Green Between the Teeth

The padel court smelled like old rubber and pre-teen desperation. Maya stood at the baseline, racket feeling like a foreign object in her sweaty palm. She'd only agreed to play because Leo was there, obviously. Leo, who sat three rows ahead in homeroom and had that perfect messy-dark-hair situation going on.

"You serving or what?" called Jasmine from the other side of the net. She was one of those effortlessly athletic types who made everything look easy, including social interaction.

Maya wiped her palm on her shorts — gross, but necessary. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

She'd gone for the "healthy lifestyle" aesthetic that morning, packing a spinach and feta wrap for lunch. Sophisticated. Mature. The kind of person who meal-prepped and owned matching throw pillows. Now she was playing padel, which her cousin had described as "tennis's chill younger sibling" but was actually just tennis with more walls and opportunities to embarrass yourself.

Maya tossed the ball up, missed completely, and nearly beaned herself in the forehead.

Leo laughed. Not mean, just — laughing. "Cold," he said, grinning.

Heat flooded her cheeks. She attempted another serve, aced it (total luck, but whatever), and played through the rest of the game with her lips pressed together, terrified her smile would reveal the spinach catastrophe.

Afterward, Leo caught up with her near the water fountain. "Hey, you actually played pretty good. We should—" He paused. His eyes dropped to her mouth.

Maya's stomach hit the floor.

"You got a little..." He gestured at his own teeth.

She ran to the bathroom and yep. Enough green decoration to start a St. Patrick's parade. Two hours of smiling like an idiot had done their work.

When she emerged, Leo was still there, scrolling on his phone like he hadn't just destroyed her will to live.

"My bad," he said, not looking up. "Should've said something earlier. I appreciate the commitment to the health benefits, but spinach is a bold choice for 9 AM." He finally looked up, eyes crinkling. "The padel club needs more players though. Want to join?"

He winked. Actually winked.

Maya's palm was sweating again. She'd never live this down, but somehow, she didn't even care.

"I'm in," she said. "But I'm bringing dental floss."