The Fedora Incident

Marcus pulled the fedora down over his eyebrows, checking his reflection in the locker mirror. He'd bought it online with his birthday money—vintage 1980s, eBay said. Sophisticated. Mysterious. Definitely not something anyone at Northwood High would expect from the kid who sat in the back of pre-calc, developing conspiracy theories about why the cafeteria always served "mystery meat" on Fridays.

"Dude," said Jay, slamming his locker shut. "You look like you're about to solve a crime from 1947."

"It's called having a persona," Marcus said, though his palms were already sweating. "Not that you'd understand. You wear the same hoodie three days a week."

"Touché." Jay popped a gummy vitamin into his mouth. "Want one? My mom's got me on these ones that supposedly help with "stress and focus." They taste like artificial grape depression."

Marcus declined, mostly because his stomach was already doing backflips. Today was the day he'd finally talk to Maya—the girl with the half-blue hair who sat alone at lunch, reading books with covers in languages he couldn't identify. He'd been what Maya's friends probably called a "low-key creep" and what his therapist called "socially anxious with observational tendencies." He preferred "spy." Spies were cool. Spies had purpose.

At lunch, he positioned himself three tables away, opening a book he'd strategically chosen because it looked impressive. The hat, he reasoned, gave him an air of intrigue. Surely Maya would notice someone with such distinctive headwear and think, who is this enigmatic figure?

Instead, she noticed him staring. For the third time.

She walked over, and Marcus's brain short-circuited. The fedora suddenly felt very heavy.

"Hey," she said. "You're in my English class, right?"

"What? Yes. I mean—yeah."

"Cool." She gestured to his book. "You like Murakami?"

"Oh, absolutely. The way he writes about... cats and parallel universes. Very deep."

Maya's lips twitched. "That book's upside down."

Marcus died inside. "It's an experimental reading technique."

"Right." She smiled, actually smiled. "Well, Experimental Reading Guy, my friends and I are going to the city this weekend to visit this bookstore that sells nothing but translated Japanese literature. You should come. Bring the hat. It's... a vibe."

As she walked away, Marcus caught Jay's eye across the cafeteria. Jay gave him a thumbs-up and mouthed "spy mission accomplished."

Marcus touched the brim of his fedora. Maybe tomorrow he'd even try a vitamin.