Goldfish Tears

Maya's hair had seen three different colors this semester alone. Currently, it was a panicked orange—definitely not the sunset auburn she'd aimed for when she'd dumped the dye box in her bathroom sink at 2 AM. Now it was day three of the "I'm wearing a hood until this fixes itself" strategy.

"You look like a convict," observed JJ from his usual sprawl on her beanbag chair, scrolling through his phone with practiced teen apathy. "Also, your mom texted. Dinner's ready."

"I look like a goldfish that got its makeup done by a toddler," Maya muttered, yanking her hood lower. "And I'm not going down there. My sister will literally never let me live this down."

"That's bull and you know it." JJ sat up, suddenly serious. "Maya, your hair isn't even that bad. You're being dramatic."

"Easy for you to say! Your hair actually obeys the laws of physics. Mine has a mind of its own and apparently hates me."

Her phone buzzed. A text from Kai: *u coming to ethan's party or nah??? everyone's asking about u*

Maya stared at the screen. Ethan's party. The party she'd been planning to attend with her freshly dyed perfect auburn hair and her vintage denim jacket she'd thrifted specifically for this moment. The party where she might finally—FINALLY—work up the nerve to talk to that girl from her art history class, the one with the cool glasses and the sketchbook always filled with charcoal drawings.

"Maya." JJ's voice softened. "Your sister made fun of your hair freshman year when you cut your own bangs with craft scissors and looked like a human triangle for three weeks. And sophomore year when you tried to curl it and ended up looking like you'd been electrocuted. She's going to make fun of you no matter what because she's your sister and that's her job."

"Thanks, JJ. That's so reassuring."

"I'm saying—no one at that party is going to care about your hair except you. They're going to care that the girl who actually laughs at their terrible jokes is there."

Maya pulled her hood back.

"Fine. But if anyone asks, I'm going for the distressed goldfish aesthetic."

"That's not a thing."

"It is now."

And honestly? By the end of the night, the orange hair wasn't even the most interesting thing about her anymore.