Pyramid Scheme

Maya stood at the base of the cafeteria's social pyramid, clutching her tray like a shield. At the top sat Sierra and her squad, flawless and terrifying. At the bottom? Maya, who'd accidentally worn her shirt inside out. Again.

"You look like a zombie," Jordan said, sliding into the seat across from her. "What time did you crash last night?"

"4 AM. I was—" Maya stopped herself. She'd been watching Sierra's Instagram stories, archived from three years ago. Stalking? No. Research. Totally normal research.

"Spying on your crush again?" Jordan raised an eyebrow. "That's not creepy at all."

"I'm not spying!" Maya hissed. "I'm gathering intel. There's a difference."

"Sure, FBI. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Which is apparently 4 AM."

Maya couldn't explain it to Jordan—the way she felt pulled toward Sierra, like they were supposed to know each other. Sierra, who'd smiled at her in the hallway last Tuesday for no reason. Sierra, who'd written "cool shirt" on Maya's locker door, even though it had been inside out that day too.

The bear costume incident had sealed it. Last week, during the pep rally, Maya had gotten stuck wearing the bear mascot head after the actual mascot got food poisoning. She'd tripped over her own giant bear feet and faceplanted in front of the whole school. Sierra had been the only one to laugh with her, not at her, even helping her up while making some genuinely funny bear puns.

"She's just being nice," Jordan said when Maya brought it up later. "Not everyone has a hidden agenda."

"But what if she—"

"What if you talked to her like a normal person instead of obsessively archiving her social media?"

Maya opened her mouth to argue, but then Sierra stood up from her table and started walking toward her. The cafeteria noise seemed to drop. This was it. The moment she'd been mentally rehearsing at 4 AM for weeks.

Sierra stopped at Maya's table. "Hey."

"Hey," Maya managed. Smooth.

"So," Sierra said, "I heard you're into horror movies? My friends bailed on this new zombie apocalypse thing tonight, and I need someone who actually gets scared instead of laughing at the CGI. You down?"

Maya looked at Jordan, whose jaw had actually dropped.

"Yeah," Maya said, feeling something shift inside her chest. "Yeah, I'm down."

"Cool." Sierra grinned. "Pick you up at seven? And maybe wear your shirt the right way this time."

As Sierra walked away, Maya caught Jordan's stare. "Don't," she warned.

"I didn't say anything!" But Jordan was already pulling out their phone. "But I AM updating my Instagram story. Caption: 'FBI agent succeeds in mission.'"

Maya didn't even care. Somewhere between zombie movies and bear costumes and social pyramids, she might have just found something real.