Yellow Gummies & Secret Missions

Maya pressed her back against the library wall, heart pounding like she'd just finished a 400-meter dash. She wasn't running track today—she was running surveillance.

For three weeks, she'd been playing amateur spy, watching her former best friend Chloe from a distance. Chloe, who now sat with the popular crowd. Chloe, who somehow knew every song Maya added to her playlists within hours. Chloe, with her suspiciously perfect timing.

"You're being paranoid," her current best friend Kai had said. "Maybe you guys just still vibe on the same wavelength."

Same wavelength? Please. They hadn't spoken since the blowout over summer, when Maya had come out as bisexual and Chloe had gotten weird about it. Now Chloe was somehow always three steps ahead, knowing things Maya had only told her therapist. The spy theory wasn't far-fetched.

Maya watched from between the bookshelves as Chloe reached into her designer backpack and pulled out a bright yellow bottle. Vitamin gummies. The expensive kind, shaped like little bears. Chloe popped two into her mouth, then typed something on her phone.

A notification buzzed in Maya's pocket. Chloe had posted a story: "multivitamin time 🧡✨ self-care is everything"

Maya rolled her eyes so hard it hurt. Of course Chloe was making her supplement routine into an aesthetic moment.

But then another thought hit her, cold and sharp. Those vitamins. The yellow gummy bears. Maya had mentioned them once—just once—in a group chat freshman year, before they'd drifted apart. She'd said they reminded her of the ones her grandma used to give her when she was little, before the dementia made everything confusing and bittersweet.

Chloe had remembered.

Maya's spy mission crumbled around her. Chloe wasn't stalking her. They'd just been friends for six years, and some things stuck.

The next day, Maya found Chloe at her usual table. "Hey," she said, sliding into the seat across from her.

Chloe looked up, surprised. "Hey?"

"Those vitamins," Maya said, nodding at the yellow bottle. "The bear ones. They're actually pretty good."

Chloe's expression softened into something almost hopeful. "Yeah," she said. "I remember you mentioned them once. They made me think of you, so... I don't know. I started taking them."

"You didn't have to get the expensive brand though," Maya said, and they both laughed.

The spy game was over. But maybe, just maybe, they were running toward something new.

"Want to study for the history test together?" Maya asked.

Chloe grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."