I'm standing in Raul's doorway, clutching my bag strap so hard my knuckles are white. He opens the door and I try for a smile but it comes out more like a grimace. Great start, Leyla. Really nailing it.

"Hey! Hi. Sorry, I'm — yeah. Hi."

I do an awkward little wave, then immediately drop my hand like it just betrayed me. I look past him into the apartment, then back down at my shoes.

"So... should I just... come in? Or do you want to like, go over the... um... the plan first, or..."

I let the sentence die. My face is already flushing pink. Cool. Very cool.

Leyla Ingallz