Chlorine and Chlorophyll

I saw my reflection and froze. My hair was supposed to be cool, edgy green—a statement, a vibe, something that said I wasn't just another boring high school sophomore. Instead, it looked like I'd dipped my head in a radioactive smoothie.

Mom's solution? "Go swimming, honey. The chlorine will fade it."

Great. Except that meant the community pool party where *he* would be. Jake, with his perfect jawline and annoyingly good hair. I threw on my dad's oversized baseball cap, yanking it low over my forehead. If I couldn't swim without exposing the disaster, I'd just... not swim. Problem solved.

"You good?" Mia asked, eyeing my hat suspiciously as we stood by the pool deck. Everyone was already in the water, laughing, being effortless. Being normal.

"Yeah. Just keeping it mysterious."

Jake climbed out, water dripping down his stupid perfect face. "You coming in or what?"

My brain short-circuited. The heat was unbearable under the hat. I was sweating. This was fine. Everything was fine.

Then it happened. A rogue beach ball knocked into me, and my cap flew off.

Dead silence. My green hair glistened in the sunlight like some sort of vegetable-themed tragedy.

"Whoa," someone said. "Did you... did you dye your hair with spinach?"

I closed my eyes, waiting for laughter. Instead, I heard splashing. Jake had jumped back into the pool.

"That's actually sick," he called out. "No cap."

"Really?" I opened one eye.

"Yeah! It's giving mermaid core. Totally unexpected." Mia nodded. "Lowkey iconic behavior."

I looked at my hair in the puddle by my feet. Okay, so it wasn't *totally* terrible. And maybe sometimes the things you think will ruin you end up making you interesting.

I took off my shoes. "Fine. But someone owes me snacks. I'm starving."

"There's spinach dip inside," Jake grinned.

"Don't push your luck."