The Social Pyramid Scheme

Maya stared at the whiteboard where Mr. Henderson had drawn a social pyramid for their sociology lesson. At the top: the popular kids. In the middle: the normals. At the bottom: everyone else. Including her.

"Great, thanks for visualizing my entire existence," she muttered, earning a laugh from Ben, the cute baseball player who sat diagonal from her. Her palms went instantly sweaty, and she quickly pretended to be fascinated by her notebook.

"Rough night?" Ben whispered.

"Zombie mode activated," Maya whispered back. "Three AP exams, one college application, and zero brain cells remaining."

"Baseball practice was the same. Coach had us running laps till I saw actual ghosts."

Their moment was cut short by Chloe, who sat at the very top of the pyramid—cheer captain, homecoming queen, somehow friends with everyone. Chloe's palm tree-themed hydro flask clattered as she set it down, and Maya felt that familiar pinch in her chest. Not jealousy, exactly. Just... awareness.

That afternoon, Maya found Chloe sitting alone on the bleachers, crying into said hydro flask. The pyramid suddenly felt very real, and very lonely up at the top.

"Hey," Maya said, sitting down. "Everything okay?"

Chloe looked up, mascara everywhere. "Everyone expects me to be perfect. The pyramid was actually making me feel sick. It's like, I'm at the top, but I'm also trapped there."

Maya thought about it. "You know, that's not actually how it works. Not really."

"What?"

"The pyramid. It's just some drawing on a whiteboard. We're the ones who make it real."

Chloe actually laughed. "You're weird. I like weird."

"I'm exhausted. There's a difference."

"Want to come to the baseball game tonight? Ben's pitching. I can sneak you into the good seats."

Maya's heart did something embarrassing. "Absolutely."

Later, as she sat with Chloe and some other girls Maya had been too intimidated to approach, she realized something: the pyramid only existed if everyone believed in it. And tonight, watching Ben strike out the last batter, she decided she was done climbing.

She'd build her own shape.