Papaya Summer

Maya's hair had always been her thing. Huge, springy curls that took forty minutes and three different products to tame. But this summer, before sophomore year, she chopped it all off into a pixie cut.

"It's just hair," she told herself, ignoring the lump in her throat. But standing in front of her bathroom mirror, she barely recognized the person staring back.

Her first day back at school, her best friend Ji won't stop staring. "Did you... did you have a brain transplant too?"

"Very funny." Maya smoothed her ponytail—well, what was left of it.

But then there was Theo, the quiet track star who sat behind her in bio, who kept glancing over. During lunch, Maya sat alone, picking at her tray, when suddenly someone slid a Tupperware next to her.

"My abuela made too much papaya salad again," Theo said, not meeting her eyes. "Want some?"

Maya blinked. No one had noticed her papaya obsession since she'd tweeted about it three months ago. "You follow me?"

"Twitter doesn't count as following." But Theo was grinning.

They spent lunch talking about everything—his abuela's garden, her disastrous haircut, how they both hated the new vitamin water trend that had taken over school. Theo admitted he'd been too nervous to talk to her until now.

"Why?" Maya asked.

"Because you're Maya," he said like it explained everything. "The girl who wears fuzzy socks in May and eats papaya every single day."

That afternoon, Maya texted Ji: *I think I'm okay with the hair.*

Ji replied: *About time. Also, Theo asked if you're going to the home game Friday.*

Maya smiled. Her curls would grow back. But this—this unexpected friendship, this feeling of being seen—that was something she could build on.

She grabbed another papaya from the fridge. Some vitamins were just supplements. Others came in the form of friends who noticed the little things.