The Spy in the Cowboy Hat

Maya's older brother Jake was being a total weirdo about the homecoming dance, which was saying something because Jake was always kind of a drama queen. He'd been wearing that stupid black cowboy hat everywhere—school, dinner table, even showered with it once, according to their mom who was *this* close to losing it.

"You're not actually gonna ask Taylor to dance, are you?" Maya asked, flopping onto his bed while he attempted to fix his hair in the mirror for the eightieth time that night. "She's, like, way out of your league. No offense."

Jake spun around, hat somehow staying perfectly in place. "First of all, Taylor and I have been flirting in chem lab for weeks. Second, none taken. And third—" He paused dramatically. "I need you to be my spy tonight."

Maya rolled her eyes so hard it hurt. "Your what now?"

"I need intel. Taylor's gonna be at the pre-game at Sarah's house, but I don't know if she's going solo or with... you know." He made a face like he'd swallowed something sour.

"Brendan?" Maya guessed.

"The *bull* himself," Jake confirmed bitterly. "Captain of the football team, looks like he was carved from marble, absolutely insufferable. Last time we talked, he spent twenty minutes explaining why his protein shake routine was 'basically a religion.'"

Maya considered Jake's request. Being his spy meant free snacks from Sarah's ridiculously well-stocked kitchen, plus front-row seats to whatever awkward confrontation Jake was inevitably going to have with Brendan. Also, Jake owed her like, ten favors anyway.

"Fine," she said. "But you owe me. Big time."

Three hours later, Maya was crouched behind Sarah's couch, phone in hand, watching Taylor laugh at something Brendan said. The football player was currently demonstrating his signature touchdown dance, which was somehow even more embarrassing than Jake had described. Taylor looked polite but kinda done with it, checking her phone every thirty seconds.

Maya texted Jake: *she's bored out of her mind. brendan's doing some weird dance thing. now's your moment.*

A minute later, Jake walked in—hat still on, bless his heart—looking like he might throw up. But he walked right up to Taylor and Brendan, cut into their conversation with a confidence Maya had never seen from him, and said something that made Taylor's face light up.

Brendan, looking completely shook, backed away muttering something about needing to check on his "protein gains." Jake and Taylor spent the rest of the night talking by the snacks table, and Maya may have stolen Jake's hat and worn it home just to keep him humble.

"Not bad, little spy," Jake said later, actually smiling without looking nauseous for once. "Not bad at all."