starting now," Maya added helpfully. "Day 1. August 28th, 8:52 PM." Noah and I had rules. We were best friends. That was the rule. Best friends didn’t mess it up by catching feelings. Except I had. Junior year. During finals week when he brought me coffee every morning and stayed up helping me outline my AP Lit paper. I’d never said anything. "That’s dumb," I said. My voice came out steadier than I felt. "Why 100 days?" "Because 100 days is long enough to know," Maya said. "And short enough that if it’s a trainwreck, you can go to different colleges and pretend it never happened." Noah looked at me. Really looked. "Well?" he said. I should’ve said no. I should’ve laughed and said "hard pass." But I’d spent 3 years wondering "what if" and 100 days felt like an expiration date. A way to finally know. Even if the answer was no. "Fine," I said. "100 days. No dating. No kissing. No confessing. Just... us. As friends. With rules." Noah held out his pinky. I stared at it. His hands were bigger than mine. Calloused from basketball. There was still sand on his knuckles from surfing. I hooked my pinky with his. His skin was warm. "100 days of maybe," he said. "100 days of maybe," I echoed. The circle exploded. People cheered. Jake filmed it. *DAY 1* *99 days to go.* Noah let go first. "Cool," he said. Like we hadn’t just made a deal that could ruin 8 years of friendship. "Cool," I repeated. --- *[SCENE 2: THE RIDE HOME - 10:15 PM]* Noah offered to drive me home. His Jeep smelled like basketball, Febreze, and the ocean. "You didn’t have to say yes," I said, staring out the window. Highway 1. Dark. Waves crashing on the side. "You didn’t either," he said. Both hands on the wheel. "Why’d you do it?" I didn’t answer. How do you tell your best friend that you’ve loved him since he let you copy his science homework in 6th grade and bought you ice cream after because you were crying about your math grade? "For Maya," I lied. "She won’t shut up about it otherwise." Noah nodded. "Yeah. For Maya." We didn’t talk the rest of the drive. The radio was low. Some indie song I didn’t know. Every few minutes I’d glance over. He’d be looking at the road, jaw tight, like he was thinking too hard. When we got to my house, he walked me to the door like he always did. The porch light was on. Moths were circling it. "Night, Ava." "Night, Noah." No kiss. No hug. Just the 2 seconds where we both almost did something, and didn’t. He turned and walked back to his Jeep. I watched him from the doorway until he drove away. *11:43 PM* _Noah_: you alive? _Me_: unfortunately _Noah_: day 1 down _Me_: wow. 99 to go _Noah_: yeah _Noah_: night ava _Me_: night I stared at my ceiling until 2 AM. --- *[SCENE 3: DAY 2 - MONDAY - FIRST DAY OF SENIOR YEAR]* By 7:30 AM there was a whiteboard in the main hall: *DAY 2 OF 100: AVA + NOAH* By 1st period, there were matching wristbands someone made. Blue for Ava. Gray for Noah. By lunch, there was a betting pool on who would break first. "So are you two dating now?" Chloe asked me in AP Lit. Chloe was Noah’s ex from junior year. She still wore his #14 jersey to games. "No," I said, opening my notebook. "It’s a deal." "Sounds like dating with a timer," she smiled. Not nicely. In the hallway, Noah and I did what we always did. Lockers next to each other. #247 and #248. "Hey," he said. "Hey." "You have Calc 3rd?" "Yeah. You?" "Same. Walk?" We walked. It felt the same. And completely different. At lunch we sat at our normal table. Me, Maya, Jake, Noah. Except now Maya kicked me every 5 minutes. "What?" I whispered. "Nothing," she whispered back. "Just monitoring Day 2." Noah was telling a story about basketball camp. He did this thing where he ran his hand through his hair when he got excited. He’d done it since 6th grade. Today it made my stomach flip. Stop, I told myself. 98 days to go. --- END OF PART 1 OF 3 "DAY 1 - THE DARE" PART 2 OF 3 - AVA'S POV [SCENE 4: DAY 3 - TUESDAY - YEARBOOK ROOM -] Tuesday. 3:15 PM. Yearbook room. The room smelled like hot printers, old paper, and the cheap lavender candle Ms. Rivera kept on her desk. Noah and I had the corner. Two desks pushed together in an L. For 2 years it meant nothing. Today it felt like a minefield. "Pass me the senior candid folder," Noah said, eyes on his laptop. I slid it across. Our fingers brushed. We both yanked back like we’d been shocked. "Static," I said too fast. "Yeah. Static." Maya was across the room sorting photos. She saw it and gave me two thumbs up. I threw a highlighter at her. She dodged it and grinned. "So," Noah said quietly, still typing. "Day 3." "Day 3." "You think we’re actually gonna make it to 100?" "50/50," I said. "You?" "Same." He closed his laptop. "Calc?" "Calc." We walked out together. People stared. Whispered. Someone had written *DAY 3 OF 100* on my locker in dry erase marker. It was in Jake’s handwriting. At my locker: "Hey," Noah said. "Hey." "You okay?" "Why wouldn’t I be?" "I don’t