Papaya Summer
The papaya sat in my lunchbox like a tropical embarrassment, its orange flesh visible through plastic wrap. Abuela had packed it, of course, convinced that "proper sustenance" woul...
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The papaya sat in my lunchbox like a tropical embarrassment, its orange flesh visible through plastic wrap. Abuela had packed it, of course, convinced that "proper sustenance" woul...
Maya's cat, Luna, sat on her desk, judging her. Again. "You're literally impossible," Maya sighed, pushing her phone away. She'd been trying to record the perfect intro for her ne...
The bear-shaped pool float was eight feet of inflatable ridiculousness, and Tyler wouldn't shut up about it. "My dad got it on Amazon," he announced for the third time, spinning i...
The bass from Tyler's basement vibrated through my sneakers. I stood by the snack table, nursing a lukewarm soda, trying to look like I belonged. Someone shoved a red plastic cup t...
Maya smoothed her dress for the tenth time, checking her reflection in the microwave. Jordan was coming over. Jordan. The Jordan who sat behind her in bio and drew tiny cats in the...
The first time I kissed someone, my palm was sweating so much I thought I'd short-circuit the moment. Not that Maya would've noticed—she was too busy staring at the TV we'd just di...
Maya's palms were sweating—like, actually dripping— as she clutched the crumpled dollar bill in her hand. The summer carnival spun around her in a blur of neon lights and sugary sm...
The adjustable strap on my baseball cap dug into my skull as I stood frozen at home plate. Thirty people watching. Mostly guys from my AP Bio class, plus that senior Maya who alway...
Maya's hair refused to cooperate that morning, doing that weird flippy thing it always did when she was nervous. Which she definitely was. Jordan, the Cute Human™ from AP Bio, had ...
The palm trees swayed like drunk uncles at Maya's first real party, their shadows doing weird interpretive dances across the beach house deck. She'd been praying her palms wouldn't...
Chloe perched on the lifeguard stand like a bored flamingo, sunglasses hiding her eyes as she scanned the pool deck. Below, the popular kids sprawled across lounge chairs like sun-...
The clock showed 3 AM and I felt like a zombie—not the cool Walking Dead kind, but the exhaustion-induced, my-eyes-are-burning-from-three-straight-nights-of-gaming kind. Tomorrow w...