The Bear in the Bleachers

Maya gripped her padel racket until her knuckles turned white, waiting for Tyler to notice her from across the court. He didn't. He was too busy laughing with Perfect Hannah, whose ponytail swung with infuriating precision.

"You're staring again," whispered Zoe, her best friend since fourth grade. "It's giving obsessed."

"I'm not obsessed," Maya lied, though she'd been lowkey spying on Tyler's Instagram stories for weeks now. His dog, a golden retriever named Nacho, appeared in approximately 47% of his posts. Maya had calculated this.

"Right." Zoe rolled her eyes. "That's why you know Nacho's birthday is March 3rd and he's afraid of vacuum cleaners."

Maya's face burned. The truth was, she'd spent the entire semester becoming the world's okayest detective, gathering intel like she was working for the CIA instead of trying to figure out if Tyler thought she existed. Pathetic, honestly.

Then her phone buzzed. A notification from Tyler: "bear alert near the rec center courts 😂"

Her heart did that embarrassing flutter thing. He'd messaged her. First. About something actual.

"No way," Zoe said, reading over her shoulder. "Play it cool. Don't reply immediately."

But Maya was already typing: "lol really??" with slightly too many question marks.

The bear wasn't a joke. There, beyond the chain-link fence, an actual bear lumbered past the tennis courts, completely unbothered. Someone's dog—a tiny chihuahua—barked bravely from its carrier before being shushed by its owner. The bear paused, looked at them with undisguised judgment, and kept walking.

Tyler's next message: "wanna go investigate after practice?"

Maya's fingers hovered over the keyboard. This was it. The moment she'd been pseudo-stalking him for weeks, and he was inviting her to—what? Look for wildlife?

Then she saw it. Another notification. Tyler had posted the bear video. Caption: "Bear sighting with the squad 🐻" And there was Hannah, laughing at his side, like she'd been there the whole time.

The bear hadn't been for her. It had been for his story.

"You okay?" Zoe asked.

Maya stared at her phone. The spy game was over. The crash padel tournament was next week, and Tyler still didn't know she existed.

"Yeah," Maya said, dropping her phone into her bag. "I'm done with surveillance."

"Good," Zoe said. "Because Hannah's forehand is weak and you could totally take her."

Maya laughed. For the first time all season, she picked up her racket and thought about something besides Tyler. She thought about winning.