Spinach Between My Teeth

The **goldfish** bowl sat on my dresser like a silent judgment. Winslow had survived three weeks under my care, which honestly felt like a personal achievement considering my track record with keeping anything alive—including houseplants.

I stared at my **iPhone**, willing Maya to text back. Three dots appeared, then disappeared. My chest tightened. She'd been acting weird since Friday's party, and my brain was helpfully replaying every awkward moment on an endless loop.

'Dude, you're spiraling,' Jordan said, dropping onto my bed and stealing one of my pillows. Jordan was the **friend** who actually told me when I was being embarrassing, which was often.

'I'm not spiraling,' I lied. 'I'm just... processing.'

'You're obsessing. Same thing.' Jordan pulled a bag of chips from their backpack. 'Want some?'

I declined, because I'd decided that this was the week I became someone who ate **spinach** salads and did yoga before school. The new me was sophisticated and healthy and definitely didn't have green stuff stuck between their teeth while talking to their crush.

Oh god.

The memory hit me like a physical blow. The spinach salad at lunch yesterday. Talking to Maya afterward. The way she'd kept looking at my mouth like something was wrong but hadn't said anything.

'I had spinach in my teeth, didn't I?' I whispered.

Jordan looked confused. 'What?'

'Yesterday. At lunch. When I talked to Maya.' I buried my face in my hands. 'That's why she's been weird. I talked to her with spinach in my teeth for like five whole minutes.'

Jordan started laughing. Not mean laughing—just, this was objectively hilarious laughing. 'Bro. You're sweating this over spinach?'

'It's humiliating!'

'No, it's human.' Jordan sat up straighter. 'You know what's humiliating? The time I misread the room and did an entire tarot card reading at the back-to-school dance. In front of everyone.' They held out their **palm** like they was reading my fate. 'I see... absolute social disaster in your future.'

I cracked a smile despite myself.

'Maya probably didn't even notice,' Jordan continued. 'And if she did? She's not worth it if some spinach changes everything.'

My phone buzzed. Maya: sorry I've been weird!! can we hang later?

I stared at the screen, then at Winslow swimming in endless circles, then at Jordan, who was grinning like they'd known all along.

'See?' Jordan said. 'The drama was all in your head.'

Maybe growing up meant learning that the catastrophes you built up in your mind rarely happened in real life. And maybe that was actually scarier—because it meant the only thing holding you back was you.