Vitamin Gummy Conspiracy

Maya's fingers hovered over Jordan's iPhone, left unlocked on the cafeteria table. She'd been watching him for weeks—the way he ducked into the nurse's office every third period, the cryptic texts he sent during lunch, the mysterious bulge in his backpack that looked suspiciously like something that wasn't textbooks.

"You gonna spy or what?" Emma whispered, sliding into the seat beside her. "Because if you're gonna creep, at least own it."

"I'm not creeping," Maya hissed, though her heart hammered like she'd been caught red-handed. "I'm just... concerned. He's been acting different."

"Different how? Different like he's cheating, or different like he's secretly a vampire?"

"Very funny." Maya glanced around to make sure no one was watching. Jordan was at the salad bar, piling his tray with enough spinach to feed a small rabbit colony. Weird. He used to live on pepperoni pizza and Mountain Dew.

Her thumb hovered over the messages app. Just one peek. That's all she needed.

"Maya, don't." Emma's voice dropped, serious for once. "If he's hiding something, you'll find out. But if he's not, you're the one who looks crazy."

The rational part of Maya's brain knew Emma was right. But the part that had been overanalyzing every interaction, every cancelled date, every vague text for the past three weeks won out. She tapped.

Messages from "Mom" filled the screen:

Did you take them?

Don't forget before practice.

The new ones came today, I left them in your bag.

Maya's stomach dropped. Them? New ones? Was it drugs? Was Jordan dealing? She scrolled back, breath catching in her throat.

And then she saw the photo Jordan had sent back. A bottle of neon-orange gummy vitamins arranged in a perfect heart shape.

Caption: Already took them. Thanks for the care package, Mom.

The nurse visits. The spinach. The "mysterious" talks with his mom that Maya had misinterpreted as secret phone calls with someone else.

Jordan was just... taking care of himself.

"Well?" Emma raised an eyebrow.

Maya locked the iPhone and slid it back to its exact position. "He's been taking vitamins," she muttered, face burning. "His mom sends him gummy ones because he gets sick during baseball season."

Emma snorted. "That's it? That's your big conspiracy?"

"Shut up."

"Vitamin gummies, Maya. Really."

Jordan returned to the table, smiling when he saw her. "Hey, sorry that took forever. The salad line was insane." He slid his tray next to hers, all those leafy greens looking far less suspicious now.

"It's cool," Maya said, and meant it. But she made a mental note: next time she wanted to know something about Jordan, she'd just ask.

Some things were better learned face-to-face, screen-to-screen, no spying required.