Green Teeth & Wet Dog

The pool party was supposed to be my moment. My chance to finally talk to Maya, the girl who'd been sitting behind me in bio since September, the one whose laugh sounded like wind chimes and who actually laughed at my terrible jokes. Instead, I was hiding in the bathroom, staring at my reflection like it had personally betrayed me.

A massive piece of **spinach** from dinner was wedged between my front teeth, broadcasting to everyone at Jordan's party that I was the kind of person who ate salad and then didn't check a mirror before leaving the house. The kind of person who did NOT talk to girls like Maya.

I scrubbed at my teeth with my finger until my gums throbbed, but it wouldn't budge. This was fine. Everything was fine. I'd just spend the whole party avoiding conversation, pretending to be deep and mysterious, and Maya would definitely NOT find that weird.

Then my family's elderly golden retriever, Barnaby, who we'd somehow gotten stuck dog-sitting because my parents were out of town, decided it was the perfect moment to chase a squirrel straight through the screen door and into Jordan's backyard. Barnaby, soaking wet from doing a full cannonball into the pool, emerged **water** dripping from his jowls like he'd just emerged from the deep end of social suicide.

Maya was standing there. She was watching.

Barnaby shook himself like a wet dog, which he technically was, spraying pool **water** all over her white dress. I wanted to die. I wanted to dissolve into molecules and float away into the atmosphere.

But Maya just laughed. Not mean laughter. The real kind.

"Your dog's adorable," she said, and I swear my heart stopped. "I love how he just committed to that jump. No hesitation."

"That's Barnaby," I managed, still staring at the **spinach** situation in the mirror behind her. "He's got confidence, I'll give him that."

She stepped closer, and I could smell her coconut shampoo. "You have a little something..." She gestured to her own teeth, and I wanted to evaporate. "Green. Right there."

I scrubbed it away with my thumb, face burning.

"So," Maya said, like nothing embarrassing had just happened, "you want to get in the pool? Or are you going to let Barnaby show you up?"

The **dog** paddled toward the deep end like he owned the place.

I looked at Maya, really looked at her, and realized she'd been watching me all night. Waiting for me to stop hiding.

"Race you," I said, and jumped in before I could overthink it.

The **water** was cold, the **dog** was chaos, and the **spinach** was gone. But Maya was still smiling, and sometimes, that's enough.