The Social Pyramid Scheme

Maya stared at the cafeteria's invisible **pyramid** from her corner table. Bottom tier: invisible. Middle: the math team. Top: the **padel** squad who'd discovered the sport during spring break and wouldn't shut up about it.

"You're doing that thing again," said Jules, sliding into the seat opposite her. "That **goldfish** stare where you forget I exist for three seconds."

Maya blinked. "I was just thinking about how Tyler followed me on Instagram but then commented 'k' on my post. What does that even MEAN?"

"It means he plays padel now and his brain has been replaced by a tiny racquet." Jules cracked open her kombucha. "Also, your **palm** is sweating through your sketchbook. Again."

Maya wiped her hand on her jeans. HerSketchbook—that's what she called it, capital H, because it contained her entire personality in ballpoint pen. Page 47: a comic where she finally talks to Tyler without sounding like a malfunctioning AI.

She'd been wearing the same oversized black bucket **hat** since Monday. It was her armor. Her vibe. Her way of saying 'I'm detached and mysterious' instead of 'I'm overthinking everything and kind of want to disappear.'

"You know what's wild?" Maya said. "The pyramid isn't even real. I spent freshman year trying to climb it, and now I'm realizing the people at the top are just loud. That's it. They're just LOUD."

Jules snorted. "Groundbreaking discovery. What's next, are you gonna figure out that the college counselor doesn't actually read your essays?"

Maya laughed, then spotted Tyler walking in with his padel gear. Her heart did that embarrassing flutter-thing it always did. But then she looked at Jules, who was making a face like she'd smelled something terrible, and suddenly the pyramid felt smaller. Or maybe she just felt taller.

"Forget it," Maya said, flipping to a fresh page in her sketchbook. "I'm gonna draw Tyler as a goldfish. It's healing."

"Do it," Jules said. "Make him tiny."

Maya drew. And somewhere between the first terrible fish sketch and Jules losing it laughing, she realized she hadn't thought about the pyramid once.