Chlorine Kisses and Spinach Teeth

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, her toes curling against the hot concrete. The entire sophomore class seemed to be in Jake's backyard, bodies glistening, music thumping, red Solo cups everywhere. She'd been waiting for this invitation all summer.

"You coming in or what?" Jake called from the water. His wet hair was plastered to his forehead, and Maya's stomach did that stupid flutter thing.

"Yeah! Just... gotta grab something from my bag first."

She'd begged her mom to let her come, but of course Mom had packed her a "responsible lunch" — some organic spinach and chickpea salad that smelled like a garden. Maya shoved it deeper into her bag, paranoid someone would see it and think she was a total nerd. Which she was, but like, she didn't need everyone knowing that immediately.

Her phone buzzed. 12 missed calls from home.

Then she heard it — frantic barking from the direction of her house next door. Oh no. Oh no no no.

Buster, her family's ancient golden retriever, burst through the hedge, trailing someone's abandoned towel behind him like a superhero cape. The dog spotted Maya and bolted toward her, knocking over three people in his path.

"BUSTER!" she screamed, grabbing his collar. But he was already shaking himself off like a wet sprinkler, sending water and — was that actual mud? — all over her white denim shorts. Her crush was laughing. Okay, not the worst thing, maybe he thought it was funny-

"DUDE," someone yelled. "Did your dog just shake spinach all over everyone?"

Maya froze. She looked down. Buster had somehow ripped open her lunch bag, and now everyone was covered in green flecks. Jake was wiping spinach from his abs, grinning like this was the best thing that had ever happened.

"Okay, who brings spinach to a pool party?" he asked, walking over to her. "That's honestly kinda iconic."

Maya's face burned. She wanted to dissolve. "My mom's, like, super into health stuff. I'm so sorry, I can pay for the-"

"Relax," Jake said, flicking a piece of spinach from her shoulder. "Buster's a legend. You coming in? The pool's literally perfect."

She looked at her spinach-covered shorts, at her dog currently being petted by three girls from varsity soccer, at Jake still smiling at her.

"Yeah," Maya said, actually smiling back. "Yeah, I'm coming in."

Sometimes your most humiliating moments became your best stories. She jumped in, spinach and all.