Green at the Pool Party

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her solo cup like a lifeline. The sophomore who'd invited her—Jake, with the effortless smile and hair that actually looked good wet—was already doing cannonballs with his friends. Everyone else seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Maya felt like she'd crash-landed from another planet.

"Hey! You coming in?" Jake called, dripping water everywhere.

"Yeah! Just, uh, warming up!" She'd practically shouted it. Smooth. Real smooth.

Her phone buzzed. Sierra, her best friend who'd bailed twenty minutes ago, had sent: SPY MODE ACTIVATE. Jake's been looking at u all night. DETAILS.

Maya rolled her eyes but felt a stupid little flip in her stomach. She grabbed a handful of spinach dip from the snack table to buy time, pretending to be fascinated by the conversation near the chips. That's when she felt it—a suspicious green fleck between her front teeth. Of course. Of freaking course.

She made a break for the bathroom, fingers already digging at her teeth. The mirror showed everything: the spinach (huge, obvious, practically screaming LOOK AT ME), the hair that had gone frizzy from humidity, the swimsuit that suddenly felt all wrong.

Someone knocked. "Occupied!"

"Maya? You okay in there?" Jake's voice.

She froze. "Fine! Just—"

"You've been in there like ten minutes. Everything good?"

She opened the door a crack. He was standing there in his swim trunks, looking genuinely concerned. The spinach was gone, at least. She'd managed to excavate it without crying.

"Yeah. Just needed a minute."

Jake leaned against the doorframe, suddenly serious. "You know, if this party's too much, we could bail. There's this spot by the creek where we can just... I don't know, talk?"

Maya's breath caught. "You'd want to?"

"Honestly?" He smiled, a little shy now. "I've been trying to figure out how to get you alone all night. Sierra told me you were nervous."

"Sierra's been SPYING on me?"

"She's been looking out for you." He shrugged. "So? Creek?"

Outside, the pool party raged on. But Maya found herself grinning. "Yeah. Let's go."