Caught in the Feed

Maya's thumb hovered over the 'share location' button—again. For the third time this week, she'd been low-key spying on Jordan's profile through the campus map feature. It was creepy, definitely, but after that awkward almost-moment at the fall dance, she needed to know if he was actually interested or just being polite.

The notifications pinged: Jordan was at the coffee shop. Alone. Maya grabbed her phone, palm sweating against the case as she convinced herself she'd just "happen" to show up. It wasn't stalking if they were basically friends, right?

She threw on her favorite hoodie and started running toward the campus center, heart pounding with each step. Was she desperate? Maybe. But junior year was half over and she was tired of wondering what if.

Then she saw them.

Jordan sat across from Skylar—laughing, leaning in, all the things Maya had dreamed about. Skylar, who had everything Maya didn't: confidence, perfect hair, the ability to make conversation without overthinking every word.

Maya's feet planted themselves on the sidewalk. She stood frozen while students streamed past, her palm still slick with nervous sweat that now felt ridiculous. The running had been pointless. The spying had been pointless. She'd built up this whole scenario in her head, and reality had blindsided her.

Her phone buzzed. Jordan: "Hey! I saw you checked my location lol. Were you coming to meet us? Skylar wanted to ask if you're joining the study group tomorrow."

Maya stared at the screen, then at her still-shaking hand. She'd spent three weeks agonizing over a moment that never existed, reading into signals that weren't there. But here was Jordan, not weirded out at all—just inviting her to hang out.

She wiped her palm on her jeans and typed back: "Yeah! Be there in five."

Sometimes you had to stop running from awkwardness and let yourself be seen. Even if your hands were sweating.