My Best Friend The Stalker

"You're literally dying," Jordan said, deadpan, as Leo doubled over after their third hill repeat.

"It's the spinach," Leo wheezed. "My mom's experimental health phase is straight-up ending me."

This had been the worst month of Leo's life. Since his mom decided "athletes need greens," Leo had been choking down radioactive-green smoothies that tasted like lawn clippings and regret. His *running* times were trash. His energy was gone. And Jordan? Jordan had been acting sus as hell.

Every practice, Jordan was glued to his phone. Glancing at Leo. Typing furiously. When Leo asked what was up, Jordan would lock his screen and mumble something about "homework."

Leo's stomach twisted. They'd been *friend*s since sixth grade, bonded over making fun of the cafeteria's "mystery meat." Now Jordan was keeping secrets. Was he talking about Leo behind his back? Documenting his spiral?

Thursday brought a thunderstorm. Coach Garcia made them finish anyway, because high school sports apparently require suffering in all weather conditions. *Lightning* crackled across the sky as they leaned against the gym wall, gasping.

Leo caught Jordan's phone screen in a flash of illumination. His own name. A spreadsheet. Notes.

"You're *spying* on me?" Leo shouted over the rain.

Jordan flinched. "What? No!"

Leo snatched the phone. But instead of texts trash-talking him, he found a log. His practice times. His sleep patterns. A column labeled "Spinach Days" with a worried-face emoji and the note *PERFORMANCE DROP 35% AFTER MORNING SMOOTHIE, GET HIM TO STOP.*

"You've been... tracking my stats?" Leo's voice cracked.

"You've been off for weeks," Jordan said, looking at his shoes. "I was gonna show you the data so you'd talk to your mom about the smoothies. I didn't want to just say 'you suck now.'"

Leo stared at him. The rain soaked through his shirt. His chest felt weird — and not from the cardio this time.

"You did research?"

Jordan shrugged. "Google said athletes need protein, not radioactive sludge. I was trying to help."

That weekend, Leo convinced his mom to pivot to protein shakes instead. By Monday, his comeback was legit. Coach Garcia asked what changed. Leo just nodded at Jordan, who was busy on his phone — probably documenting Leo's return to form.

Real friends aren't the ones who just hype you up. They're the ones who notice when you're off, do the creepy research to figure out why, and help you fix it — even if it makes them look like stalkers doing it.