The Green Nightmare

Maya's mom meant well with the spinach smoothie experiment. Really, she did. But that didn't change the fact that Maya was now walking into first period with a brilliant green streak in her otherwise perfect blonde hair.

"Your hair looks... interesting," said Kai, the guy Maya had been crushing on since September. He was leaning against his locker, all effortless cool in his vintage band tee.

Maya's face burned. "Thanks. It's a choice."

"A bold choice," Kai said, and there was something in his tone that wasn't making fun of her. "I dig it."

Wait, what?

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Everyone noticed. Everyone commented. Maya's best friend Ryan took seventeen photos for his "documentation of her era." But weirdly, no one was mean about it. The green hair had transformed Maya from invisible freshman to mysterious artistic girl who didn't care what people thought. (Even though she cared SO MUCH.)

By fifth period, the school's resident mean girl Brooklyn cornered her by the vending machines. "Okay, what's the deal with the hair? You trying to start a trend?"

"Spinach accident," Maya mumbled.

Brooklyn's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously? My mom tried to make me drink those gross smoothies last week. I literally poured mine down the sink when she wasn't looking."

For a second, Brooklyn looked almost human.

"The struggle is real," Maya said.

"No, but actually." Brooklyn checked her phone. "Hey, some of us are going to the woods behind the old elementary school tonight. There's supposedly a bear someone spotted. You should come."

A bear? Maya wanted to say no. She wanted to go home and wash her hair seventeen times until every trace of green was gone. But then she thought about her perfect, safe, invisible life, and how she'd spent months wishing she could just be someone who took chances.

"I'm in," Maya heard herself say.

That night, crouched in the dark with Brooklyn and Ryan and even Kai, watching a very large, very real bear amble through the woods, Maya realized something. The bear didn't care about her green hair. The bear didn't care about being cool or fitting in or any of the stuff that kept her up at night. The bear was just out there, living its life.

"Your hair looks sick in this light," Kai whispered, leaning closer.

Maya smiled. Maybe tomorrow she'd wash out the green. Maybe she wouldn't. Either way, she was done being invisible.