The Pyramid Scheme

Marco stood in his garage, staring at the tangled mess of coaxial cable on the floor. His band's first gig was in two hours, and their guitarist had just bailed.

"Dude, you're not seriously still going?" Jenna rolled her eyes, leaning against the doorframe. "The social pyramid at Jefferson High doesn't have a place for garage bands without guitarists."

"Watch me," Marco said, though his stomach did that nervous flutter thing whenever someone mentioned the school's invisible social hierarchy.

His phone buzzed. GROUP CHAT: Tyler said you're DONE lol

Marco pocketed it. Whatever. He'd been running on caffeine and three hours of sleep since the breakup with Chloe anyway. What was one more disaster?

"What's that?" Jenna pointed to a bottle on his workbench.

"Vitamin D supplements," Marco muttered. "My mom says I don't get enough sun because I'm always in here or at school."

Jenna actually laughed. "You're such a dork." But she stepped into the garage and picked up the spare cable. "My cousin took lessons for like, six years. He's not cool or anything, but he can play.

Marco's heart jumped. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, but you owe me." She pulled out her phone. "And I'm taking credit for saving your first performance."

Forty minutes later, Jenna's cousin—a lanky sophomore named Eric who smelled like Axe body spray and desperation—was somehow nailing their cover songs. The social pyramid could wait.

"You ready?" Marco asked, grabbing his bass guitar.

"Born ready," Eric said, then immediately knocked over the mic stand.

They still made it to the venue on time. And when Marco stepped onto that tiny stage, he realized something: the pyramid wasn't real. But the moment? This moment, with his makeshift band and Jenna's impossible grin from the audience?

Yeah. That was definitely real.