Green Hair Don't Care

Maya stood at the edge of the pool deck, clutching her mom's hideous cable-knit sweater like a security blanket. First day of varsity swim practice, and she was already five minutes late because she'd spent twenty minutes freaking out about the spinach stuck in her braces from lunch.

"You're the new girl?" A guy with impossibly perfect hair — the kind that actually looks good wet, which should be illegal — grinned at her. "I'm Tyler. Nice kicks."

"Maya," she managed, suddenly hyperaware that her hair was doing its signature frizz thing. Why had she thought transitioning from homeschool to public school sophomore year was a good idea again?

Coach blew the whistle. "Everyone in! Warm-up laps!"

Maya jumped in, and the water embraced her like an old friend. This was the easy part. She'd been swimming competitively since she was seven — back when her biggest worry was whether her favorite pool noodle had been claimed by another kid at the YMCA. Now she had actual problems, like whether anyone would notice she'd never actually ridden a school bus or that she still watched kids' shows on cable TV when she couldn't sleep.

After practice, Tyler swam over. "You're fast. Like, actually fast."

Maya shrugged, water streaming from her hair. "I guess."

"You should race me sometime." He paused. "Also, you have a little..." He gestured to his own teeth.

Maya's face burned. More spinach. Seriously?

But then Tyler laughed, and it wasn't mean. "I had an orange slice in my teeth for like twenty minutes at lunch yesterday. Coach pointed it out during announcements."

Maya cracked up, and for the first time all day, her shoulders actually dropped. Maybe public school wouldn't be so terrible after all.

"Race you tomorrow?" she asked, suddenly bold.

"You're on." His grin widened. "Just maybe check your teeth first."

"Deal."

As she walked to her mom's car, already sweating in the ridiculous sweater, Maya smiled. Sure, she had spinach in her braces and hair that refused to behave and exactly zero friends — except maybe now she had one. And she'd beat Tyler tomorrow anyway.

Her phone buzzed. Unknown number: hey it's tyler from swim. brought u some extra goggles since urs looked kinda old. also we're doing a group thing at the pool on friday if u wanna come.

Maya typed back, thumbs shaking: sounds fun.

Okay, maybe two friends. And okay, maybe her life wasn't so terrible after all.