Influencer Imposter Syndrome
Maya's cat, Luna, sat on her desk, judging her. Again.
"You're literally impossible," Maya sighed, pushing her phone away. She'd been trying to record the perfect intro for her new wellness account for twenty minutes. Her beanie—slouchy, mustard yellow, totally aesthetic—kept falling over her eyes.
The door creaked open. Her mom's dog, Buster, trotted in, nails clicking on the hardwood. Unlike Luna's feline superiority, Buster just wanted love. And treats. Mostly treats.
"Maya, honey?" Her mom appeared in the doorway. "I got those vitamin gummies you wanted. The ones for, you know..." She lowered her voice. "Skin and energy."
Maya's face burned. She'd begged for them after seeing TikToks about how they made people "glow up." The unspoken subtext: Maybe they'd fix whatever was wrong with her. Whatever made her awkward at parties. Whatever made her feel like everyone else had received a secret instruction manual for being sixteen that she'd missed.
"Thanks, Mom."
She dumped them into her aesthetic glass jar, already planning the photo. Flat lay. Good lighting. Caption about self-care.
Luna knocked the jar onto the floor.
"LUNA!"
The cat stared at her, unimpressed, as Maya scrambled to retrieve scattered gummies. Buster immediately started eating them.
"No, Buster, those are not—stop!"
She yanked gummies from his mouth while Luna watched with what looked suspiciously like amusement.
The realization hit Maya like a ton of bricks: She was trying to become someone else based on internet strangers' advice. Her cat knew it. Her dog had literally almost eaten her fake identity.
She grabbed her phone, thumbs hovering over the wellness account she'd spent all night setting up.
Delete.
Then she pulled off her aesthetic beanie, threw Luna's favorite toy mouse, and actually relaxed for the first time in weeks.
"Fine," she told Luna. "You win. No more fake influencer crap."
Buster wagged his tail.
Maya smiled. Real this time.
"But I'm keeping the gummies. They actually taste pretty good."