Green Between My Teeth

Chase stood at the edge of the pool, clutching his red solo cup like it was a lifeline. The sophomore class swim party raged around him—splash fights, laughter, Tyler's ridiculous attempt to organize a human pyramid in the shallow end. Chase adjusted his shirt, suddenly self-conscious about the fact that he'd forgotten his swimsuit.

"Yo, Chase!" Tyler yelled, mid-way up the wobbling human structure. "Get in here, bro! We need more base layer!"

Chase waved him off, mortified. Madison was sprawled on a lounge chair nearby, scrolling through her phone with practiced disinterest. Chase had spent three weeks working up the nerve to talk to her at this party, and now here he was, fully clothed and nursing a cup of lukewarm punch.

Her golden retriever, Buster, bounded over and shoved his wet nose into Chase's hand, tail going fifty miles an hour. Chase scratched behind his ears, grateful for the distraction.

"Hey, Buster," he murmured. "At least someone's happy to see me."

Buster nosed his cup, knocking it forward. A wave of something green and chunky splashed onto Chase's white shirt—spinach dip. Perfect.

Madison glanced up, her phone forgotten. A grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Nice look, Chase."

His face burned. "Yeah, well. Buster's a fan of spinach art."

"It works." She stood up, slipping off her sandals. "You coming in or what? The water's actually decent."

"Didn't bring a suit," Chase mumbled, still trying to dab at the spinach stain with a napkin.

"So?" Madison already had one foot in the pool. "Swim in your shorts. Nobody cares except you."

She was right. Chase realized he'd been standing on the sidelines his entire high school existence, watching everyone else live, building imaginary pyramids of consequences in his head that never actually materialized.

He kicked off his sneakers. "Screw it."

The water hit him like liquid shock, cold and refreshing all at once. Tyler's pyramid collapsed as everyone cheered Chase's cannonball. When he surfaced, Madison was floating nearby, smiling.

"Took you long enough."

"Better late than never," Chase said, wiping water from his eyes. Spinach stain and all, he was finally in the pool.