Surveillance State of Mind
Maya's thumb hovered over her iphone screen at 2:47 AM, watching Kai's story for the third time tonight. Not in a creepy way—or at least that's what she told herself. It was basically research. Strategic reconnaissance. If the FBI could spy on citizens through their webcams, surely Maya could spy-basically-stalk on the guy who sat three rows away in AP Bio.
She felt like a zombie, honestly. Junior year was eating her brain cells one standardized test at a time. Her mom kept pushing those gross gummy vitamins on her—"for focus, Maya, you're so scattered lately"—but Maya knew the only prescription she needed was seven hours of sleep and maybe for Kai to finally notice she existed.
The vitamins sat in her drawer, untouched. Whatever.
Her phone buzzed. A notification from Kai's finsta. Maya's heart did that embarrassing flutter thing. She tapped it fast, like her life depended on it.
"anyone else feel like they're living in a simulation rn"
Maya stared. Was this—was this about HER? Had Kai noticed Maya watching his stories? Was this a message?
Her fingers shook as she typed: "lol literally every day"
Seconds stretched. The typing bubble appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
"ur maya from ap bio right"
Maya dropped her phone. Actually dropped it. Face down on her carpet.
She retrieved it slowly, like it was an explosive device. The zombie feeling evaporated, replaced by something terrifying and electric. Her iphone screen glowed back at her, bright as interrogation lights in a spy movie she'd never actually star in because she was definitely not cool enough for espionage.
"yeah that's me lol"
"u seem cool. we should hang"
Maya lay back against her pillows, heart hammering. All that spying, all those zombie mornings, all those rejected vitamins—and somehow, impossibly, this was happening.
She grabbed one of the gummy vitamins from her drawer and chewed it viciously. Maybe her mom was right. Maybe she did need supplements for this new life chapter.
Or maybe, just maybe, she was finally awake.