Green at the Pool Party

Maya stood at the edge of the **pool**, clutching her **iPhone** like a lifeline. The water sparkled with that perfect Instagram-filter blue, but inside, her stomach was doing full-on gymnastics.

Three days ago, she'd let Chloe talk her into getting layers. "It'll be so chic," Chloe had promised. Now Maya's **hair** hung at awkward angles, like it was trying to escape her head. She'd spent forty minutes this morning trying to make it look intentional, but the reflection in her phone screen just looked sad.

She'd been vibrating between "maybe nobody will notice" and "literally everyone will notice" for seventy-two hours straight.

The palm tree behind her cast long shadows across the patio. Maya leaned against its rough trunk, scrolling through photos of herself from last week—back when her hair made sense. Back when she didn't feel like every single person was secretly judging her fringe situation.

"Maya! You coming in?" Alex called from the water. Her crush. Of course.

"In a minute!" she lied, scrolling faster.

Her stomach chose that exact moment to let out the loudest growl in human history. Three people turned around. Maya's face burned.

"Oh my god, did you eat yet?" Chloe paddled over. "There's **spinach** dip in the kitchen. It's actually fire."

Spinach. The one food that guaranteed itself would be stuck in her teeth forever. But her stomach growled again, louder this time.

Maya grabbed a plate, loaded it with dip and chips, and tried to eat strategically. Small bites. Check teeth after every one. No social death today.

She was navigating her third carefully when Alex swam over to the edge. Water droplets ran down his arms like something out of a movie.

"Hey Maya, you wanna—" He paused. "You've got something..."

Maya's heart stopped. She rushed to the bathroom mirror. Sure enough, a bright green speck of spinach decorated her front tooth. She'd been talking to people. For twenty minutes.

She considered faking her own death. Instead she grabbed her phone and posted the pic on her story: "when the spinach dip fights back but you still eat it because it's that good #neverchange"

Her phone blew up.

"lmaooooo"

"legendary"

"same happened to me last week"

Alex replied: "at least you're living your best life out here 👏"

Maya's shoulders relaxed. The spinach was still there. Her hair was still a mess. But Alex had replied. People were commenting. Nobody cared that she wasn't perfect.

She deleted the photo, fixed her teeth, and walked toward the pool.

"You coming in or what?" Chloe yelled.

Maya jumped. The water was perfect. So was the spinach dip. And somehow, so was this terrible, wonderful afternoon.