Green Smoothie Disaster

Maya's palms were sweating so much she could barely grip the blender cup. Three more minutes until Jake walked into Vitamin Boost for his daily post-workout smoothie, and she still had spinach stuck in her teeth from lunch.

"You good, Maya?" her coworker Tia asked, grinning. "You look like you're about to bear witness to a crime."

"Shut up," Maya muttered, checking her reflection in the smoothie station's metal surface. "He's never gonna notice me. I'm just the girl who makes his drinks."

"You're the girl who makes his drinks PERFECTLY," Tia corrected. "Also, you're gorgeous. Fix your hair. He's coming."

The bell chimed. Jake walked in, gym bag slung over his shoulder, hair still damp from basketball practice. Maya's heart did that stupid flutter thing it always did.

"Hey Maya," he said, smiling. "Usual?"

"You know it," she managed, grabbing the containers. Kale, pineapple, banana, and—why did the universe hate her?—a massive glob of fresh spinach.

She poured everything into the blender with shaking hands. Her palms were practically slip-n-sliding at this point. Just blend it. Just blend it and don't embarrass yourself.

"So," Jake said, leaning against the counter, "there's this party at Tyler's tonight. You going?"

Maya's brain short-circuited. Jake was asking about her weekend plans? Jake was actually—

The blender lid popped off.

Green explosion everywhere.

Spinach-covered Maya stood there frozen, while Jake—sweet, adorable, currently-not-green Jake—burst out laughing. Not mean laughing. Like, actually laughing.

"Oh my god," Maya whispered, dying inside.

"Here." He grabbed some napkins and started wiping spinach off her cheek. His fingers grazed her jaw and her palms stopped sweating for the first time all week. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to go with me. But if you're busy having smoothie explosions..."

Maya looked up, spinach in her eyelashes, and started laughing too. "I'm free. But I'm never blending anything around you again."

"Deal." He grinned. "Also, you've got a little..." He pointed to her teeth.

"I KNOW," she groaned.

"It's cute though," he said. "Really."

Somehow, amidst the Vitamin Boost disaster, Maya had just scored herself a date—and possibly, finally, figured out that Jake liked the spinach-covered version of her just fine.