The Saturday Shift Survival Guide

Marcus dragged himself through the automatic doors of Vitamin World, feeling like a straight-up **zombie** after Friday night's gaming marathon. His manager, Greg—whom everyone called "**the bear**" behind his back because the guy was basically a grizzly in a polo shirt—growled about restocking the B12 displays before customers flooded in.

"You look like death, kid. Take this." Greg shoved a **vitamin** D supplement at him. "Sunshine in a capsule."

Marcus pocketed it, thinking Greg's motivational speeches were about as effective as a coaxial **cable** in 5G territory. His phone buzzed—group chat going off about Jordan's party tonight. He'd been invited, obviously. But showing up meant actually talking to people instead of disappearing into his room with headphones and leftover pizza.

The real problem wasn't the party. It was Maya—the smartest girl in AP English, who'd caught him reading Frankenstein during study hall and smiled at him like he was actually interesting. Now she'd be there, and Marcus was convinced his personality ranged from awkward silence to saying weird stuff about mythology at inappropriate times.

Like yesterday, when he'd compared their English teacher to the **sphinx** because Mrs. Chen made them solve riddles just to earn bathroom passes. Maya had laughed, actually laughed, but Marcus had spent the rest of the day overanalyzing whether it was a "you're funny" laugh or a "you're a weirdo" laugh.

"Earth to Marcus!" Greg's voice snapped him back. "Customer's waiting."

A girl stood at the counter—Maya. Of course. Because the universe had a personal vendetta against his peace of mind.

"Hey," she said, all casual, like she didn't know he'd been staring at her locker for three weeks straight. "Jordan said you might come tonight?"

Marcus's brain short-circuited. "Uh, yeah. Probably. Maybe."

"Cool." She grinned. "Just don't spend the whole time talking about Egyptian mythology again. Some people find that... unexpectedly cute, but Jordan might actually die of boredom."

She winked. Actually winked at him.

As she walked out, Marcus realized something terrifying: being a teenager was basically a riddle you had to solve while everyone watched. And maybe, just maybe, he was starting to figure out the answer.