Spinach in My Palm

Maya's palms were sweating. Like, actually sweating. She wiped them on her denim shorts for the third time, suddenly hyper-aware that everyone at Kai's party was cooler, taller, and more interesting than her.

"You good?" A lanky guy with messy curls appeared beside her. Leo. From AP Bio. The one who drew zombies in the margins of his notes.

"Yeah. Just... vibing." Maya fake-sipped from her red Solo cup. She'd been holding the same lukewarm Sprite for two hours. At this rate, she'd become a human Sprite container by midnight.

Leo snorted. "You look like you're mentally calculating your escape route."

"Is it that obvious?" Maya groaned. "I came here to have a 'normal high school experience' and instead I've been standing by this fake palm plant for forty minutes."

"The palm is iconic though." Leo gestured to the obviously plastic plant. "Kai's mom bought it for the 'tropical aesthetic.' It's seen so many awkward conversations it's basically a family member at this point."

Maya actually laughed. Then horror struck. She remembered the spinach artichoke dip she'd awkwardly inhaled earlier when someone's grandma asked if she was hungry. She pressed her phone camera to check her teeth—

"Don't worry," Leo said, catching her movement. "Your teeth are fine. I, however, definitely have dip in my braces still."

A strange noise blared through the room. Someone had tripped over the massive tangle of cables behind the TV. The entire entertainment system shuddered. Everyone froze.

"Those cables are a death trap," someone muttered.

"Working on it!" Kai called from behind the TV. "My dad was supposed to clean this months ago. It's literally a cable ecosystem back here."

"You know," Leo said suddenly, "this party is so chaotic it's kind of iconic."

"Yeah?" Maya raised an eyebrow.

"Like, in movies, parties are perfect and everyone's dancing and having moments." Leo gestured around the room. "Here? Half of us are just standing around awkwardly, someone's grandma is serving spinach dip, Kai's fixing cables, and we're both hiding by a plastic palm tree instead of socializing."

Maya looked around. Really looked. The popular group wasn't even dancing—they were taking selfies and complaining about homework. Two girls were arguing about which Taylor Swift album was best. A guy was trying to convince everyone to play Mario Kart but the TV wasn't working because of the cable situation.

"You know what?" Maya said, feeling something shift in her chest. "You're right. We're all just pretending to know what we're doing."

"Exactly." Leo grinned. "We're all just zombies trying to survive high school."

Maya laughed—for real this time. "Did you just reference your own notebook drawings?"

"I did. And I'm not even sorry."

"Wanna go save Kai from the cable maze before he electrocutes himself?"

"Absolutely. But first—" Leo pulled his phone out. "Selfie with the palm? For posterity?"

Maya smiled, and this time her palms weren't sweating. "Only if we photobomb the popular group's selfie in the background."

Leo's eyes lit up. "You're chaotic. I love it."

The plastic palm tree watched as two awkward teenagers took approximately forty-seven photos, cementing what would become, three years later, their favorite "remember when" story. Sometimes the best moments aren't the ones you planned. Sometimes they happen when you stop trying to be cool and just start being real.