Spinach in My Hat

I looked like a total zombie after pulling an all-nighter for finals. My mom's old fedora sat awkwardly on my head, hiding my disaster hair, but nothing could hide the exhaustion in my eyes.

"You're going to Alex's party like that?" My cat, Luna, gave me a judgmental look from my bed as if she knew I was about to embarrass myself.

"Yes, Luna. I'm fine. Totally fine." I wasn't fine. I was terrified.

The baseball game that afternoon had been brutal—our school lost, and my crush, Jordan, had noticed me staring at him from the bleachers. He'd actually waved. Now the party felt like my chance to finally talk to him, or completely humiliate myself.

When I arrived, the house was already packed. I made my way to the kitchen, needing liquid courage before I could even look at Jordan. I grabbed some food—mostly just spinach artichoke dip because it was the only vegetarian option—and tried to look natural standing alone against the counter.

Then I saw him. Jordan, across the room, wearing that backwards cap that made my heart do stupid things. He was heading my way.

"Hey! You're the one who was at the game today, right?" He smiled, and I swear my brain stopped functioning.

"Yeah! I love baseball. Definitely came just for the sport." Why did I say that? I knew nothing about baseball.

"That's awesome. We need more fans like you." He leaned closer. "You have something..." He gestured to his teeth.

My stomach dropped. The spinach. It was the spinach. I had spinach in my teeth while talking to my crush.

I wanted to die. Instead, I laughed—it was either that or cry. "That's embarrassing. Thanks for telling me, though."

Jordan's smile widened. "You know, most people would've run away. That's actually pretty cool."

Maybe being a zombie with spinach in my teeth wasn't the worst thing in the world. Sometimes the messiest moments are the most real ones.