afternoon walk, cameras off for once, just being their goofy, real selves. The sun was warm, the breeze light, and the streets of the city quiet enough that they could hear birds chirping and the sound of their own sneakers against the pavement.

They were supposed to be heading to a dessert spot, but naturally, Mya got distracted.

“Wait—LOOK!” she gasped, yanking Zee’s arm and pointing toward the side of a small art gallery. “Rock sculptures!”

Zee tilted his head. “Oh cool, they kinda look—”

“That one looks like YOU!” Mya laughed, already walking up to a tall, oddly shaped stone that was a little top-heavy, with a small dent in the middle that sort of, barely, resembled a nose.

Zee squinted. “Excuse me?! That thing looks like a melted potato.”

“Exactly!” she said, cracking up. “You are my little potato boy.”

He gasped. “I will NOT stand here and be compared to sedimentary rock.”

“You’re more igneous vibes,” she teased, circling the statue dramatically. “Strong, mysterious… and kind of lumpy.”

Zee folded his arms. “Lumpy?! I lift, you know.”

Mya leaned her elbow on the sculpture like a judge. “Yeah, well this rock lifts too. Lifts my soul.” She grinned, snapping a picture of the sculpture, then of Zee’s unimpressed face next to it. “Twinsies.”

“You’re lucky I like you,” he muttered, but the grin on his face gave him away.

As they walked down the path, Mya kept pointing at more statues — a chunky one with a stubby head, a tilted one that looked like it was mid-fall, and even a boulder that had moss growing across the side.

“Ooooh, this one’s got your hair,” she giggled. “Messy, mysterious, and in desperate need of a trim.”

Zee dramatically placed a hand on his heart. “Mya Amber, I am being slandered in a public sculpture garden. There are witnesses.”

“They agree with me,” she said, snapping another photo.

He tried to fight back with, “Fine, well that one looks like you if you got turned into a Minecraft block.”

But she just stuck out her tongue. “Then we belong together. Blockhead and Pebble Boy.”

Zee rolled his eyes, chuckling. “When we get home, I’m setting that photo of the rock next to my baby picture just to prove you wrong.”

“No need,” Mya said smugly. “They’ll think it’s the same photo.”