The Orange Hat Summer

Maya's hair had turned out the color of a traffic cone. Not the 'sunset copper' the box promised, but full-blown construction-zone orange. Her mom said it looked 'bold.' Maya said it looked like she'd lost a bet with a highlighter.

Which was exactly why she was currently melting under a giant straw sun hat at her cousin's pool party, hiding like a criminal.

'You gonna swim or just shrink in the sun?' Leo called from the pool edge. Leo, with his stupid perfect hair and his stupid perfect smile. He'd been Maya's crush since seventh grade, and apparently the universe decided this summer – the summer of the orange hair disaster – was when she'd finally have to face him.

'I'm,' Maya started, then stopped. Her phone buzzed. Friends were posting beach pics. Everyone looked effortless. Meanwhile, she was sitting here in a oversized t-shirt and a hat that made her look like a suburban gardener.

She stood up, heart hammering. The hat was stupid. The hair was what it was. She was tired of hiding.

'Actually,' Maya said, pulling off the hat and shaking out her bright orange curls. 'I'm gonna own this.'

Leo's eyes went wide. Then he grinned. 'Finally. I was wondering when you'd ditch the disguise.'

Maya froze. 'You—'

'Saw you at the salon window,' Leo admitted. 'I was gonna come in and say hi, but you looked determined. Like you were about to conquer something.' He swam closer. 'It looks cool, Maya. Serious. It looks like you.'

She looked at her reflection in the pool water. Orange hair. No hat. Just her.

'Maya!' Her cousin yelled. 'Marco Polo – you're It!'

Maya smiled, kicked off her flip-flops, and dove in. The cool water swallowed her whole, and for the first time all summer, she could breathe.