Vitamin Water Friend

Maya's bathroom counter looked like a supplement store explosion. Vitamin C gummies, biotin pills, and some gross green powder her mom swore would make her skin glow—all lined up like little soldiers in her war against being average.

"You ready?" Jenna called from the hallway. "Pool party starts in twenty!"

Maya stared at her hair. Three hours with a flat iron and it still looked like she'd stuck her finger in an electrical socket. "Almost!"

She grabbed her phone—twelve unread messages from the group chat. Everyone was posting fit checks. Even Sarah, who literally posted a mirror selfie in the same bikini she'd worn last summer, captioned "new fit 💕" because apparently that's what you did when you were popular.

The water bottle on her counter was Maya's version of Sarah's posts. Last year's model. Basic. Not aesthetic enough for pics. She'd been saving up for one of those viral ones with the time markers, but at $45, might as well ask for a pony.

"Maya!" Jenna banged on the door. "Liam's gonna be there!"

Liam. The reason Maya had started taking hair vitamins in the first place. The reason she'd spent her entire babysitting savings on products that promised "beach waves" but delivered "bird's nest."

She filled her basic water bottle and chugged like it was ammo. Hydration was the only self-care she could afford.

Outside, the humidity hit like a wall. Great for her hair situation.

Jenna was waiting on the porch, hair perfect in that effortless way that took actual effort. "You look stressed."

"I'm fine."

Jenna eyed her. "You're still hung up on Liam? That boy thinks 'vitamin' is a type of water. He's not worth the mental energy."

Maya cracked up. "That's actually true. He asked if I wanted to share his vitamin water yesterday."

"EXACTLY. So why are we still doing this?" Jenna gestured at Maya's outfit crisis. "Come on. My friend doesn't have to perform for anyone."

Friend. The word hit different than when the popular girls said it. Their "friend" meant "until something better comes along."

Jenna's version meant "I see you being weird and I'm still here."

They walked to the party in comfortable silence. Maya's hair was still a disaster. Her water bottle was still basic. The vitamins in her system wouldn't kick in for like, six months.

But Jenna was right. Liam thought vitamin water was a person. And that was the funniest thing she'd heard all week.

"Hey," Maya said as they reached the pool gate. "Wanna just dunk on everyone in Mario Kart later?"

Jenna grinned. "Only if you promise to stop stealing your mom's prenatal vitamins. Those are literally for babies."

Maya laughed so hard she almost dropped her basic water bottle.

Fine. Maybe next paycheck she'd buy the aesthetic bottle. But today? Today she'd show up with her hair doing whatever it wanted, with the friend who'd call her out on her nonsense, and with enough water to survive humiliation.

That was glow enough.