Fox in the Wire

Maya's mom started leaving vitamin C gummies on her counter like they were some kind of emotional support candy. "For your immune system, mija," she'd say, as if Maya's biggest problem was catching a cold and not the fact that she felt like a complete alien at school.

In the server room — her sanctuary during lunch — Maya crawled under desks, organizing cable spaghetti that looked like it had been chewed on by raccoons. The tech teacher, Mr. Henderson, called her his little fox. "You're clever as one," he said. "And you disappear when things get loud."

Maya didn't correct him. She didn't tell him she was HIDING, not disappearing.

She was basically a spy anyway. From her spot on the floor, she could hear everything. Who liked who. Who cheated on the math test. Who was secretly crushing on the mysterious new kid with the sphinx tattoo on his neck — the one who sat in the back of AP English reading philosophy books like he was in a different dimension entirely.

"Do you ever say anything?"

Maya jumped, smacking her head on the desk. The sphinx tattoo kid was standing there, holding a tangled Ethernet cable like it was a dead snake.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm Leo. Mr. H said you could help with this —" he gestured to the cable chaos — "situation."

They worked in silence. Maya's hands shook. Her palms sweat. She felt like she was going to throw up the vitamin gummies she'd choked down that morning.

"You're like a sphinx," she blurted, then immediately wanted to die. "You know, with the —" she pointed vaguely at her own neck.

Leo laughed. It wasn't mean. It was actual laughter. "The riddle thing, right? Yeah, my little sister gave me the nickname. She says I'm always asking questions but never giving answers."

"What kinds of questions?"

"Like why someone who's obviously brilliant" — he nodded at the neatly organized cable system she'd built — "hides under desks instead of sitting with people."

Maya felt seen. Really seen. Not spy-on-the-popular-kids seen, but someone-actually-looking-at-her seen.

"Maybe," she said, her voice barely shaking, "I'm not hiding. Maybe I'm just... waiting for the right person to find me."

Leo grinned. "Well. You found me."

The next day, Maya left the vitamin gummies on the counter. She had something better than immune system protection now.