Green Teeth & Deep Ends

Maya's been living in oversized hoodies and that dad hat since seventh grade. It's her armor. Her "leave me alone" signal. But when Leo texts—you coming to Jordan's pool party?—she types yes before her brain can veto her heart.

Bad idea. Terrible idea. Maya hasn't been swimming in public since the Incident of 2019, when someone pointed out her "weird tan lines." She's been researching how to look less like a human potato and more like someone who belongs anywhere near a swimsuit. Hence the spinach smoothies. Her TikTok algorithm said they'd clear her skin and make her glow. Instead, they're making her teeth look vaguely undead.

"You good?" Chloe asks at the party, nudging her. Maya's clutching her red Solo cup like it's a grenade.

"Fine. Just vibing." She pulls her hat lower. The backyard's already packed with half the sophomore class, half-submerged in Jordan's below-ground pool, music bumping something low and thrummy. Everyone's glistening, carefree, totally comfortable in their skin. Meanwhile Maya's frozen at the edge, wearing shorts over her bikini and a towel like a cape.

Leo materializes, dripping wet, grinning. His hair's plastered to his forehead in a way that should look ridiculous but somehow doesn't. "You gonna swim or what?"

"Maybe later."

"You've been saying that since seventh grade PE." He's teasing, not mean, which somehow hits harder. "Whatever. But you're missing the cannonball contest. Jordan just did this thing—"

Then it happens. Maya smiles, and Leo's face does this tiny pause. He doesn't say anything. Just—his eyes flick to her teeth, then away, and he keeps talking like nothing happened.

The spinach. The freaking spinach.

Maya's stomach drops. All this time hiding behind hats and hoodies, terrified of being seen, and the thing that finally exposes her is a vegetable.

Something in her chest just—snaps. She reaches up and yanks off her hat, exposing her frizzy humidity hair. Strips off the shorts. Drops the towel. The hat lands on the grass with a soft plop, like surrender.

"Cannonball contest, yeah?" Her voice doesn't shake. "Move over, Leo."

She's in the air before she can second-guess it, a perfect arc, crashing into the blue. When she surfaces, gasping, her spinach-green teeth and frizzy hair and imperfect body on full display, Leo's laughing. And Jordan's yelling "SOLID 8" and for the first time in three years, Maya doesn't want to disappear.

Sometimes the worst thing that can happen is not that bad. Sometimes it's just the beginning of everything else.