Hydration Station Surveillance

Maya's iphone buzzed against her leg during third period US History. Another Insta notification from Kai—her best friend since kindergarten, who'd been ghosting her since making varsity soccer.

"Psst, Prewitt," whispered Jax, sliding into the desk beside her. "Did you see? Kai's hanging with the popular crowd at lunch again."

"I'm not a spy," Maya whispered back, but she unlocked her phone anyway. Her thumb hovered over Kai's story—him and his new squad laughing by the water fountain like they owned the school.

Truth was, Maya had been kinda spying. Not in a creepy way, just—protective. Kai used to tell her everything. Now he was posting stories without her in them, trading inside jokes with people who'd probably never tasted his mom's homemade empanadas or knew he secretly loved cheesy rom-coms.

"You good?" Jax asked. "You look like you're about to cry over spilled... vitamin water?" He pointed to her backpack.

Maya snorted. "My mom makes me take these gummy vitamins. Says I'm 'growing.'" She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Kai's just busy. Soccer, you know?"

"Yeah, sure," Jax said, like he knew better. "Just saying, real friends don't need surveillance."

The words hit harder than Maya expected. Later, at her locker, she stared at the bottle of water she'd grabbed from the cafeteria—Kai's favorite brand, actually. He'd gotten her hooked on it freshman year, calling it 'elite hydration' unironically.

Her phone lit up again.

Kai: yo you coming to my game today?

Maya blinked. Then typed: wouldn't miss it.

Maybe she didn't need to spy. Maybe some friendships just needed space to breathe, like letting water settle after you'd stirred it up. She wasn't perfect at this—none of them were. But she could show up. That's what real friends did.

And she'd definitely bring the vitamin gummies. Kai always stole half the bottle anyway.