The Vitamin Conspiracy

Maya watched the lunchroom like it was a foreign country she'd accidentally tourist-ed into. At the top of the social pyramid sat the seniors, glowing with that effortless confidence she'd been trying to fake since seventh grade. She pulled her vitamin D supplement from her pocket—doctor said she needed more sunlight, but apparently UV rays weren't enough for her pasty winter skin.

"You're spying again," whispered Lena, sliding into the seat across from her. Maya's best friend had this annoying habit of being right.

"I'm not spying. I'm conducting anthropological research."

"On Jordan?" Lena raised an eyebrow. "Because that's totally not creepy."

Maya felt her face heat. Okay, maybe she'd been kinda sorta watching Jordan from Honors English since September. He had this way of laughing with his whole body, head thrown back, like he didn't care who saw. Meanwhile Maya measured every smile like it was currency she couldn't afford to spend.

The vitamin D bottle clinked against her water bottle. She'd been taking them for three months, and somehow she still felt like the same socially anxious awkward potato.

"You should just talk to him," Lena said, already pulling out her phone to scroll through TikTok. "What's the worst that happens?"

"He thinks I'm a loser who literally takes vitamins at lunch like some grandma?"

Lena laughed. "First of all, rude to grandmas. Second, he'd never know unless you pull out your pill organizer and announce it like a TED talk."

Jordan stood up from his table, and Maya's stomach did that stupid fluttery thing it always did. He was heading their way. Actually heading their way.

"Hey," he said, stopping at their table. "You're in my English lit group, right? For the project?"

Maya nodded. She might have squeaked. She definitely squeaked.

"Cool." He smiled. "Want to meet at my place tomorrow? Or we could hit the library."

Later, Lena would claim she saw Maya's actual soul leave her body. But in that moment, Maya just felt something shift—like the pyramid she'd been staring at from the bottom wasn't so tall after all. She fingered the vitamin bottle in her pocket.

Maybe she didn't need sunshine pills. Maybe she just needed to let herself be seen.