Counter-Spy Operations

Maya's palms were sweating—like, actually dripping—because she was about to do something absolutely deranged. She was going to talk to Him. You know, Nico from chemistry? The one who sat three rows back and somehow made looking like he hadn't slept in three days look like a conscious aesthetic choice?

Her cat, Luna, judged her silently from the windowsill. Luna had witnessed Maya's previous failed attempt at human interaction, which involved Maya walking into a closed door while pretending to be cool. That was three weeks ago. The campus gossip chain—basically a spy network of terrifying efficiency—still brought it up randomly.

"You're being dramatic," her best friend Priya had said earlier that day. "Just go over there and say hey. It's not that deep."

Easy for Priya to say. She'd been dating Jake since seventh grade and possessed the social confidence of a reality TV star. Meanwhile, Maya was out here having full-body reactions to basic human proximity.

The backyard was empty—thank GOD—because Maya's dog, Buster, was currently conducting what appeared to be a covert operation against a very confused squirrel. Buster was a golden retriever with the tactical awareness of a baked potato, which made his spy pose absolutely hilarious. He was crouched behind a hydrangea like he thought he was in a Mission Impossible movie.

"Buster, you're not subtle," Maya whispered, but her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't hear her own voice.

This was it. Nico was coming over. They'd been paired up for a chemistry project and he was supposed to come by so they could figure out their presentation. Maya's stomach did that thing where it felt like she'd swallowed a flock of birds.

The doorbell rang.

Maya's palms were so sweaty she had to wipe them on her jeans twice. She opened the door.

Nico was there. He was wearing that oversized black hoodie he always wore and holding a notebook that had definitely seen better days. His hair was messy in a way that looked accidental but probably took actual effort.

"Hey," he said. And then—get this—his palms were sweaty too. He wiped them on his jeans. Exactly like she had.

Maya's brain short-circuited. "Hey. Come in. Warning though, my dog is currently spying on a squirrel."

Nico laughed. It was a real laugh, not a polite one. "Nice. My cat does that same thing. She thinks she's a predator but she's absolutely not."

They spent the next hour working on chemistry and accidentally talking about everything else. Music, teachers, how weird it was that they were expected to function on zero sleep. Nico admitted he was nervous about coming over.

"Why?" Maya asked, genuinely confused.

Nico shrugged. "I don't know. You're Maya. You always have the right answers in class."

Maya stared at him. "I'm literally just good at guessing. Also, I walked into a door three weeks ago."

"I know," Nico grinned. "I saw. It was kind of adorable."

Maya's face was on fire. But not in a bad way.

Later, when he left, Maya sat on her bed with Luna and Buster, her heart still racing but not from panic this time. She'd survived talking to her crush. More than survived—she'd actually connected with him.

Luna meowed like she knew exactly what had happened. Buster was still in his spy position behind the hydrangea, probably still waiting for the squirrel to make a move.

Maya wiped her palms one more time and smiled. Sometimes being seen wasn't as terrifying as she thought. Sometimes it was actually pretty great.