Poolside Conspiracy

The pyramid of popularity at Westwood High had a clear apex, and Maya's crush Leo sat exactly at the top. Meanwhile, Maya existed somewhere around the middle—visible enough to be noticed, invisible enough to be safe.

Until the pool party.

"You're literally going?" Sasha asked, sprawled across Maya's bed while Maya applied waterproof mascara. "Leo's gonna be there with his whole squad."

"That's kinda the point," Maya said, though her stomach did flip-flops. "Anyway, I promised Skylar I'd help her set up the snack table. Being helpful is totally a vibe, right?"

"Or you could just be normal and talk to him like a human person."

"Excuse me, but what is this 'normal' you speak of?" Maya shot back. Sasha snorted into a pillow.

The party hit different than Maya expected. Good different. The pool glittered like something from a music video, and people were actually nice for once. Even Leo.

Then the weirdness started.

Maya kept noticing things—like how Leo's friends kept disappearing behind the garden shed, and how Skylar kept glancing at her phone with that tight expression she got when something was wrong. When Maya went inside for more chips, she saw Leo's phone on the counter. A notification popped up: 'Operation Fox Protocol: Stage 2 complete.'

Wait, what?

Maya'd watched enough spy movies to know when something smelled suspicious. She started running through possibilities in her head. Was this a prank? Some weird popularity game? The F—nope, not going there.

She found Skylar by the pool, clutching her phone like a lifeline. "Spill," Maya said. "What's going on?"

Skylar sighed. "Leo's been planning this whole thing for, like, a month. The party, the invites—he's trying to get everyone to sign this petition to save the community center from closing. The 'fox' thing is his code name because he thinks he's being all stealthy about it."

"He's... secretly doing community service?" Maya blinked. "That's actually lowkey adorable."

"Right?" Skylar giggled. "He's too embarrassed to just ask people directly because he thinks it's not cool enough, so he's being all dramatic and secret about it."

Maya looked across the pool where Leo stood, accidentally making eye contact. He gave this tiny, awkward wave.

"You know what?" Maya said, grabbing a clipboard from a nearby table. "Let's go help your fox save the community center."