Spinach Between Realms

Maya's first house party. Her hands shook so hard she nearly dropped the red solo cup. The bass thrummed through her chest like a second heartbeat. She'd spent two hours straightening her hair and picking the perfect outfit. Now she stood in the corner, watching everyone else float through the conversation like they'd been born doing this.

The basement was packed. Someone's older brother had set up a gaming setup in the corner—massive TV, controllers everywhere. They were playing the new zombie survival game that everyone at school wouldn't shut up about. Maya didn't game. She felt behind enough without adding that to the list.

"Hey, you want a turn?"

She jumped. It was Liam from her history class. The Liam who'd sat behind her all semester and made sarcastic comments about whatever they were learning. The Liam she'd definitely stared at too many times when she should've been taking notes.

"Um," Maya said intelligently. "I've never played."

"Perfect." Liam handed her a controller. "First time's the best. You die a lot, but it's legendary."

She sat cross-legged on the floor. The game started—waves of pixelated zombies swarming the screen. Her thumbs fumbled the buttons. Within thirty seconds, her character was getting eaten alive. But then something clicked. She started anticipating the patterns. Her character spun, fired, reloaded. For the first time all night, she wasn't overthinking every breath.

"You're actually cracked," Liam said, impressed. "Who knew?"

Maya laughed. It felt real. "Not me."

Suddenly: catastrophe. The HDMI cable disconnected. The screen went black. Someone yelled about the cable being loose. The whole room groaned. But Maya was already standing, reaching behind the TV before she could second-guess herself. She reseated the connection. The game flared back to life.

"Okay, that was actually smooth," someone said.

Maya's face heated up. Then she saw it. Or felt it, really—the unmistakable sensation of something in her teeth. Spinach. From the spinach artichoke dip she'd nervously eaten earlier. She'd been talking to Liam, talking to everyone, with spinach stuck in her smile.

She wanted to melt into the floorboards. Instead she did the only thing she could think of.

"Well," she said, touching her teeth. "That's embarrassing."

Liam grinned. "Honestly? It's making the zombie thing more authentic."

Outside, lightning cracked, illuminating the basement windows. For a second, everything felt bright and possible. Maya wasn't the girl hiding in corners anymore. She was the one who'd reseated the cable, who'd died spectacularly in a video game, who'd laughed at herself.

She grabbed another controller. "Round two?"