Vitamin D Deficiency Detective

Maya clutched her iPhone like a lifeline, thumb hovering over Instagram. Again. Three hours scrolling through Sasha's perfect life—beach trips, perfectly captioned sunsets, that one photo where her collarbones looked impossibly delicate.

"You're literally obsessive," Jordan said, dropping onto her bed. "That's not healthy."

Maya's stomach did that thing it did whenever someone noticed her habits—which was never, because she was careful. She wasn't a spy or anything. She just… noticed things. Like how Sasha's photos were always from the same angle, how she never posted without full makeup, how her "spontaneous" candid moments always had perfect lighting. It wasn't stalking. It was research.

"I'm not obsessed," Maya muttered, though her fingers were already double-tapping a photo from ten minutes ago. "I'm just… appreciating."

"You're spiraling." Jordan reached into her backpack and tossed something at Maya. "Here. Mom says you need more sun anyway."

It was a bottle of vitamin D supplements. The label promised "Mood Support" and "Bone Health," but Maya read between the lines: *You Need Help.*

The worst part wasn't that Jordan noticed. It was that Maya had started tracking Sasha's posting schedule like she was some kind of social media detective, timing her own posts to maximize the chance of engagement. She knew Sasha posted most at 7 PM on Tuesdays, that her engagement dropped when she used too many emojis, that her follower count had plateaued exactly three weeks ago.

"I'm not a spy," Maya said again, but her voice cracked.

Jordan shrugged. "Then why are you taking notes?"

Maya looked down. Her Notes app was open. A list: *Sasha's Post Schedule, Engagement Patterns, Caption Formulas.* Underneath, in smaller letters: *What makes her happy enough to post like that?*

"I just want to know," Maya whispered. "Why is she so… confident?"

Jordan was quiet for a moment. Then she picked up the vitamin bottle. "Maybe she's not. Maybe she's just posting through it."

"Through what?"

"Whatever makes her need to prove she's happy."

Maya stared at her phone. Another notification. Sasha had posted again. But this time Maya didn't tap. She just watched the screen light up, thinking about how many hours she'd spent watching someone else's life through a glass rectangle instead of living her own.

"I think I'll take that vitamin now," she said.

Jordan grinned. "Finally."