Green Teeth & Poolside Drama
Maya stood by the edge of the pool, clutching her phone like a lifeline. The iphone case was slippery with condensation from her soda can. Across the water, she saw him—Jayden, laughing with his friends, his wet hair slicked back like he'd walked straight out of a TikTok.
"You coming in or what?" shouted Kiara, already swimming laps with practiced ease.
Maya hesitated. She'd been working up the nerve to talk to Jayden all week, ever since he'd commented on her art project. Now was her chance—except she had something in her teeth. Something green and stubborn. She'd stuffed herself with spinach wraps at lunch, thinking they'd look healthy and sophisticated. Now she was just the girl with the forestry situation happening in her smile.
She pulled her oversized bucket hat lower, hoping it would somehow shield her entire existence. Why did these things always happen to her?
Jayden swam over to the edge, right where she stood. Water droplets clung to his eyelashes. "Hey, Maya. Nice hat."
Her stomach did that thing. The fluttery, terrifying thing. "Thanks," she managed, keeping her lips pressed together in what she hoped passed as a mysterious smile and not a hostage situation.
"We're playing chicken fight. You in?"
Maya's brain short-circuited. This was it. The moment every teen movie had prepared her for, except instead of a romantic montage, she had spinach sabotage. She could pretend she didn't hear him. She could fake a sudden illness. She could—
"Maya?" Kiera called from the water. "Jayden needs a partner."
The universe was testing her.
Maya made a split-second decision. She pulled off her hat, letting her frizzy hair spring free like a halo of chaos. She jumped into the pool, clothes and all.
The water was shocking cold, perfect for washing away dignity. She surfaced, gasping, and immediately wiped her hand across her mouth. The spinach flake dislodged, floating harmlessly away like a tiny green boat.
"I'm in," Maya said. And for the first time all day, she smiled with her whole face.