The Spy in the Snapback

Marcus pulled his dad's old snapback low over his forehead, the brim shielding eyes that darted between lunch table clusters like a pinball machine on tilt. The hat smelled like cedar closet and secrets — perfect cover for Operation Friend.

Three weeks ago, Maya had sat at his table. Now she sat with Tyler's crew, laughing at jokes Marcus couldn't hear, her smile somehow brighter across the cafeteria. The vitamin gummies his mom made him take every morning sat heavy in his stomach. *Builds character,* she said. *Character doesn't get you invited to parties,* he thought.

His phone buzzed. *U coming?* — Sierra, his best friend since third grade, the one person who still treated him like Marcus instead of That Guy Whose Mom Makes Him Take Vitamins.

Marcus stood up, hat brim still ducked, and navigated the lunchroom minefield. Sarah Chen's table whispered as he passed. Jason Miller's crew went silent. He felt like a spy in enemy territory, gathering intel on social dynamics that made zero sense.

Then he saw it: Tyler — the bull of sophomore year, all broad shoulders and confidence that took up too much space — sitting alone, scrolling through his phone with shoulders hunched. No crew. No entourage. Just a guy in a Letterman jacket looking smaller without his audience.

Maya wasn't with him. She was at the table behind him, and she wasn't laughing anymore. She looked... tired.

Marcus's feet moved before his brain caught up. He sat across from Tyler, whose head snapped up like he'd been caught doing something illegal.

"Maya says you're really good at Spanish," Marcus said, pulling the vitamin bottle from his pocket and shaking two gummies into his palm. "Want one? They're cherry. My mom's obsessed."

Tyler stared at him. Then at the gummies. Then something softened in his face.

"Only if they actually taste like cherry and not disappointment."

They sat there, two guys sharing vitamin gummies in a cafeteria that watched everything, while Marcus realized maybe the spy hadn't been him at all. Maybe the real operation had been figuring out that everyone — even the bulls — were just people wearing hats to hide what they didn't want anyone to see.

His phone buzzed again. Sierra. *Well???*

Marcus grinned, snapped a photo of Tyler attempting to decode a Spanish worksheet, and hit send.

*Operation complete. New friend acquired.*