Papaya Apocalypse

Maya's mom had turned into a wellness zombie over the summer. It started with the **palm** reader at the farmers market who told her she had 'blocked energy,' and now their kitchen looked like a health food store explosion.

"You need this, honey," her mom said, pressing a chewy orange tablet into her hand. "It's a superfood **vitamin** complex. For focus."

Maya sighed, sliding it into her pocket. She had real problems, like whether Jake from AP Bio would actually show up to Chen's party tonight, and whether her outfit was trying too hard or not trying enough.

The party was already lit when she arrived. Maya ghosted through the crowd, feeling like a total **zombie** after pulling an all-nighter to finish her history paper. Her phone buzzed—Mom, naturally: "Did you take the vitamin? Love you!" Maya rolled her eyes so hard she almost gave herself a headache.

Then she spotted THE snack table in all its abomination glory: a massive bowl of cut **papaya** glistening under the LED lights. Her mom must have dropped it off earlier. Maya wanted to die. Who served papaya at a high school party? This was exactly the kind of weird that would follow her until graduation.

"Yo, is that... papaya?" Jake stood there, grabbing a handful of chips from the safer side of the table.

Maya's palms were sweating so hard she could practically water plants with them. "My mom. She's... going through a thing."

Jake laughed, and it was actually nice. "Dude, my mom literally made me take magnesium for my 'growth spurt' last year. Parents are weird." He grabbed a piece of papaya, took a bite, and made a face. "Okay, that's actually not terrible."

"Right?" Maya said, feeling something unclench in her chest. "Want to try the vitamin? It'll change your life."

"Pass," Jake said, grinning. "But I will take you to get actual food after this. Like, food that normal people eat."

Maya pulled the vitamin from her pocket and popped it into her mouth, chewing determinedly. Maybe her mom's wellness phase wasn't completely hopeless. Or maybe she was just delirious from exhaustion and a cute boy was finally talking to her.

Either way, she'd take it.