Green Between My Teeth

I stood by the snack table, clutching my red solo cup like it was a life preserver. Taylor's pool party raged around me — kids I'd known since elementary school doing cannonballs and playing chicken fights in the water. Meanwhile, I was here, stuck on dry land because I'd somehow managed to convince myself that everyone would notice if I didn't look totally shredded.

"You gonna swim or what?" said Maya, my oldest friend, dripping wet and grinning like she hadn't a care in the world. "It's literally ninety degrees."

"I'm good," I lied, stuffing another handful of chips into my mouth.

That's when I saw Jake — the guy I'd been low-key crushing on since September — leaning against the fence near the house, talking to some sophomore girls. My heart did that stupid flutter thing it always did when he was within fifty feet. I decided to play it cool and wander closer, you know, casually.

I was basically operating as my own private spy, trying to eavesdrop without being obvious about it. I drifted toward them, all subtle-like, pretending to examine the very interesting pattern on Taylor's patio furniture.

"...so yeah, my dad's got this whole vegetable garden thing now," Jake was saying. "He grows, like, actual spinach. It's weird but kinda cool?"

I nodded like I was totally part of the conversation, even though I was still technically five feet away and definitely not included in it. Then Taylor's brother yelled something inside, and a strobe light clicked on, casting this flickering blue-and-white glow over everything like fake lightning.

Jake caught my eye. Actually smiled.

"Hey!" he called. "You want the rest of this spinach dip? My mom made it and I cannot."

My face burned. I'd literally been caught lurking. But also — Jake was offering me dip.

"Sure," I said, trying to sound chill and not like my heart was staging a full-blown rebellion. I accepted the bowl, and for the next hour, we stood there eating spinach dip and talking about nothing and everything while the pool party raged behind us and lightning bugs flickered in the growing darkness over the fence.

Later, Maya would tell me I'd had green stuff stuck in my teeth the whole time. Jake never mentioned it. Some secrets are worth keeping.