Life of the Party (Not)

The July sun beat down on the Morrison's backyard pool, turning the water into something that looked like liquid crystal. Everyone from sophomore year was there, tanning and splashing and being impossibly cool, while I sat in the shade with my phone on Do Not Disturb, feeling like a total zombie.

I'd been invited by accident, I was sure of it. Tyler had mentioned the party in Bio, and his friend Jenna had overheard and said "yeah come through," and now I was sitting here in swim trunks that were two years out of style, nursing a tropical punch that definitely came from a powder.

"Yo, Maya!" Jenna waved from the pool, her skin already that golden-brown that some people just got naturally. "Get in here!"

"Maybe in a bit," I called back, lying through my teeth. My heart was doing that thing where it felt like a bird trapped in a paper bag.

That's when my phone buzzed. MOM, flashing across the screen. I'd forgotten my backpack in her car when she'd dropped me off, and apparently she'd found the Tupperware I'd hidden at the bottom. The Tupperware with sliced papaya inside, because I'd been trying to get into exotic fruits as part of my "summer glow-up" but hadn't wanted anyone to see.

"Brought ur papaya sweetie ❤️" read the text. "Left it on the porch!!"

My face burned. Thepapaya. The weird orange fruit with the slimy texture and the seeds that looked like something from outer space. Now on display for everyone to see.

I walked to the front of the house, planning to grab it and hide it forever, but Tyler intercepted me at the porch. He was shirtless, water still clinging to his skin, holding a bag of chips.

"What's that?" He pointed at my mom's fluorescent yellow Tupperware.

"Nothing," I said. "Just—"

"Is that papaya?" His eyes actually lit up. "Dude, I LOVE papaya. My abuela has a tree in her backyard, I've been trying to find it everywhere here."

"Wait, really?" I stared at him.

"Bro, let me try some." He took a piece, popped it in his mouth, and did a little dance. "THIS IS IT. The good stuff. You have to come meet the cousins, they're gonna lose their minds."

Ten minutes later, I was in the pool with Tyler and his cousins, all of us passing around my supposed humiliation like it was treasure, and I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt, and Jenna was shouting from across the pool, "SAVE SOME FOR ME," and I wasn't a zombie anymore.

I was just Maya. The girl with the papaya. And apparently, that was enough.