Orange Soda Courage

Maya's palms were literally sweating through her denim shorts. She clutched her cold orange soda like a lifeline, the condensation dripping onto her fingers. Her iphone buzzed in her pocket – probably Kaiya again, demanding to know if she'd talked to him yet.

"You're just gonna stand there all night?" her cousin Jasmine rolled her eyes. "This is supposed to be LIT, Maya. Live a little."

The house party was everything Maya dreaded: too loud, too many people, too much energy. But she'd promised herself she'd stop being such a wallow in her feelings type. Junior year was supposed to be her year.

Then she saw him – Tyler, leaning against the sliding glass door near the palm tree in the backyard, looking annoyingly effortless in his faded black t-shirt. The same Tyler she'd been lowkey obsessed with since Spanish class started.

Her iphone vibrated again. Kaiya: "I heard Tyler's here. DO NOT leave without talking to him. I'm not playing."

Maya took a sip of her orange soda, liquid courage streaming down her throat. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. Why was this so hard? It's just talking to someone. But her palms kept sweating and her stomach did that weird flip thing it always did when she thought about actually approaching him.

Tyler was surrounded by his usual crew, laughing at something some kid was saying. Maya started to turn away, to retreat back to the safety of the wall, when she heard it.

"Nah, that's total bull," Tyler said, his voice cutting through the music. "You can't just say people's feelings don't matter. That's weak."

Maya froze. Someone in his group was going on about how being vulnerable was cringe, how real friends don't get emotional. And Tyler was calling them out.

"For real," Tyler continued, looking around. "Like, we're all just trying to figure stuff out. Why fake it?"

Before Maya could overthink it, her feet were moving. She walked straight up to their circle, her heart hammering against her ribs like it was trying to escape.

"Preach," she said, her voice surprisingly steady. "That's not bull at all."

Tyler turned, and their eyes locked. He grinned, something genuine that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "Exactly. See? She gets it."

Maya's palms were still sweating, but for the first time all night, she didn't care. She pulled out her iphone to text Kaiya: "Done. And you were kinda right... he's actually decent."

The orange soda was warm now, but Maya smiled anyway. Sometimes, apparently, you just had to say something.