The Orange Hat Incident

Maya pulled her dad's ratty old fishing **hat** down over her pink hair, effectively hiding the bad bleach job she'd attempted at 2 AM while doomscrolling TikTok tutorials. The neon **orange** shade was supposed to be 'subtle sunset vibes.' Instead, she looked like a traffic cone.

'You look like you're about to rob a convenience store,' said Jace, falling into step beside her. His **iPhone** was already out, inevitable as gravity.

'Don't you dare post this,' Maya warned. 'My social capital is hanging by a thread as is.'

Jace snorted. 'Bro, you literally have a fin on your head. This is content.'

They were **running** late for first period—again—but Maya suddenly couldn't make herself move toward the school building. Something about being a freshman in high school felt like being dropped into an anime mid-season. Everyone else knew the plot. She was still reading the wiki summary.

'Wait,' she said, stopping short. 'What if I just... don't go in?'

Jace looked at her like she'd grown a second head. 'Skipping? You? The girl who cried when she got a B- in PE?'

'Maybe I'm evolving,' Maya said, then immediately felt cringe for saying 'evolving' unironically. 'I'm just saying, what's the worst that could happen if I took a mental health day?'

Jace considered this, tapping his phone against his chin. Then he grinned. 'Let me **spy** on the situation first.'

He pulled up the school's Instagram stories. Someone had already posted about a pop quiz in algebra. The cafeteria was serving 'mystery meat tacos.' The principal had fallen down the stairs again.

'Okay,' Jace said, 'the universe is literally begging us to skip.'

Maya's heart did something illegal. 'We're actually doing this?'

'We're actually doing this.' Jace grabbed her hand. 'Race you to the bodega?'

They took off **running** down the street, Maya's ridiculous orange hat flying behind her like a cape. For the first time since starting high school, she didn't feel like she was playing a part. She was just a girl with terrible hair and a best friend who made bad decisions with her.

'Jace!' she called out, laughing breathlessly. 'Your phone!'

He stopped, frowning at his **iPhone**—no service this far from school. Then he looked up, really looked at her, and smiled.

'Worth it.'

And somehow, it absolutely was.