Spinach in My Teeth

My hair was supposed to be copper highlights. Subtle. Natural. Instead, I looked like a traffic cone.

"It's bold, Maya," my best friend Kai said, barely suppressing a laugh. "Really commits to the bit."

"The bit being I want to disappear into a hole and die?" I groaned, pulling my hoodie up.

Today was the Winter Showcase. I'd finally worked up the nerve to talk to Jordan—the one with the smile that could power the whole school. And now I looked like an anime character who fell into a vat of Cheetos dust.

Kai dragged me to the cafeteria anyway. "You're still you. Just... brighter."

The lunch lady served me a pile of spinach that looked suspiciously like it had seen better decades. I poked at it miserably.

"Hey, Maya."

Jordan. Standing right there. Their eyes caught on my hair—and for a second, I saw them actually looking at me. Not past me. At me.

"Your hair," they said. "It's... a lot."

"Yeah, I know," I said, mortified. "It was supposed to be—"

"Orange?"

We both laughed. The tension broke like glass.

Then Jordan leaned in close. "You have something in your teeth."

Spinach. Of course.

I wanted to evaporate. Instead, I just shrugged. "It's part of my brand now. Confusion and vegetables."

Jordan's grin widened. "Well. It's working."

Later, in the gym, our school mascot—that ridiculous bear costume—shuffled by. Some idiot from the football team, definitely compensating for something, shouted, "Go bear, go!" and tripped it. The bear faceplanted spectacularly.

Jordan snorted. "That's gotta be the most bull—" They caught themself. "—the most ridiculous thing I've seen all week."

We sat together on the bleachers, my orange hair glowing under the gym lights, spinach residue finally gone, Jordan's shoulder pressed against mine. Not perfect. Not what I'd planned.

But somehow, exactly right.