Papaya Spy Chronicles

Three weeks into sophomore year and I already have a stalker. Or at least, that's what it feels like whenever I'm chewing on my mom's papaya cubes in the cafeteria, trying to look invisible, and catch That Girl watching me again.

Chloe Vanderbilt, who somehow made varsity cheer as a freshman and whose hair has never seen a bad day in its life, is definitely spying on me. I've counted six times this week. Each time I look up from strategically studying my cuticle health, her eyes dart away. Sketchy behavior, right?

"You're being paranoid," Maya says, not looking up from her phone. "Nobody's casing you for your papaya, Zara."

"Then why does she keep looking?" I lower my voice. "I'm telling you, something's going on. Maybe she knows about—"

"Nobody knows about your tumblr fandom blog," Maya interrupts. "And if they did, they wouldn't care. You're not that deep."

Rude. But fair.

The papaya situation started because my mom's obsessed with them since visiting family in Brazil. "It's exotic fruit, Zarah! People pay good money for this!" Meanwhile, I'm just trying to survive high school without being the Girl Who Eats Weird Things.

Thursday, I'm at my locker when suddenly CHLOE VANDERBILT is standing there.

"Hey," she says. All cool and casual, like her hair didn't just bounce with the perfect amount of casual movement.

"Hey," I squeak. Smooth.

"So..." She leans against the locker next to mine. "I've been meaning to ask."

Here it comes. The confrontation. The spy mission revealed.

"Is that papaya?"

I blink. "What?"

"Your lunch. The fruit cubes. Is it papaya?"

"Uh... yeah?"

Chloe's whole face changes. "Oh my GOD, I've been looking all over for someone who actually likes it!" She pulls out her phone, showing me a screenshot. "There's this boba place downtown that makes papaya smoothies but nobody wants to try it with me and I'm not going alone because that's sad, but—"

"Wait." I hold up a hand. "You've been staring at me because of my papaya?"

"I mean, yeah?" She shrugs. "I've never seen anyone else eat it at school. I thought maybe you'd want to try the smoothie place?"

Maya appears behind her, smirking. "Told you you weren't being spied on, Zarah."

"Shut up," I hiss.

"So?" Chloe asks, genuinely hopeful. "You in?"

I look at this girl I've been low-key terrified of for weeks, who apparently just wanted a boba buddy. My hair curls are definitely doing something weird in this humidity, and I'm still holding a Tupperware of tropical fruit.

"Absolutely," I say. "But I'm picking the music."

"Deal." Chloe grins. "Your hair looks amazing today, by the way."

Maya mouths "I TOLD YOU" from behind her back.

Some spies, I realize, are just future friends waiting for the right moment to say hello.