Papara's Papaya

The fluorescent lights of the high school cafeteria buzzed like an angry hornet's nest. Maya slumped against the lockers, clutching her bento box like it was a state secret.

"Dude, are you seriously eating that again?" Leo leaned against the locker next to hers, flipping his backpack onto one shoulder. "It looks like something that crawled out of a swamp and died."

"It's fermented papaya, Leo. My grandma makes it. It's literally a vitamin bomb." Maya's cheeks heated up. "And could you not announce it to the entire sophomore class?"

Running late had become Maya's signature move that semester. Ever since her family moved from the Philippines to this ridiculously white suburb in Michigan, she'd been late to everything: first period, soccer practice, her own social life. The papaya thing wasn't helping. Nobody else's grandma packed fermented anything in their lunch.

Leo smirked, but his eyes were weirdly soft. "Okay, first of all, nobody says 'vitamin bomb' unironically. Second, I saw you running past my house this morning at like, 6 AM. Again. Are you training for something secret? Are you gonna become a vigilante superhero?"

Maya snorted, almost dropping her bento. "Yeah, because that's exactly what this town needs. Captain Papaya, defender of digestive health."

"Hey, could be worse." Leo shrugged. "Could be Captain Kale."

The warning bell rang, but neither of them moved.

"Seriously though," Leo said, his voice dropping. "Why are you running so much?"

Maya stared at her shoes. "Cross country tryouts are next week. And I kind of really want to make varsity, but..."

"But what?"

"But what if I suck? What if everyone's just being nice because I'm the new kid?" The words tumbled out before she could stop them. "What if I'm actually terrible and nobody has the heart to tell me?"

Leo was quiet for a second. Then he grinned, and it was the most genuine thing Maya had seen from him since they'd started sitting together in third period bio. "Okay, first of all, you definitely don't suck. I've seen you run. Second, I'll come with you tomorrow morning. If you suck, I suck too. That's how friendship works, right?"

Maya's throat felt weirdly tight. "You'd actually wake up at 6 AM for that?"

"Don't push it. I'm not a monster." Leo checked his phone. "But yeah. Maybe bring extra papaya though. If I'm gonna suffer, I need those vitamin bombs you promised."

Maya laughed, and for the first time since moving to Michigan, the fluorescent lights didn't feel quite so harsh. "Deal."