The Papaya Incident

Maya's phone buzzed for the third time in two minutes. *Where r u???* lit up the screen from Jade.

*Running!* Maya texted back, which was technically true if you counted sprinting down the street in wedges as cardio.

The Spring Fling started in twenty minutes, and she was currently sprinting away from the most embarrassing moment of her life—which had occurred exactly seven minutes ago at Elio's house.

She adjusted her fedora (yes, a fedora, don't ask, it had seemed like a good idea at the thrift store) and prayed her makeup wasn't streaming down her face. The papaya-colored lip gloss she'd bought specifically because Elio mentioned he liked tropical anything was probably smudged everywhere.

Why had she tried to be sophisticated? Why had she accepted his offer to come over early for "snacks" before the dance?

*Flashback: seven minutes ago*

Maya had taken a bite of the actual papaya Elio's mom had cut up. A single seed had gotten stuck in her teeth. She'd tried to casually fish it out with her tongue while Elio was saying something deep and brooding about philosophy, like how life was just a series of riddles we had to solve ourselves—something about a sphinx and masks, honestly she'd been too panicked to listen.

Then his dad's HDMI cable had disconnected from the TV, and when Elio'd crouched to fix it, Maya had decided NOW was her moment to gracefully fix the seed situation. She'd bolted to the bathroom, spent three minutes with floss, realized her hat was crooked, fixed that, then heard Jade's texts and PANICKED.

She'd told Elio she'd meet him at the dance instead.

And now here she was, running toward the gym like a character in a cringe comedy, papaya lip gloss definitely everywhere, fedora tilting sideways, heart absolutely racing.

Her phone buzzed again.

*Elio's looking for u. He thinks he did something wrong.*

Maya stopped mid-jog, breathless. People were staring. A group of sophomores whispered as they passed.

She took a deep breath.

So what if she'd panicked? So what if there was papaya residue on her teeth and she'd bolted from a near-kiss scenario like a frightened squirrel?

Life wasn't about being smooth. It wasn't about solving every riddle perfectly or never making mistakes. It was about showing up anyway.

She texted Jade: *Tell him I'm coming. And that I'm bringing my awkward self with me.*

Maya started running again, but slower this time. She straightened her hat. She'd touch up her gloss at the dance.

Elio liked papaya, after all.

He could deal with the mess that came with it.