Poolside Surveillance

The papaya-spinach smoothie sat heavy in Maya's stomach, a green sludge of wellness that Jake's mom had insisted was packed with every vitamin known to humanity. Maya took another tentative sip, fighting the urge to gag.

"You good?" Jake asked, floating in the shallow end of his pool. Water slicked his hair back, revealing that dumb bear tattoo on his shoulder—some artsy minimalist thing that everyone pretended was deep. "You look like you're dying."

"Your mom's trying to kill me," Maya managed, setting the cup down on the patio table. Her phone buzzed. Again.

She'd been cyber-stalking Chloe—the new girl who'd somehow captured Jake's attention since school ended two weeks ago—for three hours last night. A total spy mission through public Instagram posts and TikTok dances, compiling mental notes: Chloe surfed. Chloe had a gap-toothed smile. Chloe was everything Maya wasn't.

"Yo, you coming in or what?" Jake called.

"In a minute."

Maya pulled out her phone. Chloe had posted a story fifteen minutes ago: a sunset captioned "paradise Found :)." But wait—that wasn't Malibu's coastline. That pier looked familiar. That was—

"Jake!" Maya nearly shouted. "Your cousin's Airbnb—doesn't she have a place in San Diego?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Chloe's there. I think she's with your cousin's crew."

Jake's face went pale. He scrambled out of the pool so fast he splashed water everywhere. "Show me."

Maya passed him her phone, her heart doing weird little gymnastics. This was it—the moment he'd realize Chloe was perfect and Maya was just the girl who'd lived next door since they were seven.

Jake stared at the screen, dripping onto the concrete. Then he started laughing. Not the polite laugh he used with adults, but real laughter.

"What?" Maya said, defensive.

"That's not San Diego," he said. "That's the pier by my aunt's house in Florida. We went there last summer."

Maya squinted at the photo. "You sure?"

"Positive. Besides—" He handed back her phone, water from his hands soaking her case. "Chloe's cool and all, but she's not you."

He held her gaze for three entire seconds before diving back into the pool.

Maya sat with her papaya sludge, heart hammering against her ribs. Then she grabbed her phone and deleted her search history.

Spy mission over. Real life just got interesting.