Operation Green Smile

Maya's life was officially over. She'd just smiled at Jake Matthews with a giant piece of spinach wedged between her front teeth. The fact that he'd actually smiled back made it worse — now he'd remember her as Spinach Girl forever.

"You're literally spiraling," Chloe said, rolling her eyes as they walked to the padel courts. "He probably didn't even notice."

"His eyes literally widened, Chloe. I saw him see it."

The padel courts were where all the popular kids hung out after school. Maya had been taking lessons for weeks just to have an excuse to be there, even though she was terrible at it. Her dog, Buster, waited patiently by the fence, tied to a bench. Her mom had made her bring him because she'd been "working too much," which Maya felt was totally unfair given her current social crisis.

"Just play it cool," Chloe whispered. "He's watching you."

Jake was indeed watching. Maya's heart did that embarrassing flutter thing as she approached the court. She adjusted her grip on the racket, trying to look natural and athletic instead of like someone who'd watched three YouTube tutorials and still didn't understand the scoring system.

"Hey, Maya," Jake called. "Your dog is escaping."

Maya turned. Buster had somehow slipped his collar and was now trotting happily toward the snack bar, where a very expensive-looking sandwich had been abandoned on a table.

"Buster, no!" Maya yelled, abandoning all pretense of coolness. She sprinted after her dog, but not before Jake had already started laughing.

By the time she caught Buster — who'd managed to steal half a turkey club — she wanted to disappear. But Jake was walking toward her, still smiling.

"Your dog has incredible taste," he said. "That was my sandwich."

Maya's face burned. "I am so sorry. I'll buy you another one, I literally — "

"Nah, it's fine." Jake grinned. "Honestly, it's the most interesting thing that's happened all week. And hey, at least you don't have spinach in your teeth anymore."

Maya froze.

"You noticed?"

"Everyone noticed, Maya." He laughed softly. "I was going to tell you, but you ran off before I could. It was kind of cute, actually."

Buster chose that moment to shake his collar free, sending it flying. It landed perfectly at Jake's feet.

"Well," Jake said, picking it up. "I think he wants us to be friends. You want to hit some padel later? Since your dog clearly likes me more than you do."

Maya smiled, checking her teeth with her tongue first. "Deal. But you're buying your own sandwich."