Orange Soda Courage

The kitchen was packed, bodies moving like a confused tide. Maya pressed her back against the refrigerator, clutching her plastic cup like a lifeline. She'd promised herself she'd actually talk to people this time, but somehow she'd already been here twenty minutes and hadn't said a single word beyond a muttered hey.

"You look like you're about to bear witness to a crime," someone said.

Maya jumped. A guy with messy dark hair was leaning against the counter beside her, grinning. He held up a bottle of orange soda. "Want one? I liberated it from the cooler before the football team could claim everything."

"Oh. Sure. Thanks." She took it, fingers brushing against his. "I'm Maya."

"Leo. You're new, right? I've never seen you at Jordan's parties before."

"Yeah. Just moved here." She twisted the cap open. "My mom says I need to get more vitamin D, so apparently that means socializing instead of sitting in my room reading."

Leo laughed. "Classic mom move. Mine keeps telling me to drink more water, like that's somehow going to fix my terrible sleep schedule."

Maya took a sip of the soda, bubbles fizzing against her tongue. For the first time all night, her shoulders actually relaxed. "So," Leo said, "you do the brave thing and actually talk to people, or do you want to stand here and make fun of everyone else's terrible dance moves?"

She smiled. "Both. Definitely both."

"Good answer." He clinked his soda against hers. "Welcome to the chaos, Maya."

Out in the living room, someone started laughing too loud, and the bass from the speakers made the floor vibrate. But for once, Maya didn't feel like an intruder. She took another sip and thought maybe her mom was right — sometimes you just needed to dive in, even when the water looked overwhelming.