Operation: Crush Protocol

Maya's thumb hovered over Jordan's Instagram story for the third time in ten minutes. She was a total spy these days—monitoring his posts like they contained classified government secrets instead of just blurry skate videos and half-eaten burrito pics.

"You're literally bear-pawing your phone," Kayla said, sliding onto the cafeteria bench beside her. "Stop lurking. It's weird."

"I'm not lurking," Maya protested, locking her screen way too fast. "I'm conducting research. Jordan posted something about a party at Connor's Friday night and—"

"And now you're about to lose it because last time Connor had people over, you locked yourself in his bathroom for twenty minutes because you thought you were having an allergic reaction to his dog."

"I WAS having an allergic reaction! I literally looked like a swollen bear, Kayla. It was a medical emergency."

"It was panic. You didn't even pet the dog."

Before Maya could defend her honor, someone slammed their tray down behind her. Jake. The actual bull of sophomore year, currently radiating that specific energy that made the whole table feel like they'd personally offended him by existing.

"Hey," Jake said, looking directly at Maya. "You going to Connor's?"

And honestly, what were you supposed to do with that? Because last week, Jake had made Maya cry in chem lab by loudly announcing her project looked like something his little sister made for arts and crafts. But also, Jake was Jordan's best friend, which meant Jake was basically the keeper of all Jordan-related information, and wasn't that just the most unfortunate plot twist of her life?

"Probably," Maya said, trying to sound chill and failing. "Why?"

"No reason." Jake smirked. "Just wondering who's actually gonna show and who's just gonna be lurking from home like a little creeper."

As he walked away, Kayla mouthed what even is his PROBLEM and Maya realized she was still bearing the emotional weight of chem lab AND now she had to go to this party AND maintain her spy operations without Jake making her feel like the most awkward person to ever exist.

Her phone buzzed. Jordan's story again: a close-up of his skateboard trucks, captioned "fixing this beast before friday"

Maya turned to Kayla with newfound determination. "Okay, listen. I'm going to that party. I'm going to talk to Jordan. And I'm going to stop Jake from treating me like I'm invisible."

"Brave words from someone who hid in a bathroom because of a dog she never touched."

"I wasn't hiding. I was strategically regrouping."

"Sure, Maya. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mr. Bond."