Green in the Teeth

Maya's palms were sweating so bad she could practically fill a water bottle. Standing by the concession stand, she watched Jake Rodriguez swing his baseball bat—*crack*—another homerun. The guy was built like a Greek god and moved like he was dancing with gravity itself.

"You gonna talk to him or just stand there breathing his air?" Chloe whispered, bumping Maya's shoulder.

Maya's brain was currently hosting a nuclear meltdown. She'd spent forty-five minutes on her hair that morning, carefully applied that mascara she'd totally "borrowed" from her mom, and even forced herself to eat that gross spinach and kale smoothie because the internet said it made your skin glow. What the internet had NOT mentioned was the giant, obvious piece of green vegetable currently wedged between her front teeth.

The horror show in her reflection might as well have been a grizzly bear staring back—nature at its most terrifying.

"I can't," Maya hissed. "There's literal spinach in my teeth. It's basically a food crime."

Chloe snorted so hard the player nearest them turned around. "So what? You think Jake Rodriguez cares about a little green? Guy probably spits tobacco like some gross cowboy wannabe."

"That's SO not helping."

Then Jake started walking toward them. Maya's heart went full gym class, doing jumping jacks against her ribs. She could feel herself burning up, cheeks radiating heat like someone had set her face on fire. This was it. The moment of death. The social execution of the century.

Jake Rodriguez, who she'd been lowkey obsessed with since seventh grade Spanish, who wrote poetry even though he pretended to be just some jock, who had that tiny scar through his eyebrow from falling off his bike when he was nine—was walking. Straight. At. Her.

He stopped. Smiled. And Maya noticed the massive piece of popcorn stuck in his braces.

"Hey Maya," he said, casual as anything. "You coming to the bonfire tonight? Everyone's saying your friend group is hosting."

Maya blinked. The spinach. The popcorn. The universe playing some kind of cosmic joke.

"Yeah," she heard herself say. "We're running there at seven if you wanna... you know."

Jake's smile got wider. Popcorn and all. "Bet."

As he walked away, Maya exhaled for the first time in like three minutes. Maybe perfect wasn't the point. Maybe real life was just a collection of messy moments, and the people worth keeping around were the ones who didn't care about the spinach stuck in your teeth.

"Told you," Chloe grinned. "Now let's go get you a mirror before you embarrass yourself further."

Maya laughed. "You're the worst."

"And yet, here we are."