Green in the Teeth

Marcus's smoothie sat on the kitchen counter like a radioactive experiment gone wrong — a sludge-green vortex of spinach, protein powder, and whatever else his fitness-obsessed brother had convinced him was "fuel for gains."

"You gonna drink that or stare at it?" Jasmine leaned against the doorframe, phone in hand, doing that thing where she could look both bored and intensely amused at the same time.

"I'm mentally preparing," Marcus lied. His phone buzzed. GROUP CHAT: pool party at Tyler's tonight. NO PARENTS. The three capital letters did their job — his stomach did that thing where it forgot how to stomach.

The problem wasn't the party. It was the after-party, the circle of truth, the inevitable moment where someone would point to the dark-haired, slightly freckled girl who'd been looking at him in third period and say, "So Marcus, who's your crush?" And Marcus would have to either lie through his teeth or admit that he'd been lowkey obsessing over Jasmine since she'd moved here in eighth grade and started sitting behind him in math, breathing quietly and existing like someone who'd never had a piece of spinach stuck in her front teeth in her entire life.

He chugged the smoothie. It tasted like lawn clippings and desperation.

By 9 PM, Tyler's backyard was a chaos of chlorine and shouting and people trying way too hard to look like they weren't trying. Marcus stood by the edge of the pool, clutching a red cup like it was a lifeline. The dog — some golden retriever puppy someone had brought, probably for the aesthetic — was doing laps around the food table, stealing tortilla chips with the precision of a seasoned criminal.

Jasmine materialized beside him. "You're vibrating."

"That's the bass."

"Marcus."

"Okay, I'm vibrating. This is not my natural habitat."

She laughed, and it was this sound that was actually genuine, not performative. She splashed water at him. Light refracted through the droplets, tiny rainbows against the pool lights. "Relax. Nobody's watching you."

They were, though. He could feel it like a weight. Tyler's older brother, the one who'd graduated two years ago and still hung around high school parties like the bull in the china shop he was, had already announced that "circle of truth" was happening in ten minutes.

"Hey," Jasmine said, quieter now. "You got something in your teeth."

Marcus's heart straight-up stopped.

"Just kidding." She grinned, and there it was — a tiny piece of spinach, right between her two front teeth, like she was literally the most perfect, unattainable person who'd ever accidentally eaten a salad. "Wait, really?"

"No, I was kidding about the kidding. There's actually nothing there. You're good." She frowned. "Is there?"

They spent the next three minutes by the pool's edge, Jasmine using her phone flashlight like a dental mirror, both of them laughing so hard his cup fell into the water. The dog barked at the ripples like they were personal insults.

"Circle of truth!" Tyler's brother shouted from the patio.

Jasmine looked at Marcus, then at the circle forming on the lawn. Then she grabbed his hand. "Wanna bail? There's this food truck."

They walked through Tyler's gate like they were stealing something.

"What about the circle?" Marcus asked, once they were two streets away.

"Tyler's brother is full of bull anyway," she said. "Besides, I'd rather figure out who you actually are when you're not being put on the spot."

Marcus's phone buzzed. GROUP CHAT: where's Marcus? and where's Jasmine?

He turned it off.

"So," she said. "What's your actual favorite food? And don't say something cool to impress me. I will know."

He thought about the smoothie. About performing. About being someone he wasn't.

"My grandma's lasagna," he said. "But she puts spinach in it to trick me into eating vegetables, and I pretend I don't notice, which makes us both liars, I guess."

Jasmine's whole face lit up. "Okay, that's actually adorable. Don't tell anyone I said adorable. I'll deny it."

"Your secret's safe with me," Marcus said, and for the first time all night, he wasn't vibrating at all.