Green Between My Teeth

The locker room smelled like chlorine and bad decisions. I stared at my reflection, frizzy brown hair escaping my swim cap in all the wrong directions. This was it — my first varsity swim meet, and I was about to embarrass myself in front of literally everyone.

"You good, Maya?" asked Chloe, who'd been on varsity since freshman year and now had seniority dripping from her perfectly styled ponytail even in a swimsuit.

"Totally," I lied. "Just visualizing my victory."

What I was actually visualizing was the lunch scene ten minutes earlier: me chatting with Jordan, the cute junior I'd been crushing on for MONTHS, thinking I was being all smooth and flirty. Then Maya from chemistry made that face — you know the one — and whispered, "You have... spinach. Like, a lot."

I'd practically sprinted to the bathroom to discover an entire forest of green lodged between my front teeth. From that stupid spinach salad I'd eaten trying to look all healthy and sophisticated. Because obviously Jordan would fall for a girl who eats leafy greens.

Now I was standing poolside, hair escaping my cap, heart hammering like I'd already swum three laps. The announcer called my name. This was it. My moment.

I could still hear Jordan's laugh from lunch — the genuine one, not the pity laugh. Maybe they hadn't noticed the spinach? Maybe...

The whistle blew. I dove.

Water rushed into my ears as I pushed through the water, stroke after stroke. My arms burned. My legs screamed. But somewhere between the second and third lap, I realized: I'd already survived the most embarrassing thing that could happen. I'd had spinach in my teeth while talking to my crush. I'd lived. The world hadn't ended.

I touched the wall, gasping for air. Third place. Not last.

"Nice job, rookie," Chloe said, actually smiling.

Later, dripping wet and exhausted, I found Jordan waiting by the exit.

"Hey," they said. "You looked really good out there."

"Thanks," I managed, pushing wet hair from my face. "Despite the... everything."

"The spinach?" Jordan grinned. "I was wondering if you'd notice. It was kind of adorable."

I felt my face heat up. "You knew?"

"Everyone knew. But you still owned that race." Jordan shrugged. "That's kinda badass."

So maybe high school wasn't about being perfect. Maybe it was about having spinach in your teeth and swimming anyway.