Green in the Teeth

Maya's mom had packed her a 'healthy' lunch, which translated to spinach leaves wedged in her back molars like tiny green betrayals. She'd spent twenty minutes in the bathroom mirror trying to dislodge them with her tongue while simultaneously panicking about her newly purple hair — which she'd dyed at 2 AM last night because somehow changing her hair color would fix her entire personality.

The pool party at Tyler's house was exactly the kind of social disaster Maya usually excelled at avoiding. Through the sliding glass doors, she could see everyone already in the water, their swimming trunks and bikinis bright slashes of color against the blue.

'Maya!' Tyler called, waving from the pool edge. 'Finally! Get in here!'

She froze. Three problems: one, she hadn't gone swimming since seventh grade PE when her period leaked through her suit. Two, the spinach situation was still not resolved. Three, Tyler had just smiled at her and her brain had short-circuited.

'Soon!' she called back, her voice cracking. Smooth. So smooth.

She spotted a goldfish bowl on a nearby table — a single orange fish swimming in endless circles, trapped behind glass. That goldfish understood her life on a spiritual level.

'Cute fish,' someone said beside her. It was Chelsea, whose hair was somehow already perfect even though she'd been in the pool for twenty minutes. 'Tyler won it at the fair. He calls it Peanut.'

Maya laughed, and that's when the piece of spinach decided to make its debut.

Chelsea's eyes went to her mouth, then back up. She didn't say anything. She just — smiled, genuinely, and handed Maya a hair tie from her wrist.

'Your hair's getting everywhere,' she said. 'And maybe check your teeth? But seriously, that purple is sick.'

Maya's face burned. She grabbed the hair tie, found a mirror, and five minutes later she was walking toward the pool with her hair in a messy bun, no spinach, and purple bangs that kind of slayed, actually.

The water was cold. Tyler grinned when she jumped in. 'Finally decided to join us, huh?'

'Me and Peanut have a lot in common,' Maya said, treading water. 'We both got stuck here somehow.'

Tyler laughed, and for the first time in forever, Maya didn't feel like she was swimming through cement. Sometimes you had to deal with the spinach to get to the good parts.