Three Seconds of Glory

The high school cafeteria operated like a pyramid scheme nobody asked to sign up for. Seniors at the top, freshmen at the bottom, and everyone else scrambling somewhere in the middle. Maya had been navigating the base layer for exactly three weeks, and she was already exhausted.

"You're doing it again," said Jace, sliding onto the bench across from her. He gestured at her tray. "The spinach thing."

Maya looked down at her salad. "What thing?"

"You only eat spinach when you're nervous. It's your tell." Jace smirked. "So, who are you avoiding?"

"I'm not avoiding anyone." But she was totally avoiding someone. Specifically, Leo, who had sat next to her in English yesterday and said her doodles were "actually kinda sick." Then he'd smiled, and Maya's brain had short-circuited like a overloaded circuit. Now she couldn't look at him without feeling like her internal monologue had been replaced by a goldfish—constantly circling the same three thoughts: *he noticed me, he noticed me, he noticed me.*

"Right." Jace didn't buy it. "You know, they say goldfish have three-second memories. But I've seen you replay conversations with yourself for literal days."

"That's different."

"Is it?" Jace raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm pretty sure you're still thinking about that time in sixth grade when you called Mrs. Henderson 'mom.'"

"Jace, I swear to god—" But she stopped mid-sentence because Leo was walking toward their table. Actually walking toward their table. Maya's stomach performed a full gymnastics routine.

"Hey," Leo said, stopping at their bench. "You're Maya, right? From English?"

"Yeah." Her voice came out weirdly high. She cleared her throat. "Yeah, that's me."

"Cool." He shifted his weight. "So, I'm starting this kinda... pyramid scheme? But for good?" He laughed nervously. "Like, a tutoring collective for freshmen. Upperclassmen help underclassmen, no money involved, just good karma. And I saw your notes yesterday, and you seem like you really get the material, so..."

He trailed off, and Maya realized he was waiting for an answer.

"You want me to help run it?" she asked.

"If you're interested. I mean, no pressure." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I just thought—you seem smart. And you have really good handwriting."

Maya felt something shift in her chest, warm and bright. "I'm interested."

"Awesome." Leo's smile returned, full-force. "I'll text you the details?"

"Yeah. Yes. Please do."

As he walked away, Jace let out a low whistle. "Wow. You really played that cool."

"Shut up."

"No, seriously. Very smooth. I especially loved how you said 'please do.' Very casual."

Maya threw a spinach leaf at him. But she was smiling, and for the first time since starting high school, the pyramid didn't seem so scary after all.