Screen Glitch Summer

Maya's **hair** hadn't seen a brush in three days. The humidity was doing things to her curls that defied physics, and honestly? She was vibing with the chaos.

"Your **dog** has been staring at me for twenty minutes," Leo said from his spot on the floor, not looking up from his phone.

Barnaby, the golden retriever puppy Maya had impulsively adopted two weeks ago, tilted his head. He had judgmental eyes for a creature who ate grass clippings.

"He's sensing your aura," Maya said, popping a slice of **papaya** into her mouth. Her dad had gone through a "tropical fruit phase" at Costco, and now they had enough papaya to rebuild a small island nation.

Leo snorted. "My aura is fine. My **iPhone**, however? That's a tragedy."

He held it up. The screen was a spiderweb of cracks, but it still worked. Mostly. Sometimes it opened apps at random. Sometimes it called people. It was basically possessed.

"Just get a new one," Maya said, though she knew that wasn't happening. Leo's parents were going through that thing where buying cereal required a family meeting about finances.

"And miss the character development?" Leo finally looked up, and Maya felt that weird flutter in her chest she'd been trying to ignore all summer. "This phone makes me mysterious. Unreachable. An enigma."

"You're literally sitting five feet from me."

"Metaphorically unreachable, Maya. God."

They both laughed, and Maya noticed—like she'd been noticing all summer—that Leo was wearing this faded **orange** shirt that made his skin look warm and golden in the afternoon light. She also noticed that her papaya was way too ripe, practically dissolving on her tongue.

"Hey," Leo said, suddenly serious. "You know how my phone sometimesFacetimes people?"

"Yeah..."

"It called Emma yesterday."

The air left the room. Emma, who Leo had liked since seventh grade. Emma, who was popular and shiny and had perfect hair that definitely had seen a brush in the last three days.

"And?" Maya managed, though her throat felt tight.

"And I realized I didn't care. Like, at all." Leo's eyes locked on hers, and something shifted in the room, something huge and terrifying and hopeful all at once. "I think I'm over it. The whole Emma thing."

Barnaby chose that moment to sneeze, spraying dog slobber everywhere.

"Gross, Leo laughed, but he was still looking at Maya, really looking at her, and she thought maybe—just maybe—this summer might change everything.

"Pass me some papaya," he said.

Maya slid the bowl across the floor. "It's practically mush."

"Perfect," he said. "I love mush."