The Papaya Incident

I'd spent all summer carefully curating my vibe—reading indie comics, listening to bands nobody'd heard of, basically doing everything except hanging out with actual humans. Which is why, when Mia invited me to her end-of-summer party, I panicked.

"Just be yourself," my mom said, handing me a grocery bag. "Take some fruit, be a good guest."

The papaya was so bright it practically glowed. I tried to hide it behind a bag of chips, but my cat Luna—absolute traitor—decided this was her moment to shine. She bolted out the door as I was leaving, tripping me. The papaya went flying. landed in the bushes.

"Need help?"

It was Lucas. The Lucas. Who'd sat behind me in bio last year, whose hair always looked perfect even on Monday mornings.

"I, uh, dropped my... papaya," I said, because apparently my brain had dissolved over summer break.

He laughed. Not mean-laughed. Actual laughed. "Who brings papaya to a party?"

"My mom?" I shrugged, feeling my face burn. "I'm actually allergic, but she thinks it's exotic."

"That's kind of adorable though." He reached into the bush, pulled out the slightly-bruised fruit. "Wanna ditch? There's a bear statue by the creek. Weird place to hang, but nobody goes there."

"A bear statue?"

"Town mascot from like, the 1800s. It's creepy but also kind of iconic?"

So we walked. And somewhere between finding that rusted iron bear and watching the sunset filter through the trees, I forgot about trying to be cool. I told him about Luna's habit of stealing my socks. He told me about his collection of vintage board games he couldn't get anyone to play.

"You know," he said, when we got back to Mia's house, "you're way more interesting than whatever vibe you were going for."

"Was I obvious?"

"The papaya gave it away."

Luna was waiting on my porch when I got home. I tossed her the socks she'd stolen that morning—fine, I'd bought them back from her secret stash. She purred like she'd planned the whole thing.

Maybe next time I'd just bring chips. Or maybe I'd bring the papaya anyway—apparently it was a conversation starter.