The Vitamin Bull

Chloe's hand shook as she clutched the pill bottle. Her grandmother swore these supplements would fix everything—her energy, her skin, her entire sophomore year existence. She'd been taking them for two weeks, and the only difference was that she now had the most expensive pee in the entire school district.

"You coming to Tyler's party?" Maya asked, popping her head into Chloe's room. She was already dressed—this incredible vintage slip dress she'd thrifted, hair those perfect waves that took forty minutes and three products.

"I don't know." Chloe flopped onto her bed. "Last party I went to, I hid in the bathroom with someone's dog for forty minutes because I couldn't handle the social anxiety."

Maya laughed. "Buster was sweet though. His owner was not."

"His owner called me 'weird quiet girl' to his friends. I HEARD him."

"Okay, first, that's a trash nickname. Second, you're not going this time to hide. You're going because you finally got invited by Jace, and you've had a crush on him since literally September."

Chloe's face burned. Jace had noticed her. They'd talked at lunch yesterday about their English presentation and he'd actually laughed at her jokes. The real ones, not the performed ones.

"What if I say something dumb? What if I stand there like—"

"Like a bull in a china shop?" Maya grinned. "Chloe, you're overthinking it. Just be yourself. The right people will get it."

The party was already loud when they arrived. Someone's parents were apparently never home. Chloe gripped her vitamin water like a lifeline and scanned the room until she spotted Jace by the back door.

He smiled when he saw her. Actual, genuine smile.

"Hey!" He pushed off the doorframe. "I was hoping you'd come."

They ended up talking for an hour. About everything—music they both loved, how much they hated group projects, his weird obsession with vintage sneakers. Chloe forgot to be nervous. Forgot to overthink every sentence before it left her mouth.

"You're really funny," Jace said, and the way he looked at her made something unfold in her chest.

Later, when Maya found them, she raised her eyebrows like she'd just won the lottery.

"So?" she asked as they walked home.

Chloe thought about Jace asking for her number. About the way he listened when she talked, like she actually had something worth saying.

"I think I'm done with the vitamins," Chloe said. "Some things you can't supplement."