Green Between the Teeth

Maya's palms were sweating so bad she could practically fill a water bottle. Standing outside Tyler's house, clutching a bag of spinach-artichoke dip like it was a lifeline, she practiced her cool-girl entrance in the reflection of her phone.

"Yo, you coming in or what?" Tyler's cousin Marcus called from the doorway. Marcus was everything Maya wasn't: effortless, chill, probably never rehearsed conversations in his bathroom mirror.

"Yeah, just, uh, checking my texts," Maya lied, shoving her phone in her pocket.

Inside, the basement was already packed. Someone's orange soda had spilled on the carpet, leaving a neon stain that everyone was carefully avoiding. Maya spotted Tyler across the room, laughing with Jessica—the girl who somehow made everything look easy, from french braids to existing.

Maya's stomach did that thing where it simultaneously wanted to empty itself and also never eat again. She'd spent three hours making that stupid dip because she heard Tyler loved artichokes, and now she looked like a spinach delivery service in a crop top from Urban Outfitters.

"Hey!" Maya flinched as Jessica appeared beside her. "Is that homemade? That's actually so cute."

Cute. The word hung in the air like "bless your heart" for Gen Z. Maya felt her face heating up, which was definitely not the vibe she was going for.

"My mom's recipe," Maya said, which wasn't technically a lie if you counted watching a TikTok and texting your mom for advice.

By the time Tyler made his way over, Maya had been holding the same chip for approximately seven years. She went to take a bite and realized, with absolute horror, that she'd been unknowingly clutching a massive piece of raw spinach between her thumb and index finger the entire conversation.

"Nice dip," Tyler said, totally oblivious. "You got a little..." He gestured to his own teeth.

Maya rushed to the bathroom, feeling like she might genuinely dissolve from embarrassment. But as she wiped spinach from her teeth, she caught her reflection and started laughing. Like, actually laughing. Because this was it. This was the worst-case scenario, and she was still here. The world hadn't ended. Tyler didn't hate her. And honestly, that spinach dip was fire.

She walked back out, orange-stained carpet and all, and for the first time all night, her palms were dry.