Spinach in My Bangs

The green sludge dripped down my forehead, coating my bangs in what I could now identify as a chunky blend of spinach and kale.

"Bruh, you good?" Marcus asked, trying not to laugh.

I'd been running late to my first shift at The Blend — this trendy smoothie place where everyone from school hung out. Late because I'd spent twenty minutes trying to fix my hair, because apparently that mattered when your crush might show up. And OF COURSE Maya walked in right as I somehow managed to knock over the blender pitcher.

The "Green Machine" specialty. Now it was all over my apron, my face, and yes, my hair.

"My cat did this to me," I blurted out. Why did I say that? I don't even have a cat.

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Your cat?"

"I mean... I was cat-sitting. For Mrs. Henderson. Her cat is... very aggressive about personal hygiene products."

Marcus was full-on laughing now.

Maya smirked. "That sounds like bs, but I'll allow it." She reached behind the counter, grabbed some napkins, and started wiping spinach off my cheek. Her hand brushed my ear and my brain did a complete system restart.

"You know," she said, "I came here because I heard you started working here. Wanted to see if the rumors were true."

"What rumors?"

"That the cute new guy makes terrible smoothies."

We made eye contact for approximately three years.

The door chimed. My actual boss walked in, took one look at me — spinach-covered, hair ruined, dignity completely gone — and sighed.

"New guy, you've got cleanup duty. For a week."

Maya grabbed her smoothie (which Marcus had thankfully remade). "See you tomorrow, spinach boy."

As she left, I caught her checking her reflection in the window, fixing her own hair.

Marcus clapped my shoulder. "Dude, you just got called 'cute' and assigned cleanup duty in the same five minutes. That's iconic."

I wiped another spinach leaf off my chin. "I think I need to bear this moment with dignity."

"You literally look like a salad exploded on you. Dignity left the building ten minutes ago."

But that night, my phone buzzed. Maya: "Cat sitter huh? What else are you lying about? ;)"

Some disasters are worth the mess. Especially when they come with a phone number.