Orange Crush Protocol

Maya's thumb hovered over the screen, her heart doing that weird fluttery thing it always did when she went this deep. Three weeks of methodical scrolling, liking, and casual replies had brought her here — to Lucas Miller's finsta from eleventh grade. The one where he posted stuff his actual followers couldn't see.

"You're literally being a stalker right now," Jaz said, peering over Maya's shoulder in third period. "That's so creepy."

"I'm not stalking, I'm —"

"Spying," Jaz whispered, loud enough that Mr. Henderson looked up from his newspaper. "You're spying on your crush's secret account. Which, lowkey, is psychopath behavior."

Maya rolled her eyes but closed her instagram fast. Whatever. Jaz didn't understand the tactical advantage of intel. Information was power.

At track practice, Coach Banks blew his whistle exactly when Maya was mid-chew, spraying orange juice everywhere. "Alright, ladies! Conference finals in two weeks! Some of you" — he looked directly at Maya — "need to decide if you're running or if you're just showing up for the aesthetic."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket during cooldown laps. Maya's stomach dropped. Lucas had replied to her story. The one she'd posted strategically, knowing he'd see it.

nice form at practice today lol

Maya almost tripped over her own feet. How had he seen that? She'd just posted it. Unless...

The realization hit her like, well, like getting hit by a dodgeball in seventh grade gym. Hard. Lucas Miller was spying back.

"Your face is doing that thing again," Jaz said later as they sat on the bleachers, sharing the rest of the orange from Maya's lunch. "Like, you look constipated but also thrilled?"

"He saw my story immediately," Maya said, staring at her iPhone where Lucas's notification sat like proof of parallel universe mathematics. "Like, suspiciously immediately."

Jaz choked on her orange slice. "Wait. You think he's been creeping on your profile too?"

"I think" — Maya felt something dangerously close to hope bubbling in her chest — "I think we've been playing the same game."

Her phone vibrated again.

see you at the meet tomorrow?

Maya typed back with fingers that were absolutely not shaking, nah, she was chill, everything was chill: "only if you can keep up <3"

Jaz whooped. "The game has been GAMIFIED. This is so messy, I love it."

Maya grinned, finally eating the last orange segment. Being a spy was way better when both sides knew the rules.