The Fox in the Mirror
Maya stared at her reflection, fingers yanking at the tangled nest of hair that had decided to stage a rebellion against humidity, society, and basic decency. Senior pictures were tomorrow. Her mom had already dropped fifty bucks on that stupid baby blue backdrop. And here she was, looking like she'd lost a fight with a leaf blower.
"You gonna fix that or just keep assaulting your head?" Maya's little brother, Leo, leaned against the doorframe, their dog Buster trailing behind him like a furry shadow.
"Shut up, Leo." Maya grabbed her lucky beanie—this hideous neon orange thing she'd worn since seventh grade—and yanked it over her head. Problem solved. Kind of.
"You look like a traffic cone," Leo said, snickering. Buster whined like he agreed.
Their cat, Mittens, who'd been sleeping on Maya's bed, lifted her head with pure judgment in those yellow eyes.
Maya's phone buzzed. Jordan. Her stomach did that thing it always did when Jordan's name popped up—the good kind of flip-flop, the terrifying kind.
*u coming to the bonfire?*
*maybe,* Maya typed back, then deleted it. *yeah.*
*cool wear something cute lol*
Maya tossed her phone onto the bed and groaned. She'd been crushing on Jordan since freshman year, and now, somehow, they were texting. Bonfires meant hoodies and messed-up hair and basically everything she wasn't ready for. But her best friend, Riley, had been telling her for months that Jordan thought she was cute, and maybe Jordan wasn't just being nice when they asked for help in chem every day.
She took off the orange monstrosity. Her hair sprang back up, wild and unapologetic.
Her grandma used to call her "my little fox"—clever and quick and always too curious for her own good. Foxes didn't hide under hats. Foxes didn't freak out about boys who sat three rows back in AP Chem.
Foxes just *were*.
Maya grabbed her phone again. *what time?*
*8. bring s'mores stuff if u can*
*on it.*
She left the hat on the bed. Let the hair do its thing. Jordan would either like it or not, but Maya was done apologizing for existing in public. Anyway, foxes looked good in orange.