The Cable Connection

Maya's older brother TJ had the room directly above hers, which meant she knew way too much about his life. Like how his baseball trophies collected more dust than actual glory since he quit varsity junior year. Or how he stayed up until 3 AM every night doing… something.

"I swear he's up to something," Maya told her best friend Chloe as they sprawled across Maya's bed, doom-scrolling through TikToks. "Like, weird something."

"You think everyone's a spy now just because you binged that show," Chloe rolled her eyes. "He's probably just—"

*Thump.*

Both girls froze. A sound from above—like something heavy hitting the floor.

"See?" Maya whispered, grabbing her phone. "I'm going up there."

"You're literally going to get murdered."

"I'm going to investigate. There's a difference."

Maya crept up the stairs, heart hammering against her ribs like it was trying to break out. TJ's door was cracked open, orange light spilling into the hallway. She peeked through—

And froze.

Her brother sat surrounded by monitors, cables snaking across his floor like some kind of electronic jungle. He was typing furiously, screens scrolling with code and… was that someone's email?

"TJ?" Maya pushed the door open.

He practically jumped out of his skin. "Maya! What the—don't you knock?"

"Since when do you know how to code?" Maya stepped over a thick black cable. "And why do you have five monitors? You work at GameStop."

TJ rubbed his face, looking suddenly exhausted. "Sit down. I was gonna tell you eventually."

"Tell me what? That you're like, some hacker?" She paused. "Oh my god, are you a spy?"

"No, I'm a freelance cybersecurity consultant," he said, then cracked a grin. "Okay, that sounds way fancier than it is. Companies hire me to test their security. Find the weak spots before the actual bad guys do."

Maya stared. "Wait. So all those times you said you were 'late at work'…"

"Yeah, I was literally in my room stopping some crypto scam from stealing people's money. Or helping some startup patch a vulnerability."

"And the baseball stuff?"

"Distraction. Mom and Dad wanted me to have a 'normal' hobby." He gestured at the dusty trophies. "This felt easier than explaining why a 17-year-old was making six figures finding holes in corporate firewalls."

Maya's phone buzzed. Chloe had texted: *well???? are you dead????*

"Not a word to Mom and Dad," TJ said quietly. "They think I'm focusing on 'finding myself' at community college next semester."

"Your secret's safe with me," Maya said, already planning to hold this over his head forever. "But you're totally teaching me."

"What? No—"

"I know where you keep your backup cables, TJ. Don't test me."

He laughed, and Maya realized something: her boring brother with the dusty baseball trophies was secretly the most interesting person she knew. And she was the only one who knew.

*Best. Sister. Ever.*