The Orange Summer Night

Maya's iphone buzzed in her pocket, but she ignored it. Again. Jordan had texted three times already, and every notification made her stomach do that weird flip-flop thing that was equal parts exciting and terrifying.

"You're literally vibrating," said Chloe, popping a piece of papaya into her mouth. They were sitting on the back porch at Jessica's summer party, the air thick with humidity and teenage awkwardness. "Just talk to him already."

"I can't," Maya groaned, letting her head fall into her hands. "What if I say something dumb? What if he thinks I'm weird?"

Chloe rolled her eyes so hard Maya practically saw her brain. "You ARE weird. We're all weird. That's the whole point of being seventeen. Embrace the chaos."

From inside the house, something crashed. followed by "DUDE, YOUR CAT JUST SCRATCHED ME!" and then everyone laughing.

"See?" Chloe pointed at the screen door with her papaya fork. "Even Tyler's getting scratched by cats and he's still talking to girls. You're overthinking this."

Maya's phone lit up again. Her heart hammered against her ribs like it was trying to escape.

JORDAN: hey r u outside? want 2 show u something

"He's coming outside," Maya whisper-yelled. "What do I DO?"

"Fix your hair. Stop panicking. And eat something, you look like you're about to pass out." Chloe shoved another piece of papaya at her.

The sliding door opened. Jordan stepped out, wearing that orange hoodie he always wore—the one that was way too hot for July but he refused to take off because "it's my lucky hoodie, okay?" Behind him, Jessica's dog burst through the door, barking like it had just discovered the meaning of life.

"NO, GET BACK HERE!" Jordan laughed, trying to push the dog back inside. "Sorry," he said to Maya, face bright red. "He's—"

"It's fine," Maya said, and her voice actually sounded normal. "I like dogs."

Jordan's face relaxed. "Yeah? He's pretty chill when he's not escaping." He sat down next to her, close enough that their knees almost touched. "So, uh, I wanted to show you this thing. On my phone."

For a terrifying second, Maya thought he was going to show her something embarrassing. Instead, he pulled out his phone and opened Spotify.

"You said you liked that band from the coffee shop?" Jordan asked, not meeting her eyes. "I made this playlist. With their stuff. And some other stuff I thought you might like."

Maya stared at the screen. The playlist was called "maya's recs :)" and her stomach did that flip-flop thing again, but this time it felt different. Good different.

"I love it," she said, and she meant it. "Can I—"

"Yeah, totally," Jordan said, grinning. "I can send it to you."

Her phone buzzed in her hand.

JORDAN: sent you the playlist btw

Maya looked up from her screen, and Jordan was already looking at her, and for the first time all night, she didn't feel like panicking. The dog was still barking inside, Chloe was making faces at her from across the porch, and Jessica's cat was probably plotting someone's demise. But none of that mattered.

"Cool," Maya said, and she smiled—like, actually smiled. "Thanks."

"Yeah," Jordan said, smiling back. "Anytime."

The summer night stretched out before them, orange streetlights flickering on, and Maya thought maybe seventeen wasn't so bad after all.