The Papaya Incident

Jax felt like a zombie. Three hours of sleep after binge-watching The Last of Us will do that to you. He shuffled toward his locker, eyes half-closed, already dreading first period. Being the new kid at Oak Creek High was hard enough without looking like the walking dead.

"Nice outfit," someone said. Jax's eyes snapped open. It was Maya, the girl from his English class, leaning against the locker next to his. She was holding a bright orange fruit.

"What?" Jax looked down. Oh no. He was still wearing his fuzzy bear slippers. The ones with the googly eyes. He'd somehow forgotten to change out of them after his mom emergency-texted him about Grandma's birthday breakfast.

"I mean, if you're going for the hibernation aesthetic, you're nailing it," Maya said, grinning. She peeled what looked like a papaya—seriously, who ate papaya at 8 AM?

"My grandma," Jax blurted. "She's obsessed with bears. It's a long story."

"I love long stories," Maya said, taking a bite of the papaya. "But you might want to hurry. Mr. Harrison's zombie lecture starts in five minutes, and he does not appreciate tardiness. Even from bears."

Jax's face burned. He scrambled to open his locker, his fingers fumbling with the combination. Of course. The stupid locker was stuck. Again.

"Need help?" Maya moved closer. "Turn it left past zero first, then right to—"

CRASH.

The papaya slipped from Maya's hand. In slow motion, it hit the floor and exploded. Orange pulp everywhere. Including all over Jax's bear slippers.

They stared at each other for three seconds. Then Maya started laughing. Not mean laughing—like, actually laughing. Jax couldn't help it. He started laughing too.

"Okay," she said, wiping tears from her eyes. "That was definitely a first. You have officially had the most memorable first week of anyone at this school."

"Is that good or bad?" Jax asked, trying to scrape papaya out of his slipper with his shoe.

"Good," Maya said. "Trust me. By next period, everyone will know you as the guy who survived the Papaya Incident. Nobody messes with you after that."

She handed him half of her papaya. "Peace offering?"

Jax took it. "Thanks. But I'm never wearing these slippers again."

"Oh, don't say that," Maya said, walking away. "The googly eyes really complete the look."

Jax looked at his fuzzy orange slippers. He grinned. Maybe being the new kid wouldn't be so bad after all.