Papaya Wednesday

Maya stared at her lunch tray like it was a crime scene. The cafeteria at Northwood High felt less like a cafeteria and more like a runway show where everyone knew the choreography except her.

"You gonna eat that?" Chloe asked, nodding at the papaya wedge on Maya's tray. Chloe was exactly the kind of girl who looked perfect even while chewing — flawless curls, skin that somehow glowed without highlighter, and the confidence to match.

"My mom's trying to get me to eat more 'exotic fruits,'" Maya air-quoted, feeling lame as soon as the words left her mouth. "She says it'll help me 'bloom.'"

Chloe laughed, and Maya felt herself relaxing. Maybe the whole cafeteria queen thing was just a vibe, not the whole person.

"My mom tried to get me into that spinach phase last year," Chloe said, popping a grape into her mouth. "Like, she literally packed me spinach wraps for a month. I was the girl with the green teeth in every selfie. Not the legacy I was going for."

Maya giggled, actually giggled, which was new. She'd been at Northwood for exactly three weeks, and most of her conversations had been limited to "here" and "thanks" when teachers took attendance.

"That's literally my nightmare," Maya said.

"What is?"

"The green teeth thing. Or just — I don't know, standing out too much?"

Chloe's phone pinged. She glanced at it, then slid it face-down on the table.

"You know what's wild?" Chloe said, her voice dropping. "Everyone thinks they're the only one faking it. Like, I spent all of freshman year trying to look like I had my life together, and meanwhile I was literally crying in the bathroom before third period because I couldn't open my locker."

Maya blinked. "Wait, really?"

"Really. And now?" Chloe shrugged, picking up the papaya wedge. "Now I just eat the weird fruit my mom packs and try not to overthink whether people are watching me chew."

She took a bite of the papaya, juice dripping down her chin, and didn't even wipe it away. Just grinned like it was nothing.

"Want a bite?" Chloe offered.

Maya looked around the cafeteria, at all the tables she'd been too scared to approach, at the groups she'd assumed were too cool or too mean or too everything to notice someone like her.

"Yeah," Maya said. "Yeah, I actually do."