Green Smoothie Confidence

Maya's mom was obsessed with the food pyramid—literally. The ancient version, the new MyPlate version, whatever. Currently, she was on a "nutritional reset" kick, which meant the fridge was stocked with those gallon-sized Mason jars of pre-made green smoothies. Spinach, kale, something called "wheatgrass," and honestly, Maya was afraid to ask what else.

"Just drink it, it's literally fuel," Chloe said, grabbing one of the jars from Maya's lunchbox and making a face. "Your mom is trying to turn you into a plant." She took a tentative sip and gagged dramatically. "Oh my god, this tastes like a lawn."

Chloe had dragged Maya to Jordan's pool party because, in her words, "you can't spend your entire freshman year hiding in the library." Maya had tried to argue that she wasn't hiding, she was just... prioritizing academics. Chloe had called BS and shown up at her house at noon.

Now they were poolside, and Maya was clutching her towel like a lifeline. The social hierarchy at Westwood High operated like a pyramid—Jordan and her friends at the top, everyone else stacked below in increasingly desperate layers. Maya was comfortably near the bottom, thank you very much.

"You're actually going in, right?" Chloe raised an eyebrow. "You didn't just come to stare at Tyler from behind a bush for three hours."

"I'm contemplating!" Maya protested.

"Contemplate faster. They're doing chicken fights."

Sure enough, people were pairing up. Jordan was already perched on some senior's shoulders, shrieking with laughter as she splashed another couple. Before Maya could formulate a good excuse, Chloe was already pulling her toward the shallow end.

"We're partnering up," Chloe announced. "Get on my shoulders."

"What? No, I'm too heavy—"

"Maya, you're literally ninety pounds. Just climb on before I change my mind and partner with someone less neurotic."

It was ridiculous. They were going to humiliate themselves. But then Maya saw everyone watching, saw Tyler actually looking over, and something in her just... snapped. Or maybe activated.

She scrambled onto Chloe's shoulders, and they wobbled for a terrifying second before finding their balance. Across from them, some sophomore pair was already eyeing them confidently. Jordan's pyramid of popularity loomed above everything—but suddenly, Maya didn't care about climbing it. She just wanted to knock these smug sophomores into the water.

"You got this!" Chloe shouted, and Maya shoved hard, watching in satisfaction as their opponents toppled backward with a massive splash.

"WHAT!" Jordan yelled from across the pool. "Who taught you to fight like that?"

Maya grinned, feeling sunlight on her wet shoulders and green smoothie courage in her veins. "I'm surprisingly motivated by people doubting me!" she called back.

After, as they sat on the edge of the pool with legs dangling in the water, Chloe bumped her shoulder. "See? You didn't die. Tyler was literally watching you the entire time."

"He was not."

"Was too. Also, you're welcome for forcing you to have fun. Now please drink one of your disgusting smoothies because I'm pretty sure I have chlorinated water in my nose and I need to cleanse my palate."