Papaya Kisses at Sunset

Maya's palms were sweating so hard she was afraid she'd drop her iPhone. Again. Third time this week. The crack running diagonally across her screen like a tiny lightning bolt was getting worse, but she couldn't afford to fix it. Not with minimum wage paying for exactly nothing.

"You gonna try that or just stare at it all day?" Kai leaned against the kitchen counter, all easy confidence and dimpled cheeks that made Maya's stomach do gymnastics.

She poked at the papaya slices on her plate. "My mom never bought stuff like this. We're more... Lucky Charms people."

Kai laughed. "Here." He picked up a piece, the orange flesh glowing in the afternoon light streaming through the window. "It's like if a melon and a mango had a baby. Sweet but not basic."

Maya's phone buzzed. Brianna: U coming or what??? The party started TEN minutes ago

She ignored it. Something about being here with Kai, in his weirdly quiet house while everyone else was at Tyler's party, felt more important. Felt like choosing herself for once.

She took the papaya from his fingers. Their skin brushed for exactly one second that felt like an hour.

"Well?" Kai raised an eyebrow.

She bit into it. "Okay, that's actually kind of fire."

"Told you." He grinned. "You're too busy worrying about what everyone else thinks to notice the good stuff."

Maya looked at her cracked phone, then back at Kai. The orange sunset was painting his kitchen in colors she didn't have words for. "Maybe I'm done worrying."

"Yeah?" He moved closer. "What's that mean?"

"It means," Maya said, her pulse racing, "that I'd rather try weird fruit with you than pretend to have fun at a party where I don't actually belong."

Kai's phone sat forgotten on the counter too. Neither of them reached for them.

"Good answer," he said softly.

For the first time since moving to this school three months ago, Maya's palms were perfectly dry. She didn't need to check her phone to know she was exactly where she was supposed to be.