The Fox in the Mirror

Maya dropped onto my bed with a groan that sounded suspiciously like a dying walrus. "I am literally a zombie right now. Finals week has taken my soul."

I laughed, scrolling through my phone. "Pretty sure zombies don't complain about their GPA, but okay."

She threw a pillow at me. "Rude. Also, your mom asked if you're still taking that vitamin D stuff because she found some at Costco."

"First of all, that was winter. Second, I'm living off caffeine and spite now."

Maya sighed, staring at the ceiling. "Do you ever feel like we're just going through the motions? Like, everyone expects us to have it figured out, and we're just pretending?"

I set down my phone. This was the deep stuff Maya only dropped when she was exhausted or stressed. Usually both. "You mean like how everyone thinks you're this perfect student with everything together?"

"Exactly." She turned to face me. "Or how you're 'the chill friend' who's always fine?"

Ouch. "I'm not always fine."

"I know." She sat up. "But you never talk about it. You just... fox your way through everything."

"Fox my way?"

"You know, like a fox. Clever. Adaptable. Always landing on your feet."

I hadn't thought about it like that. My fox emoji had been my thing since middle school, mostly because I liked orange, but somehow it had become my brand—the adaptable one, the problem solver, the friend who could handle anything.

"Maybe," I said quietly. "But sometimes even foxes get tired."

Maya's eyes softened. "That's what I'm saying. We can be zombies together sometimes. You don't always have to figure everything out."

It hit me then—how long it had been since I'd let myself just not be okay. Since I'd admitted to feeling overwhelmed or scared or just tired of trying so hard all the time.

"Hey," I said finally. "You know that supplement your mom found? Tell her to grab it."

"Really? Since when do you care about vitamins?"

"Since I realized even foxes need a little help sometimes."

Maya grinned, and for the first time in weeks, neither of us felt like we were faking it.