Vitamin C Social Anxiety

Maya's been **running** three miles every morning since freshman year started, mostly because her mom said exercise helps with anxiety, but also because it gives her an excuse to not think about how much she hates her bangs.

"You need **vitamin** D," her mom says, handing her the orange gummy bears that taste like artificial sunshine. "You're always inside." Maya takes them anyway, popping them like they're actual medicine for her social awkwardness.

The real problem isn't vitamins. It's that she's been lowkey **spy**-ing on Kai's Instagram stories for weeks now. Kai with the perfect curly **hair** that always looks effortless, Kai who sits two rows behind her in homeroom and probably doesn't know Maya exists. Maya watches Kai's stories like they're assigned reading—analyzing every detail, every song choice, every candid laugh.

Then comes Tuesday. Track tryouts.

Maya's been running in secret around her neighborhood since seventh grade, but actual tryouts? That's public. That's people watching. That's her bangs sweating into her eyes and everyone seeing.

She shows up anyway, Nikes laced tight, heart doing that thing where it feels like it's trying to escape her chest. And there's Kai, stretching on the grass, waves falling everywhere, looking like some athlete from a teen drama.

"You're Maya, right?" Kai asks, and Maya's brain short-circuits. "I see you running past my house sometimes. You're fast."

Maya's mouth opens, closes, opens again. "You—you see me?"

Kai laughs, and it's not mean. "Duh. You're always wearing that hoodie with the llama on it. It's kind of iconic, honestly."

The tryouts happen in a blur. Maya runs like her anxiety depends on it, crossing the finish line with lungs screaming and hair plastered to her forehead in what's definitely not a cute way.

"Dude," Kai says afterward, handing her a water bottle. "You made varsity. That was insane."

Later that night, Maya posts her first story ever—a terrible selfie, sweaty and exhausted, captioned "made varsity??"—and almost immediately, Kai responds: "called it 🏃‍♀️💨"

The vitamin gummies sit on her desk, uneaten. Some things you can't supplement. Some things you just have to show up for, bangs and all.