Undercover in the Cafeteria

Maya pulled the brim of her dad's old fedora lower over her eyes. The hat had become her shield lately, a way to scan the cafeteria without being scanned back. Not that anyone was looking at Maya Chen, sophomore ghost, but still.

"You're doing it again," said Jada, sliding onto the bench across from her. "The spy thing. Staring at Tyler's table like you're gathering intel for the FBI."

Maya flinched. "I'm not spying. I'm observing. There's a difference."

"Girl, you've been 'observing' him since September. It's May. Either talk to him or accept that you're forever gonna be the mysterious girl in the weird hat." Jada popped a grape in her mouth. "Also, he's not that cute. I don't get the obsession."

But Maya did get it. Tyler was funny in class, always making those dry comments that only half the kids caught. He drew dragons on his worksheets. He'd held the door open for her that one time and actually made eye contact and said thanks, not just the nod-and-keep-walking treatment.

The real problem wasn't the crush. It was that Maya didn't know how to be a person who just walked up to someone and started talking. She'd spent the whole year being the quiet girl in the back, the one people forgot was there. The hat helped. It was like armor.

"You know what you need?" Jada continued. "A wingman. I could go over there right now—"

"No. Absolutely not."

"Then bear your soul and send him a DM like a normal person."

Maya's phone buzzed. Unknown number.

"Is that him?"

"No one has my number except—" Maya froze. The message: *This is Tyler. From history. Your friend Jada gave me your number. Said you wanted to ask me something?*

Maya's face burned. She looked up. Jada was already gone, halfway across the cafeteria, waving at her like she'd just solved world hunger. Behind her, at Tyler's table, Tyler was holding up his phone, looking right at Maya.

Maya's fingers hovered over the screen. The fedora suddenly felt ridiculous. She took it off and set it on the table.

*Spy protocol aborted,* she typed. *You wanna get boba after school?*

Three dots appeared. Then: *I thought you'd never ask.*