know. You’re quiet." "I’m just tired. College apps." "Right. College apps." He nodded. "See you tomorrow?" "Yeah. Tomorrow." That night he didn’t text. I checked my phone 6 times. *[SCENE 5: DAY 4 - WEDNESDAY - LUNCHROOM + CHLOE -]* Wednesday. Lunch. Chloe picked today to sit at our table. "Hey guys! Is this seat taken?" She sat. Next to Noah. Jake suddenly became very interested in his burger. Maya kicked me under the table. Noah looked at me. I looked at my salad. "So," Chloe said, twirling her straw. "The deal. That’s... brave." "It’s stupid," I said. Noah didn’t say anything. Just took a bite of his sandwich. "Well," Chloe smiled. "If it doesn’t work out, you know where to find me, Noah. Homecoming?" "I’m busy," Noah said. "Oh. With what?" "Stuff." She left 5 minutes later. Silence. "You didn’t have to do that," I said. "Do what?" "Not go with her." "I didn’t do it for you," he said. Then, quieter: "I did it because I didn’t want to." My chest did something stupid. Day 4. Down. 96 to go. *[SCENE 6: DAY 5 - FRIDAY - GAME + THE ALMOST -]* Friday. First basketball game of the year. Ridgewood vs. West Valley. I was on yearbook duty. Camera around my neck. Noah scored 24 points. Looked at me after every shot. Every. Single. One. After the game: "Diner?" Jake asked. "Can’t," Noah said, towel around his neck. "Helping Ava with physics." "Physics? On a Friday?" "Yeah," I said. "It’s important." My kitchen table. 8 PM. Physics textbook open. We were 3 inches apart. I could smell his hoodie. Clean laundry and him. "This is impossible," I groaned, dropping my pencil. Noah slid his notebook over. "Here. Look at my examples." His arm brushed mine. Neither of us moved. "Got it?" he asked. "Got it." We were both lying. Tyler burst in: "MOM SAYS THERE’S PIZZA!" The moment broke. At my door later: "Thanks for helping," I said. "Anytime." He paused. Like he wanted to say something. Then: "Night, Ava." "Night, Noah." *11:47 PM* _Noah_: day 5 _Me_: i know _Noah_: 95 to go _Me_: go to sleep noah _Noah_: can’t. you? _Me_: no I stared at my ceiling. --- END OF PART 2 OF 3 "DAY 1 - THE DARE" PART 3 OF 3 - AVA'S POV [SCENE 7: DAY 6 - SATURDAY - THE TEST ] Saturday. 2 PM. The Grind. I was on shift. Apron. Hair in a messy bun. Noah came in with Jake and two other guys from the team. "Large cold brew," Noah said at the counter. "And... a hot chocolate?" "For who?" I asked, ringing him up. "For you. You said you were cold yesterday." I stared at him. "That was a deal thing." "Was it?" He paid and took the drinks. "See you Monday, Ava." He left. Maya, who was also working, leaned over. "Day 6. He brought you hot chocolate. In August." "Shut up." "I’m just saying." That night: _Noah_: did you drink it? _Me_: yes _Noah_: good _Me_: why did you get it _Noah_: because you looked cold _Me_: noah _Noah_: sorry. night 94 to go. *[SCENE 8: DAY 7 - SUNDAY - THE BEACH + FLASHBACK]* Day 7: Sunday. 8 PM. Ridgewood Beach. Just us. The same log from Friday. Feet in the cold water. The bonfire was gone. Just moonlight and waves. "Why’d you say yes?" Noah asked. He was picking at a piece of driftwood. "Because I was tired of wondering." "Me too." Silence. "Do you remember 4th grade?" he asked suddenly. *[FLASHBACK: 4TH GRADE]* We were 9. Noah had just moved in next door. He knocked on my door with a basketball. "Do you want to play?" I did. Badly. He taught me for 2 hours in the driveway. When I skinned my knee, he ran inside and got me a band-aid. A Spider-Man one. "You’re good at this," he said. "I’m not." "You are. You just need 100 tries." I laughed. "That’s random." "My dad says that. About everything." That night I wrote in my diary: _The new boy is nice._ *[BACK TO PRESENT]* "I remember," I said. "The Spider-Man band-aid." "I was so scared you were mad at me for making you fall." "I wasn’t." Noah stood. Held out his hand. I took it. We walked to his Jeep like that. Hands swinging between us. At my door: "Night, Ava." "Night, Noah." He didn’t let go right away. For one second, his thumb brushed over my knuckles. Rule #1: No touching. We both pretended we didn’t notice. *[SCENE 9: NIGHT 7 - TEXTS + CHAPTER CLOSE ]* *11:52 PM* _Noah_: day 7 _Me_: i know _Noah_: 93 to go _Me_: stop counting _Noah_: can’t _Me_: why _Noah_: because it’s the only thing i can control right now _Me_: noah _Noah_: sorry. goodnight ava _Me_: night I stared at my ceiling for an hour. Day 1: The dare. Day 2: School found out. Day 3: Yearbook. Static. Day 4: Chloe. Day 5: Physics. The almost. Day 6: Hot chocolate. Day 7: The beach. His hand. 93 days left. And "maybe" was already starting to feel like "I don’t know how to do this without you." I opened my journal and wrote: _Day 7. I think we made a mistake. I think 100 days is not enough to figure out if I can live without him. I think 100 days is too long to pretend I don’t want him._ Then I crossed it out. Because on Day 100, we had to know. Even if knowing hurt. --- END OF CHAPTER 1