Orange Hair, Papaya, First Time Vibes

My hair turned bright orange. A disaster of epic proportions. Exactly two days before Tyler's massive end-of-summer pool party, because obviously the universe has a personal vendetta against my social life.

Now I'm standing by the snack table in a beanie. In August. While everyone else is in swimsuits. The vibes are NOT it.

Brianna materializes beside me. "You good? Why the beanie? Hiding a bad hair day?"

I mumble something about being cold. Smooth. Real smooth.

My stomach betrays me with the loudest growl in history. Brianna points at the fruit platter. "Try the papaya. Trust me."

Papaya? I've never even seen papaya in real life. But honestly, anything is better than standing here awkwardly in my beanie while everyone else is living their best lives. I take a bite.

It's... actually kind of amazing? Like, weirdly amazing.

"So," Brianna says, glancing at my beanie again. "You ever gonna swim? Or just lurk by the chips all day?"

The pool looks so good. Tyler's doing cannonballs. Chelsea's on his shoulders. Everyone's having fun and I'm just the beantiest person at a pool party ever.

My heart hammers. If I take off this beanie, everyone will see my orange hair and I will literally perish. But if I don't, I'm just that weirdo who wouldn't swim.

I take a deep breath. Okay. Fine. Let's do this.

I pull off the beanie.

My bright orange hair puffs up like a betrayed cloud. Brianna stares.

Then she grins. "That's actually sick."

"What?"

"Your hair! It looks awesome. I would never have the guts to try something that bold."

My face burns but like, in a good way? I ditch the beanie on the snack table and cannonball into the pool.

Hair turned orange. Tried papaya for the first time. Went swimming anyway.

And honestly? I'm kinda vibing with it.