Papaya Summer

Maya's iPhone pinged with the third DM from Chloe in five minutes. U going to Jay's party or nah? Everyone's gonna be there. Maya stared at the screen, thumb hovering. She wasn't. Her parents had dragged her to their aunt's ranch in Hawaii for the "family bonding experience" — aka, the most socially devastating weekend of her sophomore year. The FOMO was real, and the party would absolutely be on her Snap story by midnight, making it crystal clear what she was missing. That was some straight-up bull.

"Mija! Come help with breakfast!" her mom called from the lanai.

Maya dragged herself outside, phone clutched in her palm like a lifeline. Her dad stood by the fruit stand, knife poised over a monstrous papaya like he was about to perform surgery.

"Your grandma grew this," he said, beaming like he'd personally photosynthesized it. "Try some. It's sweet."

Maya eyed the orange flesh suspiciously. "Dad, I'm good."

"Just taste it, mija. You never know what you might like."

She took the smallest possible bite, expecting to hate it. Instead — bright sunshine hit her tongue. It was actually kind of amazing, but she'd never admit that out loud.

Suddenly, something massive crashed through the fence. An actual bull. Like, a cow with serious anger management issues.

Maya's phone slipped from her hand.

"CORRAL!" her dad shouted, running toward the beast like he was in some rodeo fantasy.

"Dad, NO!"

But her grandmother was already moving, calm as anything, nudging the bull back through the broken fence with nothing but gentle commands and a bucket of feed. The massive animal followed her like a puppy.

"Old I'malo here just wants papaya," Grandma said, feeding the bull a chunk of the fruit Maya had just tried. "He's not mean. He's just misunderstood."

Maya looked at her phone, facedown in the grass. Then at her dad, slightly dusty but grinning. At her grandmother, petting a literal bull that could've trampled them all.

She picked up her phone. Opened Chloe's DM.

Nah, not going. Something came up. Actually kind of living though.

She pressed send before she could second-guess it. Then she took another piece of papaya, watching the sunset paint everything gold, and didn't take a single photo to prove it happened. Some things didn't need an audience. Some things were just for living.