The Art of Social Camouflage

Maya's mom dropped her off two blocks from Jake's house because apparently being seen in a Honda Odyssey was social suicide. She walked the rest of the way, checking her reflection in every car window she passed. Her hair was doing that weird flip thing again, and she'd already decided tonight was the night she'd finally talk to Jake—the guy who'd been in her biology lab all semester but never seemed to notice her existence.

The party was already in full swing when she arrived. Music thumped through the walls, and the backyard was packed with people she'd known since middle school but suddenly felt like complete strangers. She grabbed a soda from the cooler and leaned against the fence, pulling out her phone to look busy. Really, she was just being a total spy—scanning the room, tracking Jake's movements through the kitchen window, judging everyone's outfits from behind the safety of her bangs.

"You gonna stand there all night or what?"

Maya jumped. It was Chloe, the girl who'd dyed her hair this insane copper-red last week, earning her the nickname Fox. "I'm just... observing," Maya said, feeling lame.

"Observing?" Chloe laughed. "Girl, you're at a party, not a science experiment. Come on." She grabbed Maya's wrist and pulled her toward the garage, where a bunch of people were playing some drinking game Maya didn't understand.

That's when she saw him—Jake, leaning against the wall, looking unfairly good in his flannel shirt. Maya's stomach did this embarrassing little flip. She started to open her mouth to say something, anything, when this total bull of a guy (like, football-player huge) stumbled into Jake, spilling beer everywhere. Everyone went quiet. Jake shoved him back, words were exchanged, and suddenly the whole vibe was ruined.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "And that's our cue to leave."

"Wait—" Maya started, but Chloe was already dragging her out the side gate.

"Trust me," Fox said, once they were safely down the street. "High school parties are always like that. Someone starts drama, someone else's parents get called, it's a whole thing. You didn't miss anything."

Maya checked her phone. Her mom could pick her up in five minutes. "I guess," she said, though she couldn't decide if she felt relieved or disappointed.

"Hey," Chloe said. "You want to get boba? There's this place open till midnight."

Maya smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

Some nights didn't go according to plan. But sometimes, she learned, that was actually okay.