Orange Hair & Papaya Soap

Maya felt like a zombie walking through the halls of Northwood High. Three hours of sleep tended to do that to a person, especially when you'd spent the entire night overthinking every interaction with your crush at lunch yesterday.

"You good?" Jordan asked, falling into step beside her at their lockers. "You look dead."

"Thanks, J. Really boosting my confidence today." Maya slammed her locker shut harder than necessary. "Just tired. And I have to present my English project in like, twenty minutes."

Jordan's eyes widened. "The one you haven't started?"

"Okay, first of all, I started it. I just... haven't finished it. Or really started it. But I have ideas!" Maya's voice cracked on the last word.

"Classic Maya energy." Jordan laughed, then nudged her shoulder. "Hey, at least your hair looks amazing. That orange dye job is actually working for you."

Maya self-consciously touched the bright orange streak she'd added on impulse last weekend. It was supposed to be subtle, a "pop of color" as the box had promised, but somehow she'd ended up with what her mom called "carrot accident" energy.

"Thanks, I think." Maya adjusted her backpack. "My dad said I look like a traffic cone."

"Traffic cones wish they had your glow, bestie." Jordan checked their phone. "Anyway, you should come over after school. My mom brought back this fancy papaya soap from her trip, and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be, like, spiritually cleansing or something. You need all the spiritual cleansing you can get before that presentation."

Maya snorted. "Papaya soap? Really?"

"Don't knock it until you've tried it. Plus, I'll order us boba. Your favorite."

"Fine. But only because I'm desperate for anything that might help me survive this day."

"And maybe we could talk about why you're still obsessing over what you said to Cameron yesterday?"

"Oh my god, can we not—"

"You said 'cool story, bro' to a genuine question about their weekend, Maya. That's zombie behavior if I've ever seen it."

Maya groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I was nervous! Why am I like this?"

"Because you're a human disaster who's also kind of iconic." Jordan squeezed her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay. The presentation will be fine, Cameron will probably think your zombie moment was funny, and we're going to have the most spiritually cleansing afternoon ever with that papaya soap."

"You're the worst."

"And yet, you're coming over."

"Unfortunately."

The bell rang.

"Go crush that presentation, orange-haired queen." Jordan called, already heading to their own class. "Papaya soap and boba await!"

Maya took a deep breath, touched her orange streak again, and headed toward English. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.