The Vitamin D Supplement

Maya stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, her frizzy **hair** defying gravity after another failed attempt at curling it for tonight's party. The first proper high school gathering of junior year, and she was already stressing about everything — her outfit, her social standing, whether Jackson would finally notice her after two years of crushing in silence.

"You need to chill," her best friend Priya said, leaning against the doorframe. "It's just Emma's house. Not like we're walking into some ancient **sphinx** riddle where if you answer wrong, you get eaten alive."

Maya sighed. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who choked on a baby carrot while trying to say 'what's up' to him yesterday."

Priya snorted. "Okay, that was valid catastrophic. But tonight's different. Emma's brother got that new **baseball** game everyone's obsessed with, so Jackson'll probably be too busy dominating the virtual league to even notice you."

The party was already popping when they arrived. Music thumped through the house, and someone had spilled something greenish on the carpet near the entrance. Maya's stomach did that thing where it felt like it was trying to digest itself, but she forced herself to breathe.

Then she saw Jackson. He was in the kitchen, arguing passionately with someone about which brand of **vitamin** supplements actually worked for athletes. Not exactly the cool, mysterious vibe she'd imagined, but somehow it made him more real. More attainable.

She grabbed a cup of what she thought was fruit punch from the table and made her way over, trying to look casual and failing spectacularly.

"Hey," she managed, her voice cracking. "What's the, uh, verdict on the vitamins?"

Jackson turned, and his face lit up. "Maya! Hey! I was hoping you'd show. I'm telling everyone that the placebo effect is doing like ninety percent of the work here."

They talked for twenty minutes about everything from supplements to the weird fact that his little sister refused to eat anything that touched **spinach** on her plate. Maya didn't even choke once. When he asked if she wanted to play baseball on the gaming setup, she said yes without overthinking it.

Later, walking home under streetlights with Priya, Maya realized something: the version of Jackson she'd built up in her head had been a mythical creature, untouchable and unreal. The real Jackson, who got passionate about vitamins and gaming and had an annoying little sister? He was so much better.

"So?" Priya nudged her. "Worth the anxiety attack?"

Maya grinned, her hair still messy but she didn't even care anymore. "Actually? Yeah. Turns out the scariest sphinx in the room was just my own overthinking."