Water Under the Bridge

Maya's first high school party wasn't exactly the cinematic experience she'd built up in her head. Instead of red cups and perfect lighting, she found herself wedged between a cooler and a pyramid of red solo cups that someone had apparently deemed artistic.

She tugged at the brim of her bucket hat—a guilty pleasure purchase she'd sworn made her look effortlessly cool, though standing here in the bathroom mirror earlier, she'd just looked like a fishing enthusiast from 2004.

"You look like you're conducting covert operations," a voice said behind her.

Maya jumped. It was Liam, the sophomore with the surprisingly good hair and the equally surprising tendency to show up to every social function despite claiming to hate people. He gestured to her hat. "Spy gear?"

"Ha-ha," Maya deadpanned, though she was secretly relieved someone was talking to her. "It's called fashion. Look it up."

"I'm familiar," Liam said, leaning against the counter. "Just checking you weren't about to document every awkward interaction for your backstory podcast."

The joke hit weirdly close to home. Maya had spent half the party overanalyzing every laugh, every glance, every slightly too-long pause in conversation like she was gathering intelligence on what normal teenagers did. She was basically a spy in the field of Having Friends, and her cover was blown.

She reached into the cooler and pulled out a water bottle, suddenly very thirsty. "I'm just... observing. There's a lot to learn."

"About?"

"How to exist in rooms without wanting to melt into the floor," she said, then immediately wished she could take it back. Too honest. Too freshman.

But Liam just nodded. "Same. I've been here twenty minutes and I've already calculated twelve different escape routes."

Maya laughed, genuinely this time. "What's your top choice?"

"Pretending I got a text from my mom about our dog having an emergency," he said, pulling out his phone. "Wanna join? We can go get actual food and complain about how much we hate this."

"I'm in," she said. "But I'm keeping the hat."

"Obviously," Liam said. "It's essential to your brand."