The Smoothie Operation

Maya pressed her back against the cafeteria wall, phone angled like a weapon. Being a self-appointed social spy wasn't in her yearbook goals, but here she was—captured in a gravitational pull around Jordan's table, where the popular kids orbited like they owned the atmosphere.

"Dude, you're being so creepy," whispered Riley, sliding beside her with a tray piled high with fries. "Just sit with them already."

"I don't orbit," Maya said, though her pulse betrayed her. "I collect data."

Riley rolled her eyes so hard it looked painful. "Your data's gonna expire, bestie. Jordan's literally looking over here right now."

Maya's stomach did somersaults that had nothing to do with lunch. Her mom's green smoothie regime had been her excuse all week—"Sorry, too much spinach, I'll get gassy." The green sludge sat in her backpack like radioactive evidence of her cowardice.

"My mom says I need more vitamin D," Maya muttered, watching Jordan laugh at something. "Maybe that's my problem. Deficiency."

"Your problem is that you're overthinking it," Riley said, stealing a fry from her own tray. "You're not some spy behind enemy lines. You're just a person who wants to sit with other people. It's not that deep."

Jordan stood up. Maya's breath caught.

Then Jordan walked toward them. Maya considered faking a seizure.

"Hey," Jordan said, stopping at their table. "You left your notebook in chem yesterday. I've been looking for you."

Maya's brain glitched. "Oh. Thanks."

"Also," Jordan continued, "I saw you watching earlier, and I wanted to say—you don't have to spy from across the room. Just sit with us tomorrow."

Riley made a face that clearly said I told you so.

Jordan smiled. "Your notebook's in my bag, by the way. It's got all those little drawings in the margins—they're actually sick."

Later, opening her backpack to retrieve a notebook she hadn't even realized was missing, Maya knocked over the Mason jar of spinach smoothie. Green sludge splattered across the cafeteria floor.

Jordan laughed. Maya laughed. Something unspooled in her chest—loose, electric, terrifying and wonderful.

The spy operation was officially compromised. Finally.

"So," Jordan asked, "spinach smoothie? Really?"

"Don't judge," Maya said, grinning. "It's a whole vibe."