Green Smoothie Summer

Maya's first mistake was agreeing to work at the community pool. Her second mistake was letting her cousin talk her into the "health kick" that started with kale smoothies and ended here: standing behind the snack counter in a neon orange polo that made her look like a traffic cone, while simultaneously trying to choke down what smelled like liquified lawn clippings.

"You good?" called Finn from the lifeguard chair, adjusting his snap-back hat like he owned the place. Which, rumor had it, his dad actually did. Finn was the kind of cute that made normally articulate girls forget how sentences worked. Maya had once watched him accidentally pour chocolate milk onto someone's pizza and still got called "brave" by three different people for telling him about it.

"Just appreciating the culinary arts," Maya managed, gesturing at her spinach smoothie with what she hoped was casual indifference rather than the genuine fear she was feeling. "Join me?"

Finn hopped down, all easy grace and confidence that Maya definitely didn't feel. He peered into her cup. "That's aggressive for July."

"I'm being intentional," she said, using the word her mom kept dropping during their "preparing for adulthood" talks. "About what I put in my body."

"Intentional," Finn repeated, testing the word like it was exotic. Then, because the universe had a personal vendetta against her dignity, her stomach chose that exact moment to emit a sound like a dying whale.

Finn's grin was instant. "You sure that's not just intentional suffering?"

Maya was considering faking her own death when his radio crackled. "Swimming area cleared, over." Someone's little brother had puked in the shallow end again. Classic summer.

"Duty calls." Finn started to turn, then paused. "Hey, you want to come back here after closing? The rest of the crew is hanging out. We're ordering actual food." He tapped the brim of his hat. "No pressure. Just... if you want."

Maya looked at her spinach smoothie. Looked at Finn, who was suddenly looking everywhere but her. Then she dumped the smoothie in the trash.

"I'll be there."

Her first mistake was working at the pool. Her best decision was deciding that some things — like boys who noticed when you were having a terrible day, and hanging out with people who didn't care about your weird health kicks — were worth risking a little embarrassment for. Even if it meant wearing a traffic cone polo while doing it.