Orange Code

I felt like a total spy, lurking in the back of the library while the popular kids sat in their usual circle by the windows. Maya was there, wearing that oversized orange hoodie that made her look like a sunset wrapped around a person. I'd been crushing on her for three months, ever since she'd defended me against Jackson's homophobic comments in gym class.

"You're running out of time, you know," whispered Sofia, my only real friend, sliding into the chair beside me. She meant the GSA club application deadline, but honestly? I was running out of everything – patience, courage, battery life.

My phone flashed 12% as I pulled out my charging cable, weaving it through the maze of backpacks to the wall outlet. Someone knocked it loose with their backpack, and I had to start over. My face burned.

"You gonna do it or just stare at Maya all year?" Sofia raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not staring. I'm observing."

"Same thing, loser." She grinned. "Maya's bi, you know. I saw her flirting with that girl from AP Chem."

My stomach did that thing where it forgets how to exist. Maybe I wasn't as invisible as I thought.

That afternoon, I stayed late to finish my GSA application. The library emptied out until it was just me and the dying orange light of sunset through the windows. Then someone sat across from me.

Maya.

"You're Leo, right?" She was spinning a pencil between her fingers, all casual energy. "Sofia said you might be starting a GSA?"

"Uh. Yeah. If I can get it approved."

"Cool." She smiled, and it was like someone turned up the brightness in the room. "I've been wanting to join one forever. My old school didn't have anything."

We talked for forty-five minutes about everything and nothing – about how terrifying it was to exist in this hallways, about how we both felt like we were spying on a life we were supposed to be living but hadn't figured out how to start yet.

"I'm running home," she said eventually, checking her phone. "But I'll see you at the meeting? If you get it approved?"

"Yeah. Definitely."

"Awesome." She stood up, her orange hoodie catching the last light. "And Leo? You don't have to spy from the back anymore. You can just... be here."

Walking home, my phone fully charged, I realized she was right. I wasn't running from anything anymore. I was just finally running toward myself.