Papara, Fox & The Truth

I'm sandwiched between the blu-ray player and a mass of cable spaghetti, Maya's breath ghosting hot against my neck. Her lips taste like papaya — she's been eating those fruit cups from the cafeteria again.

"Someone's coming," she whispers, eyes flicking toward the doorway like a nervous fox.

I freeze. The party's bass thrums through the floor, but here in the closet-turned-storage-space, it's just us and the dust bunnies and my stupid, gay heart hammering against my ribs.

Footsteps. Heavy. Purposeful.

"Yo, Maya? You good?"

Tyler's voice. Of course. He's been giving me that look all night, the one that says he knows something's off.

"Yeah! Just... looking for something!" Maya calls back, but her hand tightens around mine.

"Bull," Tyler says, and the closet door creaks open.

Light slashes across Maya's wide eyes, my stupid deer-in-headlights expression, our intertwined fingers.

Tyler's face does this complicated thing — shock, then recognition, then something like relief. "Oh. Oh, damn." He grins. "Finally. I was wondering when you two would stop dancing around each other."

Maya's mouth drops open. "You... you knew?"

"Bro, I saw you watching her in homeroom like a fox stalking a mouse. It wasn't exactly subtle." He leans against the doorframe. "Also, you left your phone on the coffee table. A certain discord chat was open."

Face burning, I bury my face in Maya's shoulder. She laughs, the vibration humming against my cheek.

"You were gonna tell us eventually, right? Or were we gonna have to stage an intervention with more papaya and awkward questions?"

"Eventually," I mumble. "Just... didn't know how."

"Well, now you don't have to." He pushes off the doorframe. "Also, for future reference, closets are for coming out OF, not making out IN. Just saying."

He closes the door, and Maya's still laughing, and I'm mortified and euphoric and everything in between.

"So," she says, thumb tracing my jaw. "Wanna get out of here? There's this 24-hour bodega that sells those papaya drinks you like."

I grin. "Lead the way."