The Fox Protocol

Maya's fingers hovered over her phone screen at 11:47 PM, again. She was basically a professional **spy** at this point—stalking Aiden's Instagram stories the second they dropped, analyzing his cryptic song captions like they were ancient texts. "Activate Fox Protocol," she whispered to her ceiling, because naming your crush strategies after your last name made them feel slightly less pathetic.

Her orange tabby cat, Mango, blinked judgmentally from the pillow. Mango knew she'd spent the last hour memorizing Aiden's schedule from his socials. He had lacrosse practice on Tuesdays, worked at his dad's hardware store on Saturdays, and apparently was obsessed with vintage video games.

"Whatever," Maya muttered, popping a cherry **vitamin** C gummy into her mouth. Her mom had bought the giant bottle from Costco, claiming they'd boost her immune system before finals. Maya mostly liked them because they tasted like candy and made her feel like she had her life together, unlike her actual disaster of a social existence.

The next day at school, she "casually" walked past the lacrosse field during practice. Aiden was on the bench, looking at something on his phone. Maya ducked behind the bleachers like the FBI agent she wasn't, heart pounding so hard she thought it might explode.

"You good?"

Maya nearly jumped out of her skin. Aiden stood there, lacrosse stick slung over his shoulder, grinning like he knew something.

"Fine!" she squeaked. "Just... taking the scenic route."

"To the parking lot?" He raised an eyebrow. "I saw you on Instagram. You liked that post I made about my cat last week."

Maya's face burned. She'd been exposed.

"Your cat is cute," she managed. "What's his name?"

"Peanut." Aiden shifted his weight, looking suddenly nervous. "Hey, you wanna come over? I have this vintage video game collection, and I need someone who actually knows how to play to help me beat this boss."

Maya's brain short-circuited. "Like... right now?"

"If you're not busy being..." he gestured at her hiding spot "...you know."

They walked to his house, talking about everything and nothing. When they got there, Peanut immediately jumped into Maya's lap like they were old friends. Aiden's room was covered in band posters and had a shelf of vintage game consoles.

"So," he said, setting up the game. "You gonna tell me why you were hiding behind the bleachers, or should I keep guessing?"

Maya laughed, actually laughed. "Maybe I'm just mysterious."

"Yeah, right." Aiden handed her a controller. "I saw how you looked at me in bio. I've been trying to talk to you for weeks."

"Wait, WHAT?"

"You're not the only one who's been... paying attention." His ears turned pink. "I just didn't know how to approach you without being weird about it."

Maya's heart did something very embarrassing. All that time spent as a secret agent, and the target had been watching her the whole time.

"Well," she said, selecting her character on screen. "I guess we're both pretty terrible at this."

"At what?"

"Acting like normal human beings." She grinned. "But I'm amazing at this game, so prepare to lose, Fox."

"Challenge accepted, Maya." As their characters battled on screen, Mango (who was definitely judging her from home) would've been proud. She'd finally leveled up from spying to actually living.