Sweaty Palms and Secret Lives

Maya's palms were sweating. Again.

She'd been accidentally spying on Leo's Instagram story for ten minutes, watching him live what looked like the perfect Friday night. There he was at some party she definitely wasn't invited to, laughing with people she didn't know, his smile bright and easy. The kind of smile that used to be for her, back when they were each other's person.

Now she was just the friend who watched from behind a screen.

Her phone buzzed. A FaceTime call from Leo.

Maya almost dropped her phone. Why was HE calling HER? Should she answer? What if he'd somehow noticed her lurking on his story? That would be mortifying beyond words.

"Hello?" she managed, trying to sound casual, like she hadn't been spiraling over their distance for weeks.

"Maya, you have to come over. Now."

"What? Why?"

"Just come. Please. It's important."

The weird thing was, he sounded upset. Not the upbeat Leo from the stories. This was different.

Maya grabbed her keys and biked over in record time, her mind racing with possibilities. What could possibly be so urgent at 11 PM on a Friday?

When she got to his house, Leo was sitting on his front steps, looking nothing like his social media persona. No party. No cool friends. Just Leo and his ancient orange tabby cat, Mochi, who was currently draped across his shoulders like a furry scarf.

"Those stories," Leo said, not looking up. "They're from last month. I just posted them to make it look like I'm doing fine."

"What?"

"I haven't been hanging out with anyone since... you know." He finally looked at her, and Maya's heart squeezed. "I've been playing a lot of Animal Crossing. Taking care of Mochi. That's pretty much it."

"But your life looks so..."

"Curated? Fake? Yeah, well."

Maya sat down next to him on the concrete step. Mochi abandoned Leo's shoulders to curl up in her lap instead, traitor that he was.

"I thought you moved on," Maya said quietly. "Like, found better friends."

"I thought you did too," Leo said. "That's why I didn't reach out. I didn't want to make things weird if you were busy with your new people."

"I don't have new people," she admitted. "I've just been... existing. Like a goldfish in a bowl, going in circles."

Leo laughed. "That's specific."

"I've been thinking about it a lot. Goldfish have like, three-second memories, right? So they never get bored. I was trying to be like that. Just existing in loops."

"That's depressing, Maya."

"I know."

They sat there for a while, the summer air sticky and warm around them. Mochi purred loudly, a rumble against Maya's legs.

"So," Leo said finally. "Do you want to come inside and play Mario Kart? My mom made cookies."

Maya looked at him, really looked at him. Not through a screen, not through the lens of social media, but right here. The Leo she'd missed.

"Only if I can be Yoshi," she said.

"Deal."

As they walked inside, Maya thought about how strange it was that they'd both been performing happiness for each other, both convinced the other was doing just fine. All that time wasted, both of them lonely when they could've been lonely together.

Sometimes the truth is simpler than we make it. No spy missions needed, no performances required. Just two people figuring it out, one awkward conversation at a time.