The Spy at Sunset Courts

Maya's dad's **hat** sat crooked on her head—a beige fedora that screamed 'substitute teacher' but she hoped said 'incognito.' Next to her, Chloe adjusted her sunglasses despite the 7 PM gloom.

"You look ridiculous," Chloe whispered. "This isn't a movie."

"Shh." Maya adjusted her phone. "I'm gathering evidence."

For three days, Maya had been on a mission. Ever since she'd seen Liam—her Liam, the one who'd smiled at her in AP Bio—walking onto the **padel** courts with Her. Taylor. The Instagram model. The girl who sat at the top of the school's social **pyramid** like it was her personal throne.

"He's probably just tutoring her," Chloe said for the twentieth time.

"In athletic wear? At sunset? Every day?" Maya zoomed in. "They're definitely hooking up."

Her stomach churned. That afternoon at lunch, she'd spent twenty minutes talking to Lucas with a massive piece of **spinach** stuck in her braces. Lucas had been too nice to say anything. She'd realized later when she caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Now Liam was secretly dating the most perfect girl in school while she was out here being unlovable and humiliating herself simultaneously.

"Wait," Chloe hissed. "They're coming closer."

Maya's heart pounded. This was it. The moment she'd catch them red-handed. Liam and Taylor walked past their bench, lost in conversation. Maya held her breath, ready to confront him, to demand answers—

"—so the lab report's due Friday, and if you need help with the statistics section, I can text you the formula sheet," Liam was saying.

Taylor nodded. "You're a lifesaver. My grade's practically hanging by a thread."

They kept walking. No hand-holding. No longing glances. Just two students talking about homework.

Maya let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. The fedora suddenly felt ten pounds heavier.

"Told you," Chloe said, not unkindly. "Not everyone's living in a soap opera, Maya."

"I know." Maya pulled off the **hat** and ran a hand through her hair. "I just—I really like him, you know?"

"Then talk to him instead of playing **spy**," Chloe said. "You're plenty interesting without the fedora."

Maya watched Liam disappear into the parking lot, his laughter carrying back to her. Maybe Chloe was right. Maybe the only thing standing between her and what she wanted was her own overactive imagination.

"Tomorrow," Maya said. "I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Deal," Chloe grinned. "But first, we're burning that hat."