Running on Borrowed Time

Maya's hair was a curtain she could hide behind. Specifically, the curtain she was currently parting with trembling fingers to peek around the gym corner. Her palms were sweating—gross, she knew, but nerves didn't care about being dignified.

She was definitely not spying on Jordan. Spying implied a level of coolness and competence that Maya absolutely did not possess. She was merely... conducting casual visual research from a strategic distance.

Jordan stood by the bleachers, laughing with those effortlessly perfect seniors whose lives seemed like one continuous TikTok aesthetic. Maya's stomach did that awful fluttery thing, like her insides were running laps without her permission.

"You're being weird," she whispered to herself. "Just go over there and say something literally normal."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Probably her group chat demanding updates on Operation: Don't Be Awkward. Maya fumbled with the ancient ethernet cable wrapped around her wrist—she'd borrowed it from the media room and forgotten to return it, which was basically a crime against the school's tech department.

Jordan noticed her. Locked eyes. Smiled.

Maya's brain short-circuited. In a panic, she started walking toward them, then pivoted into what she thought was a cool lean against the wall but was actually a stumble that nearly sent her into a trash can. She caught herself, hair flying everywhere, cable swinging like a ridiculous pendulum.

"Nice cable," Jordan said, walking over. "Are you... fixing the internet?"

"Yes," Maya said, with absolutely zero hesitation. "I'm the school's underground IT specialist. Very hush-hush."

Jordan laughed, but not in a mean way. "That's actually kinda awesome. I've been trying to figure out why the wifi in the science wing sucks."

"I'll look into it," Maya said, her palms suddenly dry as her nervousness evaporated. "I charge in friendship currency, though."

"Deal," Jordan said. "Same time tomorrow?"

Maya walked away before she could say something foolish, her hair finally falling out of her face so she could properly smile. She was definitely still running on pure adrenaline and questionable decisions, but somehow, for the first time, that felt like exactly enough.