Crush, Courage, and Gummy Bears

Maya's mom had started her on a new vitamin regime that morning, insisting the cherry-flavored gummies would "boost her confidence" before the first day of sophomore year. Maya seriously doubted any supplement could fix her chronic awkwardness, but she'd popped two anyway before sprinting to catch the bus.

By lunch, she was in full spy mode. Not the cool, action-movie kind of spy. More like the weirdo who keeps "accidentally" walking past the cafeteria table where Jordan, her crush since seventh grade, sat laughing with his friends. She'd already made three laps—water fountain, bathroom, lost pencil emergency—and she was running out of excuses.

"You're being a total creep," whispered Harper, her best friend since kindergarten, sliding onto the bench beside her. "Just go talk to him."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who accidentally made eye contact for four seconds last year and then literally dropped your tray."

Harper snorted. "That was legendary. But seriously, you're like a mama bear protecting her single status at this point. You gotta come out of the cave."

"Did you just call me a bear?"

"A shy bear. A majestic, socially anxious bear." Harper checked her phone. "Which is ironic considering Jordan is literally posting about the Fall Fest setup right now. They need volunteers for the mascot costume."

Maya's stomach did that weird fluttery thing. "The bear costume?"

"The bear costume. And you know what this means."

"No. Absolutely not."

"You'll be literally inside the bear, Maya. No one will know it's you. You can practice being around Jordan without the whole 'crushing while conscious' thing. It's genius."

That afternoon, Maya found herself squeezed inside a polyester suit that smelled like every sophomore boy's gym bag combined. Harper had signed her up with a note about "building school spirit" which was basically code for "setting Maya up." The bear head was huge, the vision was basically nonexistent, and she was already sweating through her favorite band t-shirt.

Then she saw him. Jordan, putting up streamers near the entrance.

She waddled over. The bear's oversized feet made a comical fwump-fwump on the linoleum. When Jordan turned, his face lit up.

"Yo, that's AWESOME." He high-fived the bear. "You're killing it, mascot friend."

Maya's heart raced. Inside the bear, she felt weirdly powerful. She did a little dance.

"Okay, that's iconic." Jordan pulled out his phone. "Can I get a selfie with the bear? This is going in my story."

They posed together—Jordan grinning, the bear giving a thumbs-up. Later, when she finally escaped the suit, her hair flattened to her forehead and her face streaked with makeup, she checked her phone. Jordan had tagged the anonymous school account. "Best bear ever 10/10 would hang out again."

Harper squealed. "He wants to hang out with the BEAR, Maya. The bear is you."

Maybe those vitamins actually worked. Or maybe it just took being stuck inside a giant bear costume to realize that Jordan, the guy she'd been secretly admiring from afar for years, was kind of awkward too. And maybe that was the whole point.

"So," Harper said, already typing out a DM to Jordan's best friend. "tomorrow's game. Bear suit again, or are you finally gonna talk to him without the polyester between you?"

Maya smiled. "Let's see how I feel tomorrow."

She reached for the vitamin bottle anyway. Just in case.