Vitamin Summer

My summer job at Vitamin World was basically a social death sentence. I spent eight hours a day folding collagen powders into perfect pyramids while wearing a neon yellow bucket hat that screamed "HI I'M NEW HERE PLEASE ROAST ME." The hat was mandatory. Corporate policy.

"You look like a highlighter," Maya said, leaning against the counter. She worked at the smoothie place next door and had somehow made her uniform look like high fashion.

"It's sun protection," I lied, adjusting the brim.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Her eyes dropped to my hand, where I was unconsciously rubbing my palm—a nervous tic I'd had since elementary school. "You okay? You look like you're about to propose."

My face burned. The bell above the door jingled, and in walked Lucas Chen from school, wearing a backward cap and looking like he belonged in a music video. Because the universe hated me, he made a beeline for the counter.

"Yo, Marcus!" He grinned. "Didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah, just for the summer." I smoothed my shirt, forgetting I was still wearing the stupid hat.

"Can you hook me up with those vitamins for, like, energy?" Lucas asked. "Basketball conditioning is killing me."

"You mean the vitamin B12 with iron combination that's literally marked right there on the shelf?" Maya called from next door.

Lucas laughed. "Your friend's got jokes."

"She's not my—"

"So about those vitamins," Lucas said, turning back to me. And then, because everything in my life was a disaster: "You got, like, recommendations? Or do I just grab whatever looks cool?"

I froze. But then I looked at my palm—still sweaty, still scarred from picking at the skin during AP English presentations last year. I thought about how I'd almost dropped out of drama club because of stage fright. How I'd spent sixteen years letting my own brain talk me out of everything.

"Actually," I said, my voice weirdly steady, "the B12 complex is legit. Take it with food though, or you'll be miserable. And if you're doing two-a-days, you're gonna want electrolytes more than anything else."

Lucas nodded, genuinely listening. "Thanks, man. You're a lifesaver."

After he left, Maya appeared in the doorway, holding two smoothies. "That was actually smooth."

I took off the hat. "I think I'm allergic to this thing."

"Keep it on," she said, sliding a smoothie across the counter. "The yellow's growing on me."

Outside, palm trees swayed in the heat. For the first time all summer, I didn't feel like hiding.