Static and Orange Summers

Maya's bedroom was a sanctuary of bad lighting and better vibes, but tonight the cable was out. Again. The fifth season of her show was buffering into oblivion, and she was supposed to be live-tweeting with the squad.

"Seriously?" she groaned, flopping onto her bed. Her hair—recently transformed from basic brown to what was supposed to be sunset copper—was currently wrapped in a towel turban. The box had said "warm orange." Her bathroom mirror had screamed "traffic cone."

Her phone buzzed. Group chat explosion.

missmaya87 WHERE R U

jess_prettymuch EP STARTED

mayas_bestie_forever UR MISSING EVERYTHING

Maya typed furiously: Cable died. SOS. Dying inside. Send help and also maybe a different hair color because I look like a walking construction zone.

"Ugh, whatever." She tossed her phone aside and reached for the orange soda on her nightstand—her third of the evening, because apparently being a teenager required constant sugar intake. The condensation on the can matched the condensation in her soul.

The towel slid off. Her hair was still damp, the color horrifyingly vibrant in the glow of her LED strips. Why had she let Chloe talk her into this? "It's giving main character energy," Chloe had said. It was giving EXACT main character energy, but like, the main character who makes questionable life choices.

A notification. jess_prettymuch: come over we have snacks

And then, the worst possible moment: her mom knocked on the door. "Maya? Cable company says they can't send anyone until tomorrow. Some kind of outage in the area."

"MOM, I'M HAVING A CRISIS," Maya yelled back.

"I noticed! That's quite a hair choice!"

Maya buried her face in her hands. This was it. Peak teenage awkwardness. Bad hair, no cable, third orange soda of the night, and her mom out here roasting her through closed doors.

But then she had a thought. She grabbed her phone and opened the group chat.

mayas_bestie_forever: party at my place? cable's dead everywhere lol

missmaya87: OMG YES

jess_prettymuch: see u in 10

Maya stood up, orange soda in hand, horrific orange hair beaming like a radioactive sun. She'd survive this. Bad hair days were temporary, but squad solidarity? That was permanent.

Plus, somewhere out there, the cable guy was fighting the good fight. And tomorrow, she'd definitely buy a hat. Probably orange.