Maya promised herself she would only stay at the pop-up night market for ten minutes.

Then she smelled grilled chicken, heard a DJ remix an old anime song, and saw her best friend Rina waving from a stall covered in yellow lights.

"Ten minutes?" Rina shouted. "Girl, no cap, you are not leaving that fast."

Maya laughed and pushed through the crowd. "I have homework."

"Homework can chill," Rina said. "Tonight is a whole vibe."

The market had appeared in the empty parking lot behind the station. No one at school had known about it until an hour ago, when a video went viral.

Now half the town was here.

Rina handed Maya a paper tray of spicy dumplings. "Try one."

Maya took a bite and almost dropped her phone. "Okay. That is legit."

"See?" Rina grinned. "I'm down to spend all my money here."

Before Maya could answer, the lights above the stall flickered.

A man in a black jacket stepped onto a small platform near the center of the market. He looked too serious for a place that sold rainbow lemonade.

"Attention, vendors," he said through a microphone. "This event has no official permit. Please close your stalls immediately."

The music stopped.

Rina's face went pale. "Oh no. My aunt owns this stall."

Maya looked at the long line of customers, the hot grill, and Rina's aunt, who was silently counting the money box with shaking hands.

"Can he shut everything down?" Maya asked.

"Maybe," Rina said. "The organizer said the permit was handled, but now he is gone. He totally bailed."

Maya opened the market's viral video on her phone. In the corner of the video, she noticed a blue folder on a plastic table.

"Wait," she said. "That looks like paperwork."

Rina followed her eyes. "The organizer's desk is behind the stage."

"Then let's go."

"We are not allowed back there."

"My bad," Maya said, already moving. "I thought this was an emergency."

They slipped behind the stage while the man in black argued with a taco vendor.

The desk was covered with tape, receipts, batteries, and one blue folder.

Maya opened it.

There was a permit inside.

But the date was wrong.

"This says next Saturday," Rina whispered.

"Low-key terrible," Maya said.

Then she saw a second paper stuck under the folder. It was an email confirmation with today's date and the city's stamp.

"Not terrible," Maya said. "Low-key brilliant. The permit was updated by email."

A flashlight hit their faces.

"Hey!" the man in black shouted. "You two are not staff."

Rina froze. "We're busted."

Maya held up the paper. "Maybe. But you are about to close a legal event."

The man took the confirmation and read it twice.

His serious face became less serious.

"The organizer should have shown me this," he said.

"Yeah," Maya said. "That part was a little messy."

Rina whispered, "Do not say messy to the official."

The man sighed into the microphone. "The permit has been confirmed. The market may continue."

For half a second, everyone was quiet.

Then the DJ dropped the beat, and the parking lot exploded with cheers.

Rina's aunt hugged them both so hard that Maya almost lost a dumpling.

"You saved my stall," she said.

"Maya did," Rina said. "She is low-key a detective."

"High-key," Maya said, surprising herself.

Rina stared at her, then burst out laughing.

Maya looked at the lights, the crowd, and the paper tray in her hand.

Her homework was still waiting at home.

But this story was going to be way better than homework.