Spinach Between My Teeth

I'd been **running** through the same scenario in my head all week: what to wear, what to say, whether to mention that time I cried watching Finding Nemo in seventh grade. Now here I was, sitting across from Jordan at Pizza Palace, my **hair** somehow defying gravity and basic laws of physics thanks to three products I'd layered that morning.

"So," Jordan said, pushing **spinach** around on his plate with suspicious intensity. "You come here often?"

I choked on my own spit. Smooth. Real smooth. This was it—the social suicide I'd been both dreading and secretly preparing for since Jordan asked if I wanted to "hang out sometime" on Monday. But then Jordan did something unexpected. He laughed. Not a mean laugh, but the kind where your shoulders shake and you can't help joining in.

"Sorry," he said, grinning. "My older brother told me to say that. He said it's what people do on... dates?"

The word hung between us like a question mark. A date. I was on a date. With Jordan, whose locker was three down from mine, who always helped me with Spanish homework even though he was barely passing himself, who once rescued a **goldfish** from the school carnival booth because he felt bad it was stuck in a tiny bag.

"Your brother sounds... helpful," I managed, still recovering from my spinach-salad choke incident.

"He means well," Jordan said. "He also told me to tell you about my prize-winning goldfish collection, but I figured that could wait until at least the second date."

Second date. The words knocked around in my chest like excited birds. Maybe this wasn't a complete disaster. Maybe I wouldn't have to transfer to a new school and change my name to something unpronounceable. Maybe—just maybe—**friend** was about to become something more.

"So," I said, feeling bold for the first time all night. "Tell me about these goldfish."

Jordan's eyes lit up like he'd been waiting his whole life for someone to ask. And somewhere between the stories about fish named after mathematicians and the way he looked at me like I was actually interesting, I forgot to be nervous. Forgot to worry about my hair or the spinach stuck in my braces or whether I was doing this right.

Somehow, without even trying, I was exactly where I was supposed to be.