Green Between My Teeth

Maya's palms were practically dripping as she stood at the edge of Jake's above-ground pool, clutching a red solo cup like her life depended on it. This was it—the moment she'd been lowkey obsessing over for weeks. Jake Schneider. The Jake Schneider. His hair was that perfect messy-curly situation that probably took twenty minutes to achieve, and here she was, feeling like a certified disaster in her two-year-old swimsuit.

"Maya! You made it!" Jake yelled from the pool, splashing water everywhere. He looked like a golden retriever in human form. "Come swimming! The water's literally perfect!"

She'd been psyching herself up for this all week. Her hair was frizzing in the July heat, and she'd spent twenty minutes this morning convincing herself that this oversized t-shirt was definitely giving chill vibes and not hiding-a-body vibes. But then her stomach had to ruin everything with the loudest growl in human history.

Jake's mom, apparently sensing her embarrassment, swooped in with a plate. "Here you go, sweetie! Spinach dip with pita chips. Jake's favorite."

Spinach. Of course. The literal enemy of social interactions everywhere. Maya stuffed a chip into her mouth, trying to play it cool, but she could feel the spinach staging a coup between her front teeth.

"So, Maya," Jake said, paddling over to the edge. His hair was plastered to his forehead now, and she was spiraling. "Wanna hang out later? Maybe watch that new Marvel movie everyone's been talking about?"

This was it. Her shot. And she had spinach in her teeth. She did the only logical thing—she launched herself into the pool.

The shock of cold water was absolute chaos. She surfaced, hair everywhere, spinach situation definitely not solved, but Jake was laughing. Not mean laughing. Like, actually laughing.

"That was the most dramatic entry I've ever seen," he said, grinning. "You've got some..." He gestured to his own teeth.

Maya's face burned. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he just splashed her.

"It's cool. I once had guacamole in my braces for like three hours during my presentation. Nobody noticed. Or they were just too nice to say anything." He swam closer. "So, Marvel movie? Yes or no?"

She wiped her face, feeling lighter somehow. The spinach was still there, her hair was a disaster, and her palms were sweating again, but Jake was still waiting for an answer.

"Yes," she said. "Absolutely yes."