The Goldfish at the Summit

Maya's mother had given her one mission for the eighth grade dance: don't be weird. But standing there in the gymnasium, watching the disco ball spin above her like a pathetic plastic moon, Maya felt weirdness radiating off herself like heat waves. She'd spent three hours curling her hair, only for the humidity to turn it into a frizzy halo. Her dress pinched at her waist. And she was currently holding a papaya she'd impulsively grabbed from the snack table because she didn't know what to do with her hands.

"You're gonna eat that?" A voice behind her made her jump, nearly launching the tropical fruit into the punch bowl.

She turned to face Leo, who'd somehow transformed from the quiet kid who sat behind her in algebra into someone wearing a suit that actually fit. His hair was messy-cute, and he was smiling like she'd just told a joke instead of almost committed fruit-based assault.

"It's a papaya," Maya said, like this explained everything. "I've never actually had one. I think I'm psyching myself out."

Leo laughed, and it was this warm sound that made something loosen in her chest. "My aunt grows them. You gotta scoop out the seeds. They look like fish eggs."

"Goldfish eggs?"

"Sure, if goldfish were weirdly obsessed with tropical fruit."

They stood there for a moment, and Maya realized the awkwardness she'd been carrying around all evening had evaporated. Leo was still smiling at her, and she found herself smiling back, genuinely, not the polite fake-smile she'd been using all night.

"So," he said, gesturing toward the dance floor where everyone was forming some kind of pyramid configuration for a group photo. "You wanna go be part of that human construction project?"

Maya looked at her papaya, then at Leo, then at the ridiculous pyramid of teenagers swaying precariously in the middle of the gym. Something shifted inside her — a tiny, brave thing.

"Actually," she said, setting the fruit down on a table, "I think I'd rather learn how to eat this papaya properly. But after that, maybe we could build our own pyramid? Just the two of us."

Leo's smile widened, and Maya thought maybe this night wasn't going to be so terrible after all. Maybe being weird wasn't the worst thing in the world. Maybe it was exactly right.