Orange You Glad I Texted

Maya's iPhone buzzed against her thigh during third period pre-calc. Again. She ignored it, staring at the graph on the whiteboard until the dots swam. The buzzing stopped, then started again. Two texts. Three.

Her best friend Jada leaned over, her orange streaked bangs falling into her eyes. "Your mom again?"

Maya nodded, sliding the phone deeper into her pocket. "She thinks I'm failing. She wants my Canvas password."

"That's messed up." Jada chewed her pen cap. "My mom tried that freshman year. I made a fake account and gave her those creds instead. She still thinks I have a 3.2 GPA."

Maya laughed, but it felt hollow in her chest. At lunch, she finally checked her messages. Not her mom. Tyler.

*you looked really good today*

*i mean you always look good but yeah*

She almost dropped her phone. Tyler, with his messy hair and that crooked smile when he made a joke in AP Bio. Tyler, who'd been dating Emma since homecoming.

"Oh my god," Jada breathed, reading over her shoulder. "Is he... is he cheating on Emma? With you?"

"No! I mean, maybe? I don't know." Maya's face burned. "This is wrong. Emma's my lab partner."

"So report it."

"To who? His mom?" Maya rolled her eyes but hesitated. There was something weird about the timing. Tyler and Emma had been fighting all week — everyone knew. And Tyler had been looking at Maya differently in the halls. Not flirting-looking, but something else.

"Wait." Maya pulled up Instagram. Emma's story from ten minutes ago: *Finally free 💅* with a picture of her solo at Starbucks.

Maya's stomach dropped. "Emma and Tyler broke up this morning."

"Oh DAMN." Jada's eyes widened. "He's moving FAST."

"Or," Maya said slowly, "he's being a mess and I should stay far away."

"Or," Jada countered, "he's liked you for months and now he can finally say something."

Maya stared at Tyler's messages. The typing bubble appeared. *can we talk after school?*

She thought about Emma alone at Starbucks, about Tyler's nervous energy in bio yesterday, about how she'd catch him looking at her when he thought no one noticed. Not spying. Waiting.

She took a breath and typed back: *Starbucks on 5th. 3:30.*

Her phone lit up instantly: *see you there 🧡*

Maya looked up. Jada was grinning, nodding like this was exactly right, and maybe it was reckless and messy and complicated, but wasn't that what being sixteen was supposed to feel like?

"You're not gonna wear that orange hoodie, are you?" Jada asked. "It makes you look like a traffic cone."

Maya laughed, real this time. "Watch me."