The Art of Being Smooth

Maya's mom had decided the family nickname 'Fox' was cute when Maya was six and obsessed with that orange cartoon character. Now, at sixteen, having your mom yell 'Little Fox!' through the parking lot while you're trying to look cool for your crush was basically a hate crime.

It was Jordan's party. Jordan, who'd somehow transformed from socially anxious nerd to popular kid over summer break. The transformation seemed suspicious—like, how does that even happen? Maya's best friend since third grade, Chen, was already inside, probably vibing with the new crowd. Maya had spent twenty minutes fixing her eyeliner, only to discover she had a piece of spinach stuck in her teeth the whole car ride over. Her mom hadn't mentioned it. What even are parents for?

The backyard was already crowded. Someone's cat—a calico that looked suspiciously like it belonged three houses down—sat regally on the picnic table, judging everyone. Maya grabbed a soda and tried to look casual. Why were parties so stressful? It was just people standing around.

'Smooth as usual, I see.' Chen appeared, grinning. 'Spinach teeth crisis?'

'Shut up,' Maya hissed, but she was smiling. Chen was the only person who could roast her without making her want to disappear.

Jordan appeared with a group of friends, including Luke—the guy Maya had been lowkey obsessed with since September. He was wearing that stupid leather jacket even though it was seventy degrees out.

'This is Maya,' Jordan said, and Luke actually smiled at her.

'Hey,' Luke said. 'You're in my history class, right?'

Maya's brain chose that exact moment to disconnect. 'Yeah, I sit behind you. Sometimes.' What even was that sentence?

'Cool,' Luke said, and then someone started talking about how Jackson had tried to bull-rush the security guard at the football game last week, and the conversation shifted away from her.

Chen bumped her shoulder. 'Smooth as usual, Fox.'

She wanted to die. But she was also laughing.

Later, they'd end up on the roof, eating cold pizza and watching the cat stalk something in the bushes below. Chen would talk about how much he hated his new haircut, and Maya would admit that she'd made a TikTok account solely to stalk Luke's posts, and they'd both acknowledge that this whole growing up thing was basically just walking around embarrassed all the time.

For now, Maya took a sip of her soda and tried to look like someone who definitely knew how to talk to boys without saying weird things about sitting behind them.

'Sometimes,' she muttered to herself, and let her forehead drop onto Chen's shoulder.

'We're all disasters,' Chen said comfortably. 'It's fine.'