Swallowing the Truth

Maya's hands shook as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her blue hair was fanned out around her shoulders like she'd just survived a windstorm—which she basically had, given how hard she'd been sprinting through the school hallways trying to avoid conversation.

"You're being dramatic," she told herself, but her voice cracked.

The truth was, her hair wasn't the problem. It was everything else. Like how she'd been crushing on Liam from the baseball team since September, watching him from the bleachers during practice, memorizing the way his uniform fitted perfectly and how he looked when he focused on pitching. And like how today was finally the day she'd worked up the courage to actually talk to him.

Instead, she'd spent twenty minutes hyperventilating behind the gym.

Her phone buzzed. Her brother: "Did you take your vitamin D yet? Mom's asking."

Maya rolled her eyes so hard it hurt. Their mom had gone through this holistic health phase last year, and now everyone in the family had to take these giant vitamin supplements that tasted like chalk and disappointment. Maya had been secretly flushing hers down the toilet for months.

She grabbed the bottle from her bag, staring at the orange pills. Why did growing up feel like swallowing things you didn't want to? People's expectations. Fear. The truth about how scared you actually were.

"Whatever."

She stuffed the bottle back in her bag and headed toward the gym where the baseball team gathered before games. Her heart pounded against her ribs like it was trying to break out.

Liam was there, leaning against the wall, scrolling through his phone. Maya took a breath and walked up to him.

"Hey," she said, and it came out stronger than she expected.

He looked up, and his eyes lit up. "Maya! Hey, what's up?"

"Just wanted to say good luck today," she managed, her hands twisting in her pockets. "And maybe... we could hang after?"

Liam grinned, and Maya suddenly remembered why she'd been crushing on him all year. "Yeah, absolutely."

Later, as she sat in the stands watching him pitch, Maya thought about her mom's weird vitamins and her blue hair and how she'd spent so long being afraid of everything. She pulled the bottle from her bag, dry-swallowed a pill, and actually let herself smile.

Some things were worth swallowing.