Orange Mood Ring Summer

The mood ring was supposed to be cool. Maya's best friend Chloe had given it to her last week, said it was vintage, said it would make her look mysterious and aesthetic at Tyler's pool party. But now, standing by the edge of the pool in her new two-piece that felt too revealing, the ring was glowing a bright, neon orange.

That meant anxious. Stressed. Straight-up panicking.

The problem wasn't even the swimming part — Maya had been on swim team since seventh grade. The problem was that everyone here seemed to know exactly how to exist. They floated in the pool with their hair perfect and their laughs genuine, while Maya stood on the sidelines like she'd forgotten how to human.

"Your ring's orange," someone said.

Maya jumped. It was Fox — everyone called him that because of his red hair and how he somehow always knew everything before anyone else. He was drying off with a towel, water still dripping down his neck.

"Yeah," Maya said, covering her hand like she'd been caught cheating. "It's broken. Obviously."

Fox tilted his head. "Nah, mine's orange too." He held up his hand, showing an identical ring glowing the same anxious shade.

Maya stared. "Since when do you wear mood rings?"

"Since I stole this from my sister's room because I was scared to come to this party too," Fox said, like it was nothing. "I don't really know these people either. I just know how to pretend."

He looked at the pool, where someone had just done a cannonball and everyone was screaming. "The trick is, you don't jump in until you're ready. But you also can't stand on the edge forever wondering if you'll sink."

Maya looked at her orange ring. Then at Fox's. Then at the water, glittering under string lights.

"Race you?" she said.

Fox grinned. "You're going down."

They jumped together, and the water rushed over Maya's head, cool and shocking. When she surfaced, gasping and laughing, her ring was still orange. But Fox was splashing her, and for the first time all night, she wasn't thinking about how she looked or whether she belonged.

Some rings stay orange. But that doesn't mean you have to watch from the edge forever.