Orange Crush at the Party

Maya's fingers shook as she adjusted the ridiculous orange beanie her mom had bought her as a joke. It clashed with everything—her vintage band tee, her carefully ripped black jeans, and honestly, her entire emo aesthetic. But she'd promised her little brother Leo she'd wear it to his birthday party, and she never broke promises to Leo. Especially not since Dad moved out last spring.

The house was already packed when she arrived. Jenna's parties were legendary, but Maya usually stuck to the perimeter with her sketchbook, safely invisible. Tonight felt different though. Maybe because she'd actually bothered with eyeliner. Maybe because she was tired of being the girl who drew instead of lived.

"Nice hat," someone said behind her.

Maya spun around. There was Caleb, leaning against the doorframe with that effortless confidence she'd been crushing on since September. His golden retriever, Buster, sat beside him wearing—Maya had to do a double take—her other orange beanie. The one that had gone missing last week.

"Buster stole yours last week," Caleb said, reading her mind. "I've been meaning to return it." He smirked. "But honestly, I think orange is your color."

Heat rushed to Maya's cheeks. Was he being sarcastic? Flirting? Caleb was impossible to read, which was exactly why she'd spent half of algebra class passing him notes instead of paying attention to quadratic equations.

"You wanna get out of here?" he asked suddenly. "There's this orange cream soda truck parked three blocks down. I was gonna go after I gave Buster back to my sister."

Maya's heart did that annoying fluttery thing. Jenna's party raged behind them—music thumping, people laughing, someone probably doing something stupid with a phone. But all Maya could see was Caleb, his dog wearing her ridiculous hat like it was totally normal, and the chance to finally stop watching from the sidelines.

"Yeah," she said, touching the bright orange fabric on her head. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Buster chose that moment to shake his head vigorously, sending both hats flying. Maya and Caleb dove for them simultaneously, their hands colliding, and somewhere in the chaos of orange fabric and dog kisses, Maya realized she didn't care if her hat was ridiculous. Sometimes the most embarrassing parts of you were exactly what made someone else feel brave enough to be ridiculous too.