The Vitamin D Protocol

Maya's thumb hovered over Jordan's Instagram story for the third time that morning. She'd become a pro at this—digital spying was basically a part-time job now. Jordan, her best friend since seventh grade, had been posting nothing but aesthetic gym selfies and smoothie bowls for weeks, completely glowing up while Maya still felt like the same awkward sophomore who choked on her own spit in algebra.

"You still stalking her?" Lena slid onto the bench next to Maya at lunch, tapping Maya's phone screen. "Girl, you're gonna get carpal tunnel from all that investigative journalism."

"I'm not stalking!" Maya protested, locking her phone. "I'm just... monitoring the situation. Like a concerned citizen."

"A concerned citizen who checks their ex-best friend's story literally every hour?" Lena raised an eyebrow. "That's not surveillance, that's an obsession."

Maya frowned. It wasn't like she and Jordan had officially fought or anything. They'd just... drifted. Jordan joined cross country, started hanging with the popular crowd, and suddenly their sleepovers became monthly catch-up sessions. Maya tried not to take it personally—people changed, whatever—but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something obvious.

That afternoon, Maya found Jordan sitting alone on the bleachers during PE, which was weird because Jordan usually spent this period showing off her new running playlists to anyone who'd listen.

"Hey," Maya said cautiously, sitting a few feet away.

Jordan looked up, eyes rimmed with red. "Oh. Hey."

"You okay?"

"Honestly?" Jordan let out this laugh that was half sob. "Not really. I have this deficiency—like, severely low vitamin D—and it's making me feel like garbage all the time. That's why I've been posting all that wellness stuff. My doctor said I need to get more sunlight and take supplements, so I've been going to the gym and trying to be all ~healthy~ but honestly I'm just exhausted."

Maya stared at her. "Wait. That's why you've been acting weird? Because you need more sun?"

"I know, it sounds dumb," Jordan wiped her eyes. "I just didn't want anyone to know I was basically falling apart. I figured if I posted enough aesthetic healthy content, nobody would notice."

Maya started laughing. She couldn't help it. "Jordan, I literally thought you were too cool for me now. I've been spying on your stories for weeks trying to figure out what secret cool kid club you joined."

Jordan cracked up too. "Dude, the only club I joined is the Vitamin D Deficiency Squad. Which is honestly not as exclusive as it sounds."

"You're so dramatic," Maya said, but she was grinning now. "So, hypothetically, if I wanted to join this squad, what are the membership requirements?"

"Basically just sitting in the sun with me and roasting everyone's Instagram posts," Jordan said, nudging Maya's shoulder. "Like old times."

"I think I can work with that," Maya said, and for the first time in months, the weird knot in her chest finally loosened. Sometimes the thing you thought was a glow-up was just someone trying to glow their way through something real—and sometimes, being a good friend meant putting down the phone and actually asking what was up.

"So," Jordan said, "wanna skip last period and go get vitamin water from the vending machine?"

"Absolutely," Maya said. "But we're getting the cheap kind. I'm not that rich yet."