Bear Suit Identity Crisis
The bear suit smelled like three years of teenage sweat and desperation. I shifted inside the fuzzy prison, adjusting the giant foam head that made me look like Muppets on steroids...
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The bear suit smelled like three years of teenage sweat and desperation. I shifted inside the fuzzy prison, adjusting the giant foam head that made me look like Muppets on steroids...
The air conditioning at Pet Paradise had been dead for three weeks. The only thing keeping me from melting into a puddle on the linoleum was the industrial fan blowing hot air arou...
Maya's vidaleta baseball cap pulled low over her eyes, her usual disguise for avoiding conversation in the cafeteria. She wasn't actually antisocial—just selectively social, thank ...
Maya felt like a zombie as she dragged herself through the school hallway, her backpack weighing approximately twelve tons. Three hours of sleep will do that to you. But it wasn't ...
I'd become a professional at this point. Being a spy, I mean. Not the cool kind with gadgets — just the lonely teenager hiding behind the bleachers kind. Every Tuesday and Thursda...
Maya's hands were trembling when she grabbed the box from the drugstore shelf. FLAMIN' HOT ORANGE it promised in aggressive letters. This was it. This was the rebellion she'd been ...
Jordan's phone lit up with another notification from the group chat: **PAPAYA WELLNESS DREAM TEAM 💪🔥**. "You guys," Marcus typed, "my cousin's friend's brother made twelve grand l...
Maya's hands wouldn't stop shaking. Again. "You good?" Jordan asked, not looking up from his phone. The charging **cable** between them was fraying at the edges, much like Maya's ...
Maya pressed her forehead against the cool locker door, wishing she could disappear. Four hours of sleep. Again. The summer before sophomore year had turned her into a certified **...
Maya's summer job as a lifeguard at the Palm Springs Community Pool was supposed to be easy money, but the social hierarchy among the staff was like a pyramid scheme without the sc...
The water rippled around my legs as I stood frozen at the edge of the pool, clutching my papaya smoothie like it was a lifeline. Everyone else was already splashing around, laughin...
The problem with summer camp at fifteen? You're supposed to have the time of your life, but instead you're just calculating the most socially acceptable way to avoid the pool. I'd...