Code Orange Midnight

The new girl sat alone at lunch, wearing this bright orange hoodie that practically glowed against the cafeteria's beige walls. I'd been watching her for three days — not in a creepy way, just observing. Like you do.

"You're being a total spy," Maya whispered, sliding into the seat beside me. She'd caught me staring. Again.

"Am not," I lied, pushing my tray of lukewarm pizza away. "Just curious."

"Curious, suspicious... same difference." Maya raised an eyebrow. "Just go talk to her. She's literally sitting twenty feet away."

I couldn't just *talk* to her. What would I even say? *Hey, nice orange hoodie, wanna be friends?* Lame.

Her name was Riley. I'd overheard it in chem when she'd dropped her beaker — orange liquid everywhere, Ms. Henderson freaking out about stains. The way she'd laughed, completely unbothered, had made something in my chest do this weird flutter thing.

Friday after school, I found her in the library, headphones in, sketching in this beat-up notebook. I sat at the table across from her, pretending to study for history. My hands were shaking. This was pathetic.

She looked up, caught me watching, and smiled.

"You're the spy from lunch, aren't you?"

I almost choked on nothing. "What?"

"The spy," she said, closing her notebook. "You've been watching me all week. Your friend with the purple hair pointed it out."

Maya. Dead friend.

"I wasn't —"

"It's cool." Riley's smile got bigger. "I'm Riley, by the way. And this is my favorite color, in case you were wondering." She gestured to her hoodie.

"Zoe," I managed. "And I was just... admiring the hoodie."

"Sure you were." She slid her notebook across the table. "Wanna see what I'm working on?"

It was a drawing of our school courtyard, but magical — trees made of glass, a sky that swirled like galaxy ink. And in the corner, a tiny figure in an orange hoodie, watching everything.

"That's... you?" I pointed.

"The spy perspective," she said. "Artists see things differently. We notice stuff other people miss."

Something shifted between us, this electric recognition.

"Teach me?" I asked.

Riley's grin was like sunshine breaking through clouds. "Only if you promise to stop spying and start making." She pushed another pencil toward me. "Your turn, friend.".