Orange Soda at the Palm Palace

Maya's palms were sweating. Like, actually sweating through her denim shorts, which she didn't even know was possible until tonight.

"You coming in or what?" Jordan called from the open sliding door. Palm fronds waved behind him like they were egging her on. The Palm Palace – because apparently that's what Jake's rich aunt called her beach house – was already thumping with bass that Maya could feel in her teeth.

She clutched her orange soda like it was a lifeline. "Yeah. Just."

Jordan rolled his eyes but grinned. "You're overthinking it again. Nobody's watching your every move, Maya. It's not like the social pyramid at school. This is just a party."

Inside, the air smelled like coconut sunscreen and something sweet. Maya stood near the wall, watching groups form and dissolve like they were following some invisible choreography she'd never learned. At school, she knew exactly where she fit – somewhere in the middle, not invisible but definitely not the people everyone noticed. Here, though? The rules felt different.

Someone bumped into her, splashing orange soda onto her white shirt.

"Oh my god, I am SO sorry," the girl said. She had sparkly blue eyeshadow and a confidence Maya would kill for. "I'm Priya. Jake's cousin."

"Maya."

"Maya with the now-orange shirt." Priya giggled. "Come with me, I have something that'll work. Trust me, I've ruined way more outfits than you."

They ended up on the balcony, Priya attacking the stain with club soda while Maya spilled everything – how she felt like she was always on the edge of things, never quite in the center. How she watched people move through life like they'd been given a manual she'd missed.

Priya listened, really listened, then said, "You know what my mom says? She says everyone's fronting. Even the people at the top of whatever pyramid you think exists. She says the ones who look like they have it figured out are usually just better at pretending."

The sky had turned that perfect orange-gold that makes you believe in magic. Maya looked at the stained shirt, at Priya who'd basically just told her that nobody actually knew what they were doing, and felt something shift in her chest.

"You want to go back inside?" Priya asked. "Jake's about to do something stupid with a karaoke machine."

Maya grinned. "Yeah. Actually, yeah I do."

Her palms weren't sweating anymore.