The Spy Who Said Nothing

I looked like a zombie. Like, actual walking dead status, thanks to three hours of sleep and AP History crunch time. My brown hair was doing this weird electrocuted-frizz thing that no amount of caffeine could fix.

"You're spying on him again, aren't you?" Maya whispered, sliding into the cafeteria seat beside me.

"I'm not spying. I'm observing." I gestured vaguely toward Tyler's table with my juice box. "There's a difference."

"You've been 'observing' him since September. It's giving creepy stalker energy."

"It's giving research," I corrected, because that sounded way less pathetic. Tyler was talking to Jessica—the same Jessica who spent twenty minutes fixing her already-perfect hair in the bathroom mirror today.

The intercom crackled to life: "Attention students, due to a cut cable line, internet service is temporarily unavailable."

The cafeteria groaned like a collective dying animal.

"Well," Maya said, "there goes your plan to accidentally 'bump into' him at the library after school."

I stared at my juice box. "That was specific."

"I notice things." She stood up. "Come on. We're going to Bear Creek. There's this spot with zero service, which is apparently the whole school now anyway."

"Why?"

"Because sometimes you need to bear witness to your own pathetic crush behavior and move on." She paused. "I've been waiting to use that pun all day."

"That was terrible."

"Thank you."

I looked back at Tyler one more time. He was laughing at something Jessica said, and I suddenly felt ridiculous—all this energy spent watching someone who didn't even know I existed. The zombie feeling wasn't just about sleep anymore.

"Fine," I said, grabbing my backpack. "But if I see any actual bears, I'm leaving."

Maya laughed. "Deal."

Walking out, I didn't look back. Sometimes the hardest part isn't letting people in—it's letting go of the version of them you built up in your head. The real ones, the ones who show up when the internet's down and your hair looks like a bird's nest—those are the ones worth keeping around.