Wild Summer, Wild Heart

Maya's summer job at the juice bar was supposed to be chill — just blending smoothies and scrolling through her iPhone during lulls. But then Lily happened.

Lily, with her perfect laugh and the tiny black cat tattoo behind her ear that Maya couldn't stop staring at.

"Want to try this?" Lily held out a papaya one afternoon, grinning. "It tastes like sunshine and bad decisions."

Maya blushed. "I've never had papaya."

"Girl, you're missing out." Lily sliced it open, the juice dripping down her wrist like liquid gold. Their fingers brushed when Maya took a piece, and her stomach did that annoying flip thing it always did around pretty girls.

The real disaster happened at Jensen's pool party. Maya, who didn't swim, stood by the snack table in her oversized t-shirt watching everyone cannonball into the water. Lily emerged from the pool, wet hair slicked back, water droplets sliding down her neck like Maya wished her fingers could.

"You coming in?" Lily called.

"I... don't really swim."

Lily swam over, bracing her arms on the pool deck. "Everyone's terrified of something. Jensen's scared of his cat."

"That cat is literally evil," Jensen protested from the diving board.

"That's not the point," Lily said, locking eyes with Maya. "What are you scared of?"

Before Maya could answer — could say *I'm scared that I like you and I don't know if you like girls or if I'm ready for anyone to know that I might not be straight* — a scream shattered the air.

Bear.

An actual bear, wandering out of the woods behind Jensen's house, drawn by the smell of party snacks.

Chaos erupted. Everyone scrambled, grabbing phones and towels. But Maya just stood there, frozen, until Lily grabbed her hand.

"Come on, let's go!" They sprinted together to Jensen's screened porch, breathless and terrified, shoulders pressed against the door as the bear lumbered past, completely uninterested in the teenagers.

Lily turned to Maya, still holding her hand, and started laughing. The hysterical, relieved laughter of someone who almost died but didn't.

"Your first papaya, your first bear sighting," she said softly. "Summer's not over yet."

"Yeah," Maya whispered, heart racing for a completely different reason now. "Not over yet."