Green Smoothie Summer

Maya's mom stood in the kitchen, Victrola of wellbeing that she was, holding a blender full of something that looked like swamp water.

"Drink up, mija. It's got spinach, papaya, and basically every vitamin your body needs."

Maya stared at her phone, where Mia's latest story showed everyone at the beach without her. Again. Three weeks into summer break, and thanks to her emergency oral surgery, Maya was stuck at home looking like a chipmunk who'd lost a fight with a beehive.

"I'm not hungry, Ma."

Her mom sighed. "You need your nutrients to heal. Besides, you're always saying you want to start fresh before high school. This is your glow-up era."

Glow-up era. More like glow-DOWN. Maya's iPhone buzzed. A notification from Jayden: hey heard u got sick. everything ok?

She'd been waiting for Jayden to notice her existence since seventh grade. Now he was texting her while she looked like she'd gone three rounds with a swollen face virus. Iconic.

Maya's fingers hovered over the screen. Just as she started typing yeah just some dental stuff, her brother Carlos burst in.

"YO Ma, can I have the car? Sofia's having people over and—"

He stopped mid-sentence, eyeing Maya's green smoothie. "Daaang. What happened to you?"

Maya locked her phone. "None of your business."

Carlos smirked. "That bad, huh? Well, at least now you've got an excuse for not being at Sofia's. I heard she was talking about you anyway."

Maya's stomach dropped. "What?"

"Something about how you're acting different since you made varsity. Whatever."

Maya grabbed the smoothie and stormed to her room, slamming the door. Different? She wasn't the one who'd changed. But maybe she had. When had she started caring more about practice and position than her oldest friend?

The smoothie sat on her desk, mocking her. She took a sip. Actually, not terrible.

Her phone lit up again. Sofia: heard you're down. want me to come over? we can talk.

Maya typed back: yeah. bring snacks. but no more green stuff.

Her mom's voice drifted through the door: "I saw that smile!"

Maya rolled her eyes, but for the first time all summer, the chipmunk face didn't feel so bad after all.