The Pyramid Scheme

Maya stared at her phone screen at 11:47 PM, the blue light washing out her face in the bathroom mirror. Somewhere in this massive social media pyramid she'd accidentally built, someone was waiting for her to be brave.

Three weeks ago, she'd posted a simple drawing—a cat with suspicious eyes, labeled #spy. It was supposed to be a joke about how her neighbor's cat watched her through the window, but suddenly she had 4,000 followers expecting her to be some kind of anonymous artist.

"You're literally viral," Jordan had said at lunch, sliding into the seat across from her with exaggerated awe. "Meanwhile, I'm still trying to get my crush to notice I exist."

That was the thing about Jordan—her first actual friend in this new school, and somehow also the person who made Maya feel most like an imposter. Jordan assumed Maya had this whole artistic identity figured out, but the truth was, Maya didn't even know who she was anymore.

Outside, lightning cracked the sky in half, the thunder following close enough to make the bathroom window rattle. Perfect storm energy for the identity crisis she'd been avoiding for weeks.

Her DMs were blowing up. People wanted merch. They wanted the "spy cat" backstory. They assumed Maya was this confident, mysterious artist type—everything she definitely wasn't.

"Hey," Jordan had said yesterday, like she could somehow read Maya's mind. "You know you don't have to perform for them, right? Like, you're allowed to just be whatever messy, in-between thing you are right now."

Maya's thumb hovered over the new post button. She could keep faking it, maintain this pyramid of expectations she'd accidentally constructed. Or she could just—be honest.

The thunder rattled the window again, and suddenly she was typing.

"hey y'all so this is awkward but I'm literally just a sophomore who drew a cat because my neighbor's pet gives me surveillance vibes and I have no idea what I'm doing with my life or this account lol"

She posted it before she could overthink it, then threw her phone onto her bed like it was hot.

Her notification screen lit up anyway.