Green in the Teeth, Gold in the Heart

Maya stood at the edge of the pool party, her heartbeat doing gymnastics. Jordan was there—obviously Jordan was there—looking effortless in his swim trunks, laughing with his friends like he owned the entire summer. Maya's hands kept drifting to her hair, which she'd spent forty minutes perfecting that morning. Natural curls? More like natural chaos.

"Hey, you coming in?" Jordan called, splashing water her way.

"Maybe later!" she managed, her voice cracking slightly. Smooth. Real smooth.

The real problem wasn't the swimming part—Maya was actually decent in the water. The problem was the post-swimming scenario, when her hair transformed into something resembling a frightened poodle. Her mom had packed her favorite spinach and feta stuffed chicken for dinner, which was honestly amazing, but eating it without checking her reflection afterward had been a critical error.

She'd spent the last hour talking to Jordan, feeling like they were actually connecting, laughing about their shared hatred of math class and bonding over obscure indie bands. He'd even mentioned the upcoming back-to-school dance, casually, like it wasn't making Maya's entire nervous system short-circuit.

Then she'd caught her reflection in the sliding glass door.

A massive, unmistakable chunk of bright green spinach was wedged between her front teeth.

Maya's soul left her body. All those flirtatious laughs? Those subtle hair flips? Jordan had probably been thinking, wow, she's really passionate about leafy greens. Or worse—had he noticed and been too polite to say anything? The second-hand embarrassment was literally lethal.

"Maya?" Jordan swam over to the edge, looking concerned. "You okay? You look like you just saw a ghost."

She could pretend. She could run. She could fake a sudden illness and never show her face in public again.

Instead, Maya laughed. Like, actually laughed. "I'm good. I just realized I've had spinach in my teeth for approximately forever and you were too nice to tell me."

Jordan's eyes widened, then he started laughing too. "Dude, I didn't even notice. But now that you mention it..." He grinned, and there it was—a tiny piece of parsley in his own smile.

Maya pointed. "You've got something too, by the way."

"Well, damn." Jordan scrubbed at his teeth. "So, about that dance..."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we can go together? And agree to check each other's teeth before pictures?"

Maya's hair was still a mess. Her makeup was probably running. But standing there in her mismatched swimsuit, with spinach between her teeth and Jordan actually smiling at her, she felt something shift inside. Maybe being perfect wasn't the point. Maybe the real flex was just showing up—flaws and all.

"Deal," she said, and finally jumped into the pool.