Spinach Between Us

Maya stood in front of Jordan's bathroom mirror, picking at the piece of **spinach** wedged between her front teeth. Great. First house party of sophomore year, and she looked like she'd just eaten a salad onstage. The bass from downstairs vibrated through the floorboards, making the sink rattle.

She'd spent the last hour pretending to text while actually watching Kai across the room like some kind of pathetic **spy**. He was leaning against the wall near the TV, laughing at something someone said. His hair fell over his eyes exactly the way it did in third period every day.

"Maya? You good in there?" The door creaked open. Jordan's older brother Tyler stood there, holding a tangled mess of **cable**. "Sorry! Just need to grab this HDMI cord for the basement setup."

"Yeah, fine," Maya said, finally dislodging the spinach. "Your mom made this?"

"The spinach artichoke dip? Yeah. She's been making it for every party since like, forever." He paused. "You've been upstairs a while. Everything okay?"

Maya shrugged. "Just needed a minute. Parties aren't really my thing."

"**Bull**," Tyler said, and she almost smiled. "I've seen you at soccer games. You've got energy. You're just in your head." He started backing out. "For what it's worth? Kai asked where you went like ten minutes ago."

Downstairs, Maya found herself near the beer pong table where someone had constructed a **pyramid** of red Solo cups. Her hands were sweating. She hated this — the not knowing, the overthinking, the way every social interaction felt like a test she hadn't studied for.

Kai was walking toward her and her brain supplied approximately zero helpful things to say.

"Hey," he said. "I was looking for you. Tyler said you were hiding upstairs."

"Not hiding. Just... recalibrating."

"Cool." He smiled, and it was genuinely nice. "Want to help me and Tyler finish setting up Mario Kart in the basement? Tyler's being competitive about it already."

Maya felt something unclench in her chest. "Yeah. Actually, I would."

She followed him down, not noticing that the spinach was gone, that nobody cared about her awkwardness except her. Some things were worth the risk.