The Papaya Perfect Game

Maya's least favorite part of working at her family's fruit stand was the papaya display. It was always awkward. People either loved them or looked at them like alien specimens, and she had to stand there pretending to care deeply about which one they picked.

"Yo, Maya! Your boy's coming!" hissed Jade, her actual best friend and coworker, ducking behind the mango pyramid.

Maya froze. Lucas. The baseball team's star pitcher. The guy who sat two rows behind her in homeroom. The human equivalent of a papaya— intimidating on the outside but probably sweet if you got past the exterior.

She was not mentally prepared for this interaction.

"Hey, you got any of those..." Lucas started, then frowned at the fruit arrangement. "What even is this thing?"

"It's called papaya," said a voice behind him. Tyler. The self-appointed tyrant of tenth grade, wearing his varsity jacket like it was armor. "It's what weird people eat instead of normal food."

Maya's hands clenched around her apron. Not today. Not with Lucas standing right there looking confused and kind of gorgeous and—

"Actually," she heard herself saying, "it's what people with taste eat. Want to try one?"

Tyler laughed. "Yeah right, I'm not eating that—"

"I'll try it," said Lucas.

The baseball suspended in midair. The world held its breath. Maya's entire adolescence narrowed down to this papaya moment.

She sliced one open, scooped out the seeds, handed him a piece. He took a bite, chewed thoughtfully.

"Yo," said Lucas. "This is actually lowkey fire."

Jade made a tiny sound from behind the mangoes.

"Told you," Maya said, her voice steady somehow. "Two dollars."

Lucas paid, grinning. "See you at the game tonight?"

"Maybe," Maya said, because she had dignity. "If I'm not busy with my weird fruit."

"I'll save you a seat," he said, and walked away with his papaya like it was completely normal to walk around eating tropical fruit in public.

Tyler stared at the papaya display like it had personally offended him, then stormed off toward the baseball field.

"Did that just happen?" Jade whispered, emerging from behind the mango pyramid. "Did Lucas Harlow just call your papaya fire and invite you to sit with him at the game?"

Maya looked at the empty space where Lucas had stood. Then at the papaya display, suddenly beautiful in its weirdness. Then at her friend, who was vibrating with excitement.

"I think," Maya said, "I just leveled up in life."

"Queen behavior," Jade approved. "But also, we're definitely going to that game tonight."

Maya arranged the papayas into a perfect pyramid. Some things were worth the awkwardness.