Fruit Bowl Confidential

Maya stood by the edge of the pool, clutching her solo cup like it was a lifeline. The water glittered deceptively calm, but her stomach was doing full-on gymnastics. Three weeks at a new school, and somehow she'd scored an invite to Chloe Barton's legendary start-of-summer party. The same Chloe who had somehow made papaya salsa sound like something normal people brought to pool parties.

"You're blocking the access point," a voice said behind her.

Maya jumped. A guy with dark curls and expensive-looking sunglasses was squinting at her. "I'm not—I thought—"

"Kidding." He lowered his sunglasses. "I'm Nico. You're the new girl, right? Maya?"

"Wow. Word travels fast."

"Small school." He gestured at the papaya situation on the patio. "That fruit bowl? It's been a whole thing. Chloe's mom went through a 'tropical phase' last summer. Now we're all legally required to pretend we like papaya everything."

Maya giggled before she could stop herself. "I've literally never had papaya."

"Don't start now." Nico deadpanned. "It's a gateway fruit. First papaya, then you're drinking kombucha and talking about your gut microbiome. There's no coming back."

Someone screamed behind them—Chloe, cannonballing into the pool with perfect form. Water sprayed everywhere, dousing Maya's carefully curated outfit.

"Sorry!" Chloe surfaced, grinning. "Not sorry! New girl, you coming in or what?"

Maya hesitated. Then Nico stage-whispered, "Full disclosure: I may have been spying on your outfit choice from inside. That vintage band tee? Hardcore approved."

"You were what?"

"Spying. Observing. Gathering intel. Whatever." He shrugged, unbothered. "I needed to know if you were cool before I committed to being seen talking to you. Verdict: you pass."

Maya stared at him, then at the papaya bowl, then at the pool full of laughing, splashing, impossibly confident teenagers. And then she realized: nobody was actually watching her. They were all too busy worrying about who was watching them.

She kicked off her flip-flops. "Fine. But if I drown, I'm haunting you forever."

"Deal." Nico grinned. "Also, heads-up—Kyle spiked the papaya juice."

"That's a thing?"

"Welcome to the deep end, Maya."