Green Lightning

My phone buzzed with the third text from Jordan: 'Pool party @ Jake's. 7pm. DON'T bail.' I'd been dodging these invites since seventh grade, when someone—okay, Jordan—pointed out my 'fish belly' skin at the community pool. Two years later, my pale torso was still basically a ghost story I told myself to avoid swimming.

'I'm good,' I typed, then stared at the chips and salsa on my bed. Dinner. Spinach artichoke dip, my grandma's recipe, because obviously I was spending Friday night drowning my social anxieties in carbohydrates.

Then came the text that broke me: 'Mia's gonna be there.'

Mia, with the hair that fell like water and the laugh that made my chest do weird gymnastics. Mia, who sat behind me in chemistry and always smelled like coconut shampoo.

I RSVP'd 'yes' and immediately regretted everything.

The party was exactly what I expected: too many people, too much skin, and the kind of loud that made my brain want to crawl out of my skull. I planted myself by the snack table, chugging (what I hoped was) non-alcoholic punch and seriously reconsidering every life choice that led to this moment.

'You gonna swim or just hold up the wall?' Jordan grinned, appearing beside me with wet hair and zero shame.

'Enjoying the ambiance,' I muttered, grabbing a handful of chips.

The dip was good. Great, actually. I was on my third scoop when someone tapped my shoulder.

Mia. Her eyes were actual sunshine. 'Hey, you're in my chem class, right?'

I nodded, probably too enthusiastically. 'Yeah. Chemistry. It's... chemically.'

What.

She laughed, and it was better than I remembered. 'I'm Mia.'

'I know,' I said before I could stop myself. 'I mean, I'm Marcus.'

'Marcus.' She tested my name like it was something interesting. 'Wanna come swimming? The lightning's supposed to be crazy later.'

I shook my head. The pool was basically a stage for everyone's insecurities, and I wasn't about to perform mine for an audience.

'Come on!' Jordan shouted from the water. 'Marcus, get in here!'

Then, the absolute worst thing happened. Mia reached out and tugged my arm playfully. 'Don't be a—'

She froze. Her eyes widened.

'What?' I asked.

'You have...' She made a gesture at her own teeth.

Spinach. An entire forest of it, coating my front teeth like green dental cement. I'd been walking around with spinach in my smile for twenty minutes.

I wanted to die. I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole. I wanted to invent a time machine and go back to never leaving my room.

Then Jordan splashed us both from the pool, and Mia shrieked, and somehow we ended up tumbling into the water together, chlorine tang filling my nose, my clothes heavy and ridiculous.

And then it happened—lightning cracked across the sky, a purple-white fork that made everyone gasp. The pool surface shimmered with the reflection, and for a second, everything was electric and beautiful and not terrible at all.

Mia surfaced next to me, wiping water from her eyes. 'Your teeth are clean now.'

I laughed. I actually laughed. 'Noted.'

'Friends?' she asked, holding out a hand.

I took it. 'Friends.'

Sometimes the worst moments are just the universe setting up the best ones. And sometimes spinach is just spinach—until it becomes the reason you finally jump in the pool.