Operation: Crush Recon

Maya pressed her face against her phone screen, instagram-stalking Jordan's profile for the third time that night. Officially, she was just doing recon. Like a spy. Unofficially, she was totally obsessed with the way his hair flopped over his eyes when he laughed.

"You need to get out of your head," her best friend Chloe had said earlier. "Or at least take a vitamin D supplement or something. You're pale from all this indoor stalking."

Maya rolled her eyes. Chloe didn't understand the complexity of modern romance. You couldn't just approach someone anymore. You needed data. You needed strategy. You needed to know that Jordan posted about obscure indie bands and had a soft spot for vintage cameras without seeming like you'd spent three hours compiling this information.

Her mom knocked on her door. "Maya! Come take your vitamins!"

"Coming!" Maya minimized Instagram and grabbed the bottle from her nightstand. Vitamin B-12. Her mom claimed it helped with energy and mood. Maya claimed it helped with enduring her mother's enthusiastic wellness phase.

The house shook. thunder rattled the window frame.

"Storm's coming," her mom called from down the hall. "Jordan's probably walking home from practice. You should invite him over until it passes."

Maya's heart did that thing where it forgot how to rhythm properly. "I—I don't have his number!"

"You could just, I don't know, walk outside and wave? He's three houses down."

Right. Simple. Except nothing was simple when you were fifteen and had been secretly instagram-stalking someone for six weeks.

Lightning flashed outside, illuminating her room in brief, electric white. Maya's phone buzzed.

unknown number: hey it's jordan. chloe gave u my number lol. saw u watching my story 👀

Maya nearly dropped her phone. Another flash of lightning—this one closer, brighter.

unknown number: ur turn to watch my story if ur gonna stalk it

She clicked on his story immediately. It was a video of the storm, the sky crackling with lightning. The caption: wish i had someone to watch this with.

Maya's fingers hovered over the screen. She could pretend she hadn't seen it. Could let this moment pass like all the others.

Instead, she typed: want to come over? i have snacks and we can watch from my window

The response was instant. bet.

Her mom knocked again, this time softer. "Did I just see Jordan running toward our house in the rain?"

"Yeah," Maya said, grabbing her vitamin B-12 bottle and shoving it in her pocket. Just in case she needed extra courage. "We're gonna watch the storm."

"Good," her mom said through the door. "Sometimes the best things happen when you stop spying and start living."

Maya smiled. Her mom was actually getting wise in her old age. Outside, lightning struck again, and somewhere between the thunder and the doorbell, Maya decided she was done being a spy. It was time to be part of the story.