The Catfish Incident

Maya's phone buzzed with the screenshot again. Someone had posted it in the group chat—the one from last summer, before she dyed her hair that ridiculous electric blue that her mom said made her look like a walking smurf.

"Ugh, delete that," she typed, but her thumbs hovered. It wasn't just the hair. It was everything about Before Maya. The Maya who was afraid to speak up in class. The Maya who let people walk all over her.

Her cat, Luna, jumped onto her desk and knocked over a water bottle. Ice-cold liquid soaked her chemistry homework.

"Really? NOW?" Maya shoved Luna aside, but the cat just purred and kneaded her paws into the wet paper. Typical.

Then her phone lit up again. A text from Jordan: *that pic actually kinda cute lol*

Maya stared. Jordan. The Jordan who sat behind her in third period and always smelled like vanilla and cigarettes. The Jordan she'd been lowkey crushing on since September but was too scared to even make eye contact with.

Before she could overthink it, she typed back: *that's NOT me anymore*

*prove it,* Jordan said.

Maya's heart did that stupid flutter thing. She looked at Luna, who was now licking water droplets off the desk like a total weirdo. Maya grabbed her phone and snapped a selfie—no filter, blue hair fading at the roots, bags under her eyes from staying up too late binge-watching, Luna's butt photobombing in the corner.

*this is me now. take it or leave it.*

She hit send and immediately wanted to die. Why did she have to be so extra?

Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.

*fr tho,* Jordan finally replied, *ur vibe. i dig it.*

Maya let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Luna meowed, demanding treats.

"You're still annoying," Maya told her, scratching behind her ears. "But thanks for the push, I guess."

Her phone buzzed one more time. *wanna get boba after school?*

Maya grinned. The old her would've spent twenty minutes crafting the perfect response. New Maya just typed: *bet.*

Some things really did get better with time. And some things—like her cat's talent for destruction and her terrible hair decisions—stayed exactly the same. And maybe that was okay.