The Orange Swimsuit Incident

Maya stood at the edge of the pool clutching her towel like a lifeline. The **orange** swimsuit her mom had picked out screamed "look at me" and that was literally the last thing she wanted. Especially at Jessica's party. Jessica, whose Instagram followers outnumbered the entire population of their school.

"Hey! You made it!" Jessica called from the water, waving. "Come in!"

Maya's palms were sweating. She hated pool parties. Hated changing into swimsuits in front of everyone. Hated how the **water** made her mascara run even though it was supposedly waterproof. Hated how everyone always asked why she never got her braces off even though she literally just got them on last month.

She took a breath and slid into the pool. The cool water shocked her skin but felt better than standing there like a loser. Some kids were playing volleyball near the deep end. Others floated on inflatables shaped like **palm** trees and pink flamingos.

"Truth or dare!" someone shouted.

Oh no.

Maya ended up in the circle. Of course she did. And of course someone dared her to do a cannonball off the diving board. She'd never done one before in her life.

She climbed up, legs shaking. Everyone was watching. This was it—social suicide or actual glory.

"You got this!" Chloe called out. Maya barely knew Chloe but she was smiling, genuinely smiling.

Maya jumped. She tucked, she splashed, she surface like a triumphant dolphin.

"That was actually sick," said Tyler, the guy she'd had a crush on since seventh grade. "Do it again."

Later, over pizza, Maya felt genuinely happy. That's when Jessica whispered, "You've got a little..." and gestured to her teeth.

**Spinach**. From the pizza. Somehow, some way, she had managed to get green stuff in her braces.

Maya's face burned. But then Tyler handed her a napkin. "I got some too," he said, flashing his own braces.

They laughed. And Maya realized something important: nobody was actually watching her as closely as she thought they were. They were all just trying to survive their own orange swimsuit moments.

"Next time," Jessica said, "we're doing that cannonball together."

Maya smiled, spinach and all.