Bearing the Heat

The bucket hat was Maya's last line of defense against the worst haircut of her life. She'd trusted her cousin Bri with the scissors, and now her hair was a disaster of uneven layers that made her look like she'd been attacked by a lawnmower.

"You coming in or what?" Jordan called from the pool, splashing water toward her. The ridiculously cute Jordan, who'd finally noticed Maya existed, approximately three days after her hair tragedy.

"Just taking in the sun," Maya called back, sweating through her oversized t-shirt. It was ninety-eight degrees, and she was wearing a hat indoors like a weirdo. But taking it off would mean exposing the hair catastrophe to the entire freshman class.

"Nice hat," someone said behind her. Chloe, the junior who always looked flawless, even with wet hair and chlorine-smelling skin. "My brother got a terrible haircut last week. He's been wearing a beanie for days."

Maya froze. "Yeah?"

"Totally messed up," Chloe laughed. "But honestly? Nobody cares except him. We just want him to swim."

The pool noise suddenly felt different—less like judgment waiting to happen, more like people just... having fun. Jordan waved her over again, and this time Maya's stomach didn't drop.

She pulled off the hat. Her disastrous hair sprang free, and some girls nearby definitely looked.

"Finally!" Jordan shouted, grinning. "Thought you were gonna bear that heat all day."

"Thought I might die, actually," Maya admitted, stepping toward the water.

"Your hair's fine," Jordan said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Now get in here before Chloe beats you at Marco Polo again."

Maya jumped, hair flying everywhere, and realized the only person who'd noticed her hiding was the one who'd been waiting for her to stop. The water was perfect. The disaster hair could wait until Monday.