Riddles in the Vitamin Aisle

Maya's summer job at Green Goddess Wellness was basically her own personal hell. The store smelled like patchouli and desperation, and she spent eight hours a day organizing bottles of supplements into alphabetically perfect rows. The only bright spot was Leo, her coworker who somehow made the fluorescent lighting feel less oppressive.

"You're like a human sphinx," Leo said, leaning against the vitamin C display while Maya meticulously aligned the labels. "All mysterious and brooding behind your wall of alphabetized capsules."

Maya rolled her eyes, but her stomach did that stupid flutter thing. "I'm not mysterious. I'm just trying to survive minimum wage without losing my mind."

"True." Leo grinned. "Hey, want to come to Jayden's party tonight? His older brother scored a keg."

The invitation hung there like the papaya smoothie sample they'd been forced to drink during training — weirdly exotic, slightly terrifying, and probably a mistake.

"I don't really... do parties," Maya said, which was code for "I'm terrified of being awkward in public."

"That's exactly why you should come." Leo's face got serious. "Look, can I tell you something? Before this job, I'd never even talked to someone like you. You're all "fake it till you make it" confidence, perfectly straightened hair, know exactly what to say to everyone. Meanwhile, I'm over here having panic attacks about whether to say hi or ignore you in the breakroom."

Maya stared at him. Leo? Nervous about HER? The guy who somehow knew everyone's name and made working retail look fun?

"You think I have it together?" she asked. "Leo, I had to look up how to pronounce 'quinoa' on YouTube before I could help that customer yesterday."

They stood there in the supplement aisle, surrounded by promises of better versions of themselves, and laughed until their manager came over and told them to get back to work.

That night at the party, Maya didn't magically become popular. She still felt awkward holding the red plastic cup, and she definitely didn't know how to dance. But she watched Leo across the room, successfully making people laugh without faking it, and realized maybe nobody had it figured out. Maybe that was the whole riddle — and the answer wasn't in any bottle, but in showing up anyway.

"So," Leo appeared beside her, holding out a cup. "Papaya mango punch. It's terrible, but I dare you."

Maya took it, feeling surprisingly brave. "Fine. But if I hate it, you're buying me vitamin B12 shots for a week."

"Deal," Leo said, and for the first time all summer, Maya didn't feel like she was waiting for her real life to begin.