The Spy Who Knitted

Maya's little brother was the worst kind of spy—the kind who didn't even try to hide it.

"I'm telling Mom," Jayden announced from her doorway, phone already raised to record evidence.

Maya scrambled to hide the half-finished cable knit scarf behind her back, but it was too late. The colorful worsted wool spilled everywhere, tangling around her legs like a rainbow octopus.

"Dude, seriously?" She yanked her earbuds out. "You're literally twelve going on forty with the snitching."

"That's so grandma," Jayden said, but he was grinning. "Wait till the squad finds out. Maya Chen, secret grandma."

The squad. The words hit like physical force. Maya's stomach did that thing it always did when someone mentioned the popular crowd—the weird mix of wanting to disappear and desperately wanting to be seen.

"It's not grandma," she muttered, already defensive. "It's... meditative."

"It's straight-up boomer energy." But Jayden's expression shifted, almost thoughtful. "Hey, could you make me one? In black?"

Maya blinked. "You want a scarf?"

"A beanie. For the winter showcase." He shrugged, suddenly interested in his sneakers. "The guys were talking about how everything's just fast fashion garbage. Maybe something handmade would be... different."

Different. The word hung there like a lifeline.

"I could teach you," she heard herself say. "It's not that hard once you get the cable pattern down—"

"Nah, I couldn't." He laughed, but it wasn't mean. "I'm about as coordinated as a newborn giraffe. But you? You're actually good at this stuff."

Maya looked at the tangle of wool in her hands. Something in her chest loosened. The bull she'd been fighting herself—telling herself she was too weird, too quiet, too whatever for anyone to actually accept her—suddenly seemed smaller.

"Yeah," she said, picking up her needles. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Cool." Jayden backed toward the door. "Also, I recorded that whole speech. For blackmail later."

"Get out, spy!" She threw a pillow at him, laughing as he ducked away.

That night, she posted a picture of the scarf on her finsta. The caption read: *turns out my grandma was onto something.*

By morning, she had thirty-seven DMs asking for tutorials. The first one was from Skylar, the girl Maya had been secretly spying on through mutual friends' stories for months.

*UR SERIOUSLY SO COOL* it read. *TEACH ME???*

Maya stared at the message, her whole body feeling light, like she'd been carrying something she didn't even know was there.

She replied: *absolutely. come over whenever.*

And for the first time since starting high school, she didn't feel like she was watching from the outside anymore.