The Fox in the Stands

Maya pulled her baseball cap lower, grateful for the brim's shadow. Standing alone during seventh period was basically social suicide, but here she was, stuck in the bleachers while everyone else hung out by the concession stand. She clutched her iphone like a lifeline, scrolling through absolutely nothing.

'You look like you're plotting something,' came a voice behind her.

Maya jumped. It was Leo, the guy who sat behind her in English. The one with the annoying habit of kicking her chair.

'I'm not plotting,' she said. 'I'm observing. There's a difference.'

'So you're basically a spy now?' Leo grinned, dropping onto the bench beside her. 'What's the target? Tyler's baseball practice again?'

Her face burned. Okay, maybe she'd been watching Tyler's practice for the past week. But that wasn't creepy — that was appreciating athletic excellence from a distance. Totally normal.

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Sure.' Leo's knowing look suggested he absolutely knew what she was talking about. 'Hey, did you see that fox earlier?'

'What fox?'

'There was a fox walking along the edge of the field during practice. Just chilling. Everyone was freaking out.' Leo laughed. 'Tyler almost missed a catch because he was too busy staring at it.'

Maya sat up straighter. 'Seriously?'

'Yeah. It was weirdly cool. Like, nature just showing up in the middle of our suburban high school drama.' Leo pulled out his own phone. 'I got a video. Want to see?'

She leaned in as he pressed play. There on the screen was a real fox, its orange coat bright against the green grass, trotting casually along the fence line while a bunch of high school baseball players lost their minds in the background. The fox paused, looked directly at the camera, and kept walking like it owned the place.

'That's actually kind of iconic,' Maya said.

'Right?' Leo's shoulder bumped hers accidentally, but neither of them moved away. 'The fox had more confidence than all of us combined.'

Below them, Tyler's practice ended. Players streamed toward the parking lot, laughing and shoving each other. Maya watched them, something loosening in her chest.

'Maybe,' she said slowly, 'the fox was just trying to tell us something.'

'Like what?'

She adjusted her hat, finally tilting her face up. 'Like maybe we should stop caring so much about what everyone else thinks.'

Leo considered this. 'Pretty deep for someone who's been hiding in a baseball cap all week.'

'Maya.' She held out her phone, thumb hovering over a new contact. 'Want to, like, actually hang out sometime? Without me pretending I'm not watching Tyler's practice?'

He didn't even hesitate. 'Absolutely.'

The fox was long gone, but for the first time, Maya didn't feel like she was spying on her own life from the sidelines anymore